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What's poppin bros. Pak here with my first SM UU RMT, following my approximately 73 from ORAS UU. The team I'm here to share is one of my favorite from the entire generation so far, but unfortunately it is no longer legal with the rise of Gliscor, which played a huge part in the squad's success and seems really unlikely to ever drop back down to UU. Shockingly, this was originally a Pearl team, created either a bit before or in the early stages of SPL, and it can be found below.
I really liked the general idea of entry hazard stack combined with Choice Band Tsareena's breaking power, Jellicent's ability to block Rapid Spin, and a fast mon in the back to clean things up. Sadly, the sheer dominant presence of Azumarill largely invalidated the effectiveness of this version of the team, but it and Amoonguss saw a near simultaneous departure early on in UUPL. Those two leaving in combination with the rise of Breloom, which had just lost its most prominent counter in the mushroom, gave new life to this old concept featuring Tsareena, one of its best offensive answers. While I was fond of the original idea, the synergy always seemed a bit off to me, leading to me changing out Mega Aerodactyl for Choice Scarf Hydreigon and giving key team members some major set overhauls. The notable change recipients were Gliscor and Nihilego, which were previously Stealth Rock U-turn and Choice Scarf respectively. I kind of fell in love with the overall synergy and the balance of offense and defense possessed by the new version I put together for Zukushiku early on in the UUPL season, even hyping it up to the point where my team ended up spamming the hell out of it. We used it four separate times during the season, and Freeroamer and I used it a bit in UU Open, even after Breloom's ban. It really seemed like one of those teams where if you played it well, any game was winnable. This has always been my general mentality when building, dating back to ORAS, and with this being my most successful teams in fitting that bill, I felt it was necessary to share it here. Please note that this team was made in a different era of the tier and that many elements of the descriptions may very well be out of date.
IN-DEPTH
Tsareena @ Choice Band
Ability: Queenly Majesty
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Power Whip
- U-turn
- High Jump Kick
- Knock Off
Tsareena is basically the star of the show here. With the rise of Amoonguss to OU, it simultaneously lost its hardest counter while emerging one of the premier offensive checks to Breloom, due to its Grass typing and ability, Queenly Majesty. This ability also lets Tsareena serve as the team's primary revenge killer to offensive Scizor if it finds a way a way to muscle past Jellicent, given its immunity to Bullet Punch. Additionally, most answers to Grass-types were tailored solely for stopping Breloom, benefiting Tsareena, as it can threaten Pokemon like Latias and Celebi with coverage moves, while utilizing U-turn to get teammates into good positions against Flying-types such as Togekiss and Crobat. Choice Band Tsareena is really the beast that makes this team work, dishing out huge damage, especially in conjunction with hazards, consistently gaining momentum, and eliminating bulky Water- and Ground-types for Gliscor and Nihilego respectively.
Man, while it was incredibly annoying to prep for at the time, Swords Dance Gliscor was so god damn good at punishing passive teams and I'll miss it. Very few Pokemon could apply the same amount of pressure after a single turn of setup, given its great natural bulk, constant passive recovery, and immunity to other status conditions. Gliscor fit the team's overall theme excellently, offering the team a clear means of winning games, and appreciating the presence of reliable entry hazards and Tsareena's ability to punch through some of its more annoying answers. It also provided the team with some much-needed defensive utility, helping to handle Pokemon like Krookodile, Alolan Muk, Terrakion, Infernape, and Choice Band Scizor. The latter two are checked decently by Jellicent, but due to its lack of passive recovery, it can be easily worn down by U-turn in combination with hazards up. As for the set itself, Ice Fang is necessary here, as Mega Aerodactyl and opposing Gliscor present big threats, and the decent chunk of Special Defense gives Gliscor a solid chance to survive a Mega Manectric Hidden Power Ice from full if needed.
