Current Team:
sparrow 
Kreme
Wascally Wabbit
Voting is due on Saturday night, and please only vote for one core!
-
Welcome to Smogon! Take a moment to read the Introduction to Smogon for a run-down on everything Smogon, and make sure you take some time to read the global rules.
-
Congrats to the winners of the 2023 Smog Awards!
Project Break This Team: USUM UU Edition [Week 71 - Submissions]
- Thread starter avarice
- Start date
Kreme
Wascally Wabbit
Voting is due on Saturday night, and please only vote for one core!
Kreme
Wascally Wabbit
Kreme
Wabbit
Hey, folks, sorry for the wait! Both of us ran into some business, but we're back now with a fresh team for y'all!
Our winner last week was Kreme :]
Kreme - 6
Wascally Wabbit - 4
Sparrow - 1
---
Our next team comes from my wonderful co-host, Accelgor!
I've been wanting to build around Substitute Nidoking for a while now, since it allows Nidoking more maneuverability and complements its already fantastic knack for forcing switches. My immediate thought was then to pair it up with something that also fares well versus the typical balanced offensive teams that have been defining UU for much of the generation, and eventually decided upon Choice Specs Latias. This set is fairly underrated and has also been a personal favorite of mine as of late, since it has other perks, mainly its speed tier, that set it apart from Hydreigon and other Choice Specs users. Choice Scarf Nihilego was the next addition, offering decent sweeping capability when Nidoking and Latias have worn down opposing walls enough for Nihilego to then take over. At this point, I needed something to dissuade Alolan-Muk from trapping Latias and Nihilego, and went with double dance Cobalion. This set, combined with Steelium-Z, heavily improves my matchup vs offensive teams and also helps bring threats like Gliscor down to allow the rest of the team to perform more freely. Choice Band Azumarill was a natural addition, as its typing helps to improve the team's overall synergy while offering me with yet another wallbreaking option as well as priority. Stealth Rocks were a necessity at this point, and Mega Aggron fits in well here as it checks threats like Latias and Mega Aerodactyl, which could otherwise prove to be problematic. Fire Punch is the only move on this set which may be viewed as unorthodox, and it mainly serves as an emergency button should opposing Scizors ever get out of hand.
Submissions are still due on Thursday, March 1!
Our winner last week was Kreme :]
Kreme - 6
Wascally Wabbit - 4
Sparrow - 1
---
Our next team comes from my wonderful co-host, Accelgor!
Nidoking @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Earth Power
- Sludge Wave
- Ice Beam
Latias @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psychic
- Thunderbolt
- Trick
Nihilego @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Power Gem
- Sludge Wave
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Thunderbolt
Cobalion @ Steelium Z
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Rock Polish
- Close Combat
- Iron Head
Azumarill @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Liquidation
- Play Rough
- Knock Off
- Aqua Jet
Aggron-Mega @ Aggronite
Ability: Filter
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 Spe
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Heavy Slam
- Fire Punch
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Earth Power
- Sludge Wave
- Ice Beam
Latias @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psychic
- Thunderbolt
- Trick
Nihilego @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Power Gem
- Sludge Wave
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Thunderbolt
Cobalion @ Steelium Z
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Rock Polish
- Close Combat
- Iron Head
Azumarill @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Liquidation
- Play Rough
- Knock Off
- Aqua Jet
Aggron-Mega @ Aggronite
Ability: Filter
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 Spe
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Heavy Slam
- Fire Punch
I've been wanting to build around Substitute Nidoking for a while now, since it allows Nidoking more maneuverability and complements its already fantastic knack for forcing switches. My immediate thought was then to pair it up with something that also fares well versus the typical balanced offensive teams that have been defining UU for much of the generation, and eventually decided upon Choice Specs Latias. This set is fairly underrated and has also been a personal favorite of mine as of late, since it has other perks, mainly its speed tier, that set it apart from Hydreigon and other Choice Specs users. Choice Scarf Nihilego was the next addition, offering decent sweeping capability when Nidoking and Latias have worn down opposing walls enough for Nihilego to then take over. At this point, I needed something to dissuade Alolan-Muk from trapping Latias and Nihilego, and went with double dance Cobalion. This set, combined with Steelium-Z, heavily improves my matchup vs offensive teams and also helps bring threats like Gliscor down to allow the rest of the team to perform more freely. Choice Band Azumarill was a natural addition, as its typing helps to improve the team's overall synergy while offering me with yet another wallbreaking option as well as priority. Stealth Rocks were a necessity at this point, and Mega Aggron fits in well here as it checks threats like Latias and Mega Aerodactyl, which could otherwise prove to be problematic. Fire Punch is the only move on this set which may be viewed as unorthodox, and it mainly serves as an emergency button should opposing Scizors ever get out of hand.
