ORAS UU Bringing Sexy Back

[Wandering Wobbuffet]

You know what I haven't seen in ages on the UU ladder? Banded Haxorus. Well I was bored at around midnight last night and decided to build a team that has it. It's pretty sad how much the power creep affected the meta this gen and it really shows with haxorus. From being an OU hyper offense staple last gen to a potent but rarely seen wallbreaker in UU that came concerningly close to dropping to RU. However it still is not something to be taken lightly at all when seen in a team preview. Anyways on to the team:

Shuckle @ Mental Herb
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
- Sticky Web
- Stealth Rock
- Encore
- Toxic
​

Pretty standard shuckle lead for webs and rocks. I figured this would be a good place to start. With shuckle's stupidly high defenses coupled with sturdy it's practically guaranteed to get up hazards. If there is hazard control I'll try to save shuckle for when it's gone. Webs allowed to more easily run adamant over jolly on haxorus allowing it to hit even harder then it already did. Encore is very useful for predicted SDs if the opponent sends out a cobalion or something. Toxic is just filler really. I find it useful for the many donphans I come across on the ladder :/ but besides for that it doesn't find much use. I could run knock off instead I'm not really sure.

Axe.jpeg (Haxorus) (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Mold Breaker
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- Poison Jab
- Earthquake
- Dual Chop​

The man the myth the legend. Whenever you use haxorus it's gotta be shiny it's just such a great looking shiny. Anyways banded haxorus has some insane power to it's name. With mold breaker breaking through mega aggron's filter it has a very good chance of 2HKOing it with EQ (252+ Atk Choice Band Mold Breaker Haxorus Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 16+ Def Mega Aggron: 170-200 (49.4 - 58.1%) -- 98.8% chance to 2HKO). Not only that but Outrage just flat out 2HKOs max/max suicune provided they don't get the 30% chance to burn (252+ Atk Choice Band Mold Breaker Haxorus Outrage vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Suicune: 231-273 (57.1 - 67.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery). On top of that poison jab has a 50% chance to OHKO florges after rocks but many florgeses are now running 32+ SpDef EVs to take on alakazam. Speaking of alakazam I decided to run dual chop in the last slot to break through sash alakazam which I outspeed if webs are up. Don't slouch on this thing guys, it's still a massive threat if played correctly.

Bush (Shaymin) @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Seed Flare
- Psychic
- Earth Power
- Healing Wish
​

Shaymin pairs pretty well with haxorus provided a special wallbreaking counterpart to compliment haxorus from the physical side. It also provides extremely useful healing wish support allowing me to revive haxorus and other if need be. Although haxorus 2HKOs suicune, shaymin is preferred for taking it on since it really couldn't care less about being burned by scald since it's a special attacker as well as having natural cure. Speaking of which natural cure also makes shaymin a nice status absorber for the team. I chose to run psychic over dazzling gleam to hit fighting types a bit harder without using seed flare PP as well as I thought hitting crobat would be useful. However dazzling gleam might be a better idea to smack hydreigon which can be a bit of an issue for the team.

Emo Pegusus (Absol-Mega) (M) @ Absolite
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Knock Off
- Play Rough
- Sucker Punch
- Ice Beam
​

I decided on absol for my mega since it has priority and knock off both of which I thought would be useful for the team. Magic bounce also seemed nice to anti lead azelf and froslass which are annoying for shuckle. The last slot has changed a lot and as of now it's ice beam to target chesnaught/donphan/krookodile etc. Absol kind of feels like the weak link in my team to be honest. As I've eluded to earlier hydreigon is a threat to this team and maybe swapping absol for something that deals with it better could work.

Spoopy (Chandelure) (F) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Energy Ball
- Trick
​

A scarfer is always a good idea and scarf chandy fit quite well. It gives me a great offensive spinblocker that deals with forretress extremely well. It also provided a useful fairy resist which is why I opted for trick over memento (for crippling florgeses in particular). Very standard but works quite well. Not much else to say about it to be honest.

Lucario (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Extreme Speed
- Iron Tail
​

Lastly I wanted a setup sweeper that wasn't weak to fairies and could kill them in one fell swoop. Doublade seems really nice since it resists fairy but it stacked more ghost/fire/dark weaknesses with the rest of the team. I then had cobalion and lucario. Cobalion's more bulk was appealing as well as having iron head but e speed really drew me towards lucario. It allows me to get a nice hit faster mons. The subpar accuracy on iron tail is a bit of a disappointment but I really needed it to kill fairies.

Importable

Shuckle @ Mental Herb
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
- Sticky Web
- Stealth Rock
- Encore
- Toxic

Axe.jpeg (Haxorus) (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Mold Breaker
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- Poison Jab
- Earthquake
- Dual Chop

Bush (Shaymin) @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Seed Flare
- Psychic
- Earth Power
- Healing Wish

Emo Pegusus (Absol-Mega) (M) @ Absolite
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Knock Off
- Play Rough
- Sucker Punch
- Ice Beam

Spoopy (Chandelure) (F) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Shadow Ball
- Energy Ball
- Trick

Lucario (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Extreme Speed
- Iron Tail

Threatlist

Hydreigon: Get absol mega evolved and kill with play rough otherwise I lose. If scarfed then sack something every time it comes in and then force them to sack something. Cobalion might be better over lucario since it outspeeds hydra.

Mega Aerodactyl: It's got coverage for everything on my team however shaymin and haxorus (as well as lucario if no EQ) can take a hit from it and revenge it with a bit of extra damage (AKA rocks).

