The Lead
Rotom @ Choice Scarf
Timid
4 Hp / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Trick
Thunderbolt
Shadow Ball
Will-o-Wisp
Don't know why this isn't used as a lead more often, or just more often in general. He makes alot of common leads cry. Ambipom gets burned before it can use Payback, Yanmega's STABs are resisted and it's outsped even after a Boost, Moltres is forced out immediately, Uxie's Trick does nothing, Electrode is outsped so if it Taunts it doesn't even get to use Rain Dance, Cloyster and Omastar are immediately forced out, bulky SR leads like Regirock, Steelix, etc get tricked.
Scarf Rotom's speed, coverage and resistances make it a powerful and unpredictable Pokemon. STAB T-bolt has great neutral coverage, and Shadow Ball provides secondary STAB which hits all Electric resists neutral except Magneton. 463 speed and immunity to some common priority moves (Fake Out, Extremespeed, Mach Punch, Vacuum Wave) lets Rotom function as a great revenge killer, taking down Swellow, Espeon, Mismagius, Moltres and any other number of threats with his STABs, or he can just use his fast WoW and Trick to screw with sweepers like Absol and Toxicroak. Outspeeding Yanmega after one boost is a godsend, allowing Rotom to switch in on a resisted Bug Buzz or Air Slash and land a surprise KO before it does anything else. He can't be walled, either, because there are no walls that want to be Tricked.
Rotom's weaknesses of Dark and Ghost can meet Hitmontop, Absol and Steelix.
Stupidly Powerful Priority #1
Hitmontop @ Life Orb
Adamant, Technician
252 Hp / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Fake Out
Mach Punch
Close Combat
Pursuit
This is another Pokemon which I can't believe isn't used more often. LO Techtop checks a ridiculous number of offensive threats. Come on, Mach Punch gets an effective 90 base power. It's Scizor's Bullet Punch, except that Fighting is a better offensive type than Steel. Oh, and he gets something else that Scizor doesn't, Fake Out. Fake Out allows me to get cheap, free damage and then Mach Punch. With Fake Out sitting at 60 BP, and Mach Punch at 90, the Fake Out + Mach Punch combo allows me to hit opponents with the equivalent of a 150 base power move, before they are able to do anything. It's like Absol's Sucker Punch, except that it works whether they attack me or not. With the combined forces of this thing and Absol, it's almost impossible to be swept by any sort of offensive threat.
Close Combat gives much-needed power for use against more defensive Pokemon, and it's especially powerful with Mach Punch waiting in the wings. Close Combat followed by Mach Punch lets me hit faster foes with the equivalent of a 270 base power move, while only being hit once in the process. I can take a Surf from Milotic, hit it with Close Combat, and then Mach Punch it into the grave next turn before it has a chance to Surf again on my -1 defenses. Pursuit is necessary because of the extreme overuse of Mismagius, and the extreme danger of allowing it a free set-up. Thanks to Pursuit, though, Missy is not a problem. Usually it comes in, thinking to block Rapid Spin I guess, and instead finds itself backed into a corner by Technician Pursuit and easily killed off. Pursuit is also fun for things like Roserade and Espeon fleeing from Fake Out.
Hitmontop's weaknesses of Flying and Psychic are covered by Steelix and Absol.
Stupidly Powerful Priority #2
Azumarill @ Choice Band
Adamant
244 Hp / 252 Atk / 12 Spe
Aqua Jet
Waterfall
Double-Edge
Falcon Punch
Azumarill is now a well-known and well-respected threat in the post-Shaymin metagame, and for good reason. With Adamant and Choice Band, Azumarill reaches an absurdly high Attack stat, 654 to be specific. This, along with the incredible coverage of Water + Normal, makes it nearly impossible to wall this set. Slowbro is the only one who can even try, but even he does a pretty shabby job of it. He runs the risk of being 2HKO'd by Double-Edge if he doesn't use Slack Off every time he switches in, so either he Slacks Off on every switch-in and gives me a free switch to Roserade or Absol, or he doesn't Slack Off and Double-Edge 2HKOs next time he tries to come in.
Azumarill has plenty of power, and thanks to Aqua Jet it also has pseudo-speed. A STAB priority move coming off 654 attack is a great asset to any offensive team, revenging a wide range of threats, notably including OHKOs or near-OHKOs on Blaziken and Moltres. Focus Punch is risky, but it gives Azumarill even more raw power than Double-Edge or Waterfall, and can come in handy for really wrecking Water-types (yes, Milotic, I'm looking at you) that switch in to try and block Azumarill's STAB. Why Azumarill over, perhaps, Milotic? Simple; with an absurd attack score, nearly perfect neutral coverage with which to abuse it (thankfully they invented Stealth Rock this generation to take care of Shedinja for me), STAB priority thrown in on top, and an opportunity to truly shine with ones of its biggest enemies just banned, the question is not Why Use Azumarill, but rather, it becomes Why Not Abuse This Thing?