Submissions are still due on Thursday, March 1!
Darksafadao
best of the second options
Klefki @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 244 SpD / 12 Spe
Careful Nature
- Magnet Rise
- Spikes
- Play Rough
- Thunder Wave
Lucario @ Life Orb
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Aura Sphere
- Flash Cannon
- Vacuum Wave
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 244 SpD / 12 Spe
Careful Nature
- Magnet Rise
- Spikes
- Play Rough
- Thunder Wave
Lucario @ Life Orb
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Aura Sphere
- Flash Cannon
- Vacuum Wave
Seeing how the team has no hazard control, I decided to take an approach with spikes offense. At first, it could look tough, as the main spiker in the tier - Klefki - could easily be abused by Sub Nidoking. With this, I decided to make Klefki a Magnet Rise set, luring it in and being able to get free spikes, while also being able to break its sub in 2hits, leaving it at least weakened to my next pick, which is Lucario.
Lucario really can fire off attacks freely versus this team, mainly after spikes are up. The main switch in I see, Latias, can be taken advantage off by Klefki. Although it's tough to get set up with Lucario, it is possible with the Nihilego being choice locked into Sludge Wave or Power Gem or even Azu locked into Knock Off (and even that pressure of making Nihilego afraid to click those moves can really help throughout a match). Even though it's indeed not that easy, if it does get setup it can be very deadly versus this team.
Lucario also aids in case Rock Polish Cobalion gets out of hand, dealing 63% min, which can be doable as the spikes can wreck up pretty nicely.
Thunder Wave on Klefki is a great way of making Lucario's job easier by letting Latias, Nihilego and Cobalion be slower than it.
Thanks for reading.
Starmie @ Life Orb
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Psychic
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Pursuit
- Superpower
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Psychic
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Pursuit
- Superpower
So this team can suffer really hard from faster wallbreakers, and the only way of getting past anything that's faster than Latias and hits hard is Nihilego and AJet from Azumarill. Insert Starmie, it basically beats everything barring Nihilego on the team, especially with TBolt, and with Scizor partnering with it to pivot into it with U-turn and trap Nihilego with Pursuit or outright KO it with Bullet Punch, Starmie should be incredibly hard to deal with on this team, especially if Latias and Azumarill are even slightly weakened.
Nidoking @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Wave
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
- Substitute
Klefki @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 240 HP / 88 Def / 160 SpD / 20 Spe
Impish Nature
- Spikes
- Thunder Wave
- Magnet Rise
- Play Rough
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Wave
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
- Substitute
Klefki @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 240 HP / 88 Def / 160 SpD / 20 Spe
Impish Nature
- Spikes
- Thunder Wave
- Magnet Rise
- Play Rough
At first glance, I noticed that that the team is really weak to Nidoking, with the only two things not being hit super effectively by Ground are still hit super effectively by Nidoking's other STAB/coverage. The only thing left at this point was to find a good partner. Klefki came to mind because it switches into Latias, which scares out Nidoking, spams Thunder Wave to slow down faster Pokemon for Nidoking and provides Spikes support. Overall, this core pretty much destroys the team pretty mindlessly.
Voting time! Pretty cool how all of the submissions for this week followed the same general formula of a Steel-type and a strong specially offensive wallbreaker.
Week 5 Team:
Darksafadao
(Klefki + Nasty Plot Lucario)
Kreme
(Life Orb Starmie + Choice Band Scizor with Pursuit)
Amane Misa
(Substitute Nidoking + Klefki)
You are allowed to vote for one core, and voting will be due by Sunday, March 4th at 11:59 PM EST.
Week 5 Team:
Kreme
Amane Misa
You are allowed to vote for one core, and voting will be due by Sunday, March 4th at 11:59 PM EST.
misa
safa
misa
Congrats to Amane Misa for winning this week!
Amane Misa - 3
Darksafadao - 2
Kreme - 2
---
Our next team comes from the one and only sparrow!