Replay: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-351024960​

 

[nv]

Hey there WanderingWobbuffet your team looks nice, but I have a few suggestions that may help you out n_n

Team Changes:

• First off, while the idea of Sticky Web support is nice, most of the time teams have ways around it or can easily get rid of it thanks to the decent amount of Flying-type Defoggers teams tend to carry. However, you still want to keep Stealth Rock to rack up entry hazard damage on the switches Haxorus may force. For this reason, I feel Swampert > Shuckle is a really nice change. Swampert provides this team with a decent Mega Aerodactyl check that provides Stealth Rock and phazing support. Swampert also gives the team a Fire resist that doesn't care about being burned, like Haxorus does, and allows you to play mindgames against opposing Entei trying to nail Chandelure on the obvious switch-in with a Stone Edge.
• Haxorus is no longer outspeeding faster threats without Sticky Web support, which isn't necessary considering the power it already has, so I suggest a Jolly nature over an Adamant nature to allow Haxorus to outspeed things that otherwise may threaten or cripple it such as Nidoking, Krookodile, Entei, and Roserade.
  
• Next up, the lack of a solid Dragon switch-in really irks me so I decided Whimsicott > Shaymin was a nice change as Whimsicott can provide the team with a Hydreigon check. Whimsicott may not have the bulk or power of Shaymin, but its utility is unmatched as it gives this team another answer to setup sweepers as well as a nice Fairy STAB to hit Dragon-, Dark-, and Fighting-types hard despite the lack of initial power.
  
• Since you already started with the idea of All-Out Attacker Mega Absol, I thought I would help tweak the EVs and the moveset. You will want to run 252 Atk / 48 SpA / 208 Spe as this gives Absol's special attacks a bit of power while still outspeeding the likes of Heliolisk and Infernape. Play Rough doesn't provide the coverage necessary to lure common Mega Absol switchins, so my suggestion is to run Fire Blast > Ice Beam and Iron Tail or Ice Beam > Play Rough. Fire Blast gives Mega Absol an answer to common Steel-types that may switch in such as Forretress, Cobalion and Mega Aggron. Iron Tail is specifically for Fairies such as Florges and Aromatisse while Ice Beam nails Gligar and Salamence while also being able to retain coverage on Chesnaught. This specific coverage also means Whimsicott can't switch in; however, Whimsicott can easily revenge kill Mega Absol if it has max Speed EVs.
  
• With Whimsicott providing a Water-type deterrent, Memento > Energy Ball on Chandelure is a really neat option as it allows Chandelure to give setup opportunities to Lucario (or Cobalion should you go with my final change) after Chandelure has been withered down or if Lucario's checks are gone. Energy Ball doesn't particularly hit too hard agains most Water-types and Chandelure is better off providing support to the team.
  
• My final change is one that allows you to have a setup sweeper that is an answer to quite a few threats to the team such as Mamoswine, Mega Beedrill, and Mega Aerodactyl. Shuca Berry Swords Dance Cobalion > Lucario gives you an answer to all three while still providing this team with a solid win condition. Cobalion's natural physical bulk allows it to be able to tank a hit or two while setting up, unlike Lucario. While giving up Lucario means you now lack priority, the team's speed control and power I feel makes up for it to be able to check the big threats I mentioned before.

Alternate Changes:

• U-turn on Whimsicott allows it to serve as a nice pivot, bringing in Haxorus and Chandelure to do their jobs. However, Stun Spore is really useful as it takes care of faster threats not named Mega Sceptile (which Whimsicott checks anyways) by crippling them so the team can outspeed them.
  
• Yache Berry on Whimsicott helps it take stray Ice Beams from Water-types while also giving extra insurance against Mamoswine, but isn't as necessary for the latter should you exchange Lucario for the Cobalion set I provided.
• Toxic or Ice Beam on Swampert is a viable option as you have a way around setup sweepers with Whimsicott and Toxic can punish bulky switch-ins while Ice Beam nails Salamence and Grass-types.
• Volt Switch on Cobalion can be proven useful to provide a VoltTurn core with Whimsicott should you go with U-turn, but Swords Dance gives you a reliable win condition and this change should only be considered with the next change to keep a win condition on the team.
• Swords Dance Mega Absol gives the team a win condition if you decide to go with Volt Switch on Cobalion as it has to give up Swords Dance for said move. This isn't as ideal as the actual changes though since Mega Absol is acting as a lure to allow Cobalion to muscle past its checks.

Sets

Whimsicott @ Pixie Plate
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Moonblast
- Giga Drain
- Stun Spore / U-turn
- Encore

Absol-Mega @ Absolite
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 Atk / 48 SpA / 208 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
- Fire Blast
- Iron Tail / Ice Beam

Cobalion @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance

Overall, I really like this team and the showcasing of Haxorus as it is powerful, but sadly not used as much as the other UU Dragons. Nonetheless, I hope my changes help you n_n

 

[Wandering Wobbuffet]

Thank NV I'll try these changes out now. TBH I'd rather keep shaymin over whimiscott cause I really don't like whimsicott but I will try the other changes and update on how it goes.

Edit: well in my first game I encountered both a mega sceptile and a gardevoir and scarf gardevoir which both seem like a big issue with your changes since my only priority now is with absol

 

[hhpack3]

Hi, I played around with this team and i found one big issue, you have zero hazard control apart from magic bounce on Absol. Absol isn't exactly a good pokemon to be predicting with as it's got no defense. I don't really know what would work on this team except maybe Forretress overShuckle/Swampert.