Klefki @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 48 Def / 212 SpD
Impish Nature
- Play Rough
- Thunder Wave
- Spikes
- Magnet Rise
Klefki serves a variety of much-needed roles for the team. Obviously, the primary one is to lay down as many Spikes layers as possible, aiding Gliscor, Tsareena, and Hydreigon in making progress as they force more and more switches. It is also the main means of handling the tier's ever-threatening Dragon-types in Latias and Hydreigon, something essential on any function UU team. Speed drops from Thunder Wave are also a huge asset to the team, offering an additional way of beating threats like Mega Aerodactyl and Serperior. Magnet Rise lets Klefki get up more layers on Ground-types like Gliscor and Hippowdon, that can otherwise do little damage to it, and further improves its matchup against Mega Aerodactyl. While not perfect on its own, given its weaknesses to some common threats, it fits the team exceptionally with its defensive utility and Spikes support.
Jellicent is the glue of the team and quite possibly the best spin blocker in the tier, completely walling most Tentacruel variants and forcing Starmie into playing around it aggressively with Thunderbolt. On top of its spin blocking ability, its somewhat fast Taunt for a defensively oriented Pokemon in combination with Hex and Will-O-Wisp lets its shut down opposing walls and even prevent Defog attempts from users like Empoleon and Mantine. Its role in the entry hazard war is crucial in the team's overall success, supporting Tsareena, Gliscor, and Hydreigon by helping to keep Klefki and Nihilego's hazards down. It is also the team's primary check to huge threats in Scizor, Cobalion, and the rising set at the time, Grass-STABless Breloom which is walled by Ghost-types. Colbur Berry is necessary for it to combat Knock Off Scizor variants and fear less from potential Pursuit users like Krookodile and Alolan Muk.
Nihilego @ Electrium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Sludge Wave
- Thunder
- Hidden Power Ice
- Stealth Rock
Stealth Rock Nihilego could not ask for a more perfect fit. It is one of the tier's most reliable entry hazard setters while doubling down as a formidable special sponge. It offers a strong check to birds like Mega Pidgeot and Moltres, which give Klefki trouble, and a fairly safe middle ground play versus threats such as Hydreigon and Mega Manectric that possess other ways of punishing their traditional switch-ins. Tsareena and it Nihilego make for a particularly great pairing, as Tsareena can remove the bulky Ground-types that wall this variant and can get Nihilego into favorable positions against Flying-types to get up hazards or do damage. Gigavolt Havoc provides Nihilego with the ability to effectively punish hazard removers like Empoleon, Tentacruel, and Mantine, while giving some nice neutral coverage against Steel-types. Hidden Power Ice was a bit necessary here, allowing it to revenge kill opposing Swords Dance Gliscor, which abuses some other team members fairly easily. Lastly, it gives the team a grounded Poison-type, meaning it can absorb the Toxic Spikes that Tentacruel may set up to annoy Jellicent. Its reliable hazard setting with its defensive utility and interesting coverage options make Nihilego a fantastic addition to the team.
Hydreigon was another key addition to the team. It provides the team with some crucial Speed and a true revenge killer, while also offering some nice offensive and defensive synergy. Offensively, it takes advantage of Tsareena punching holes and Nihilego's prowess in dealing with defensive Fairy-types, and it has the ability to get them into favorable positions to do so with U-turn. The constant switches it forces tend to rock up more and more entry hazard damage on foes, aiding teammates in wearing down the opposing team to the point where either Gliscor or Hydreigon itself can clean up. Defensively, it gives the team more flexibility in dealing with foes like Mega Manectric and Nidoking, and offers an effective way of beating Serperior and Mega Aerodactyl outside of Thunder Wave Speed drops. As Tsareena is not running Rapid Spin, Hydreigon has Defog in its last slot as a panic button in entry hazard war situations, if they are to get out of hand. It ties the rest of the team together with its Speed, the momentum it gains, and the natural utility its typing offers.