Neat fire/water/grass core, focused on supporting M-Aboma and maximizing the amount of times it can be brought in during the match to fire off its powerful STABs. Moltres and Tentacruel are able to switch into Fighting types aimed at M-Aboma, where as M-Aboma is able to break down bulky waters that the other two may struggle with. So looking at these three you'd notice they're threatened significantly by M-Manectric, that's where Scarf Krookodile was added, it also functioned as a decent check to M-Pidgeot. In the end I wasn't satisfied with this teams match up versus Special Attackers in general so decided it was probably better to slap on the check to the majority of SpA 'mons in the tier: Blissey, in this case I decided that Chople Blissey would be an interesting pick, seeing as Fighting type Pokemon were annoying to switch-in to and Counter on Blissey is able to trouble Volt Turn cores quite significantly. Lastly Stakataka was added to threaten offensive teams quite nicely, I chose once again to run Chople, that was Staka wasn't susceptible to losing to Mach Punch from Breloom, an interesting other option is to run Passho Berry over Chople berry, since it then allows Staka to function as a late game check to BDrum Azu - living the +6 Aqua Jet; as well as surviving a Choice Specs Hydro Pump from Primarina. Perhaps changing Blissey to Gliscor would be optimal if one were to make this decision. Stakataka also sets TR for M-Aboma to abuse early game which is quite nice.
Submissions are due by 11:59 PM EST on Thursday, March 8th.
Amane Misa - 3
Darksafadao - 2
Kreme - 2
---
Our next team comes from the one and only sparrow!
Blissey @ Chople Berry
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Seismic Toss
- Counter
- Stealth Rock
- Soft-Boiled
Moltres @ Leftovers
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 248 HP / 44 Def / 216 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Will-O-Wisp
- Roost
- Defog
Tentacruel @ Icium Z
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 240 HP / 164 Def / 8 SpA / 96 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Haze
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic Spikes
Abomasnow-Mega @ Abomasite
Ability: Soundproof
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 140 Atk / 120 SpA
Quiet Nature
- Blizzard
- Giga Drain
- Ice Shard
- Growth
Stakataka @ Chople Berry
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 99
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Lonely Nature
IVs: 14 Def / 0 Spe
- Stone Edge
- Gyro Ball
- Superpower
- Trick Room
Krookodile @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Pursuit
- Stone Edge
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Seismic Toss
- Counter
- Stealth Rock
- Soft-Boiled
Moltres @ Leftovers
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 248 HP / 44 Def / 216 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Will-O-Wisp
- Roost
- Defog
Tentacruel @ Icium Z
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 240 HP / 164 Def / 8 SpA / 96 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Haze
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic Spikes
Abomasnow-Mega @ Abomasite
Ability: Soundproof
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 140 Atk / 120 SpA
Quiet Nature
- Blizzard
- Giga Drain
- Ice Shard
- Growth
Stakataka @ Chople Berry
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 99
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Lonely Nature
IVs: 14 Def / 0 Spe
- Stone Edge
- Gyro Ball
- Superpower
- Trick Room
Krookodile @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Pursuit
- Stone Edge
Neat fire/water/grass core, focused on supporting M-Aboma and maximizing the amount of times it can be brought in during the match to fire off its powerful STABs. Moltres and Tentacruel are able to switch into Fighting types aimed at M-Aboma, where as M-Aboma is able to break down bulky waters that the other two may struggle with. So looking at these three you'd notice they're threatened significantly by M-Manectric, that's where Scarf Krookodile was added, it also functioned as a decent check to M-Pidgeot. In the end I wasn't satisfied with this teams match up versus Special Attackers in general so decided it was probably better to slap on the check to the majority of SpA 'mons in the tier: Blissey, in this case I decided that Chople Blissey would be an interesting pick, seeing as Fighting type Pokemon were annoying to switch-in to and Counter on Blissey is able to trouble Volt Turn cores quite significantly. Lastly Stakataka was added to threaten offensive teams quite nicely, I chose once again to run Chople, that was Staka wasn't susceptible to losing to Mach Punch from Breloom, an interesting other option is to run Passho Berry over Chople berry, since it then allows Staka to function as a late game check to BDrum Azu - living the +6 Aqua Jet; as well as surviving a Choice Specs Hydro Pump from Primarina. Perhaps changing Blissey to Gliscor would be optimal if one were to make this decision. Stakataka also sets TR for M-Aboma to abuse early game which is quite nice.
Submissions are due by 11:59 PM EST on Thursday, March 8th.