Azumarill's weaknesses of Grass and Electric can be blocked by Roserade, Rotom and Steelix.
Stupidly Powerful Priority #3
Absol @ Life Orb
Adamant
4 Hp / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Sucker Punch
Night Slash
Superpower
Swords Dance
Absol is another one of those brilliant Pokemon which both packs incredibly strong priority, and is also nearly impossible to wall. Stall teams cower in fear of the power behind a Swords Dance Life Orb Night Slash with no less than a 25% crit rate. Offensive teams trying to sweep with the likes of Specs Espeon and LO Roserade cower in fear of Sucker Punch. Superpower seals the deal, hitting UU's trophy physical walls, Steelix/Regirock/Registeel, super-effective and providing perfect coverage alongside Night Slash.
With prediction, or just the simple formula of Swords Dancing on the switch and mercilessly spamming Night Slash or Sucker Punch (depending on whether the Pokemon that switched in is offensive or defensive), Absol can beat just about any Pokemon out there. Honchkrow was so popular in the last incarnation of the metagame for good reason, and now his little brother Absol is here to fill in the gap left behind by his departure to Limbo, continuing Honchkrow's legacy of revenging an absurd number of offensive threats while also keeping the walls in line with perfect coverage and the unfair power of STAB Super Luck Night Slash. I chose an Adamant nature because Jolly makes no sense on something with a 120 base power priority move. Jolly allows me to outrun offensive Milotic? Sucker Punch already outruns any version of Milotic, and hurts just as much as any of my other moves, so I might as well pick Adamant to make it hurt even more.
Absol's weaknesses to Fighting and Bug are handled by Rotom, Roserade, Hitmontop and Steelix.
The Stealth Rocks
Steelix @ Iron Ball
Brave
252 Hp / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
0 Speed IV
Stealth Rock
Gyro Ball
Earthquake
Explosion
Steelix is here for three things, to stop Swellow and absorb Ambipom's Fake Out, to absorb status (immunity to both Toxic and Thunder Wave? Yes, please), and to lay down Stealth Rocks. Stealth Rock is a necessity on any team, and in UU, Steelix is arguably the most powerful user of it with the dual STABs of Gyro Ball and Earthquake, plus kaboom thrown in there when I need to blow a hole in the enemy's team, or if I know they've got Moltres and I decide that it would be better to forego rocks and explode, rather than give such a dangerous Pokemon a free switch.
Iron Ball, along with the given nature and a 0 Speed IV, drops my Speed to subterranean levels, and by extension, raises the power of Gyro Ball up into the sky. With an amazingly pathetic 29 Speed, Steelix's Gyro Ball reaches full power against anything with 174 Speed or more, which includes most of UU's offensive Pokemon. Most of the things that can threaten Steelix are threatened back by a full-power Gyro Ball, and of the things which resist Gyro Ball, the more dangerous ones (fire-types) can just eat Earthquake instead. I chose Steelix over Registeel for the greater power in its attacks. For example, Steelix can switch into Ambipom and then really punish the annoying little thing for Taunting; Gyro Ball has a high chance of OHKO'ing the standard 4/0 offensive Ambipom.
Steelix's vulnerability to Fire, Water, Fighting, and Ground is patched up by Azumarill, Roserade and Rotom, respectively.
The Sleep
Roserade @ Leftovers
Timid
4 Hp / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Sleep Powder
Leech Seed
Substitute
Sludge Bomb
Roserade, like Steelix, is here for three things. To sleep something, SubSeed something else, and absorb status with Natural Cure. While a good Sleeper isn't as necessary as a good Stealth Rocker, it's probably the second most useful thing to put on your team. Sleep is a completely unfair condition; the idea of preventing the opponent from doing anything at all is simply too good to not abuse it. And as far as abusing Sleep goes, Roserade is the best plant for the job this side of Breloom, packing UU's fastest Sleep Powder with which to disable its opponents. This set plays somewhat like Breloom in OU; SubSeed pairs up perfectly with Sleep Powder, as Roserade can use the turn it buys with Sleep to set up the SubSeeding strategy.
Sludge Bomb is the necessary attack move to prevent other grassers from ruining my fun. The 30% chance of poison can also come in handy against walls trying to stall out SubSeed, like a Milotic that's figured out I don't run a Grass attack. Like every member of my team, Roserade is designed to have an answer to defensive threats aswell as offensive ones, and Sleep Powder is broken enough to provide that answer. Chansey comes in thinking it will just stall me out? Roserade welcomes the pink blob, as I simply hit it with Sleep Powder and then Absol comes in to Swords Dance while it's snoozing.
Roserade's weaks of Psychic, Flying, Fire and Ice can be redirected to Absol, Steelix, Rotom and Azumarill.