THREATLIST
Nidoking - Nidoking simply has the perfect Speed tier, coverage options, and typing to annoy the hell out of this team if it is played well. Gliscor and Hydreigon both immensely fear Ice Beam, and it can freely throw them out against Klefki and Jellicent which can hardly threaten it and Tsareena which it outspeeds. Nihilego can pick it off with Hidden Power Ice if it is weakened, but there are few methods of chipping into range outside of entry hazards.
Mega Aerodactyl - Seeing as the team's Water- and Steel-types are Jellicent and Klefki, Mega Aerodactyl can be an issue. It has the coverage to hit nearly every team member for sizable damage and can easily get out of hand if Stealth Rock is not kept up. Between Hydreigon outspeeding it, Gliscor threatening it with Ice Fang, and Klefki's Thunder Wave, it is far from unmanageable, but without Stealth Rock on the field pressuring it, Mega Aerodactyl is a huge threat.
Mega Manectric and Raikou- Mega Manectric is less of a threat and more so just really really annoying. Naturally with Gliscor as the team's Ground-type, it is going to have a decent weakness to Electric-types, as nothing can effectively stop Mega Manectric from spamming Volt Switch. Hydreigon and Nihilego sponge most of its attacks fairly easily, but with the right support, it can be a handful to deal with if entry hazards aren't up to help wear it down. Raikou on the other hand is a huge issue with its Calm Mind set. It's kind of similar to Manectric in the entry hazards need to be up to wear it down, and something usually needs to be traded for damage on it for Hydreigon to revenge kill.
Thanks so much for reading. I loved the concept of this team and how it turned out in the end, but unfortunately, when this team was at its best, I wasn't involved with many SM UU tournaments and couldn't use it much myself. However, it was always exciting watching my teammates pilot it in their own unique ways, and usually to success. I firmly believe just about any matchup was winnable with this team if it was played well, and its solid tournament success was a decent indicator of such. Sadly, Swords Dance Gliscor played such a big role on the team that I don't think this team is possible to revamp without a massive overhaul, so it seems like a good time to hand it up. Big thanks go out to Pearl for creating the original version of Tsareena Spikes and to Accelgor for the amazing banner. Also shoutouts to all my goons in Barclay, WoA, Smashers, Raiders, Serpents, etc. for making my time on here much more enjoyable.
(UNUSABLE) IMPORT
Tsareena @ Choice Band
Ability: Queenly Majesty
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Power Whip
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- High Jump Kick
Big Pak, this is a super dope team as seen from the sheer amount of success that has been seen with it. I think I can make a version of it for this current meta tho that'd be equally as dope o3o. This team is super solid as it is so it's not like I'll need to do much, but with Gliscor leaving it leaves an obvious hole in the team, anyways let's see what can be done to fill the hole.
- So I think Scarf Krook works really well on this team because it compresses the roles of Hydreigon + Gliscor to a certain extent being an elec immunity, speed control, and ghost answer. Losing the pivot that Hydreigon gives sucks but I think this is still the most optimal way of doing this, especially since it improves your matchup vs Mmane/Raikou a lot as well as Nidok a bit. I went with Fire Fang > Stone Edge because you already have Nihilego and I think the Scizor matchup needed a tiny bit of work.
Krookodile @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Fire Fang
- Pursuit
- Earthquake
- With Krook compressing the roles of Drei + Gliscor a bit, Latias fits well in the free slot as a floating mon with a good fat matchup (which is what Gliscor was before), as well as giving the dragon typing you'd be missing with no Hydreigon. The thing is that this kind of needs the z move on it for fat matchup (being able to OHKO Quag), so I was forced to remove the z move from Nihi.
I just made Nihilego into LO Tbolt set because it really helps chip shit like Coba, Maggron, Empo, etc. that give Lati issues, serves the same purpose as elec z, just w/o the z move :(. That's it though, this is a dope team. You know you can hit me whenever if you wanna talk about it but I think this should work well. Great rmt lad, also excellent song choice.
