ORAS UU Cooking with YABO: Slow Roasted Seafood

[YABO]

Hello everyone, your favorite UnderUsed chef is here once again to share some delectable recipes with you. Last time on this show, we explored a light and refreshing Cupcake recipe. Today, we're going to tackle a type of dish that every chef worth their salt can prepare, seafood. Now, from my experience, when looking to prepare a nice fish you should take it slow and don't rush things. So with that in mind, I eventually came upon a hazard stacking team that slowly wears down the opponent for a sweep from Mega Sceptile.

I haven't laddered with this team in a while but when I did I got to like 1600 with little trouble. I have also used this in a few different tournament matches and have yet to lose. To my knowledge, some people also used it in UU open with good success as well. Anyways, enough about that let's get onto the team!

Teambuilding Process

So the first thing I was after when making the team was testing out Taunt Will-o-Wisp Chandelure. I first heard of it from Bouff iirc and thought it sounded amazing so I wanted to give it a shot. In the back of my mind was also the idea that Taunt spam is a cool idea so it may or may not have influenced my decisions.

So I was sitting there trying to figure out what the hell to put with this Chandelure and I honestly had no ideas since I had never used the set before. I eventually realized that clicking Taunt causes a ton of things to want to switch so Spikes was a really natural choice to add. Common spikers are Froslass, Forre, and Chesnaught. None were really appealing so Qwilfish gets the nod.

Stealth Rocks are always great to have (s/o tewmew in uu open semis lool) so I figured I would add the most splashable mon in the tier. I explored with a bunch of sets but eventually landed on a solid one I'll go over later. The resists were unparalleled here.

At this stage, I was shockingly weak to the numerous water types of the tier and I had yet to add a mega. This team was also made around the time I was really starting to appreciate Mega Sceptile and its awesomeness. It just so happens that Sceptile + Spikes turned out to be crazy good.

Just like every team without a fairy, this team needed a fairy. I decided on Florges here since I figured a bulkier win condition would do me some good in certain matchups.

The team was rounding out nicely but it really lacked some speed to revenge anything like DD Feraligatr that could get out of hand. For this reason I chucked on Choice Scarf Hydreigon. This unintentionally completed a couple of cores (fairy, dragon, steel; dark, ghost, fighting) and was a solid choice overall.

This is the current iteration of the team and its pretty solid thus far. While it does have some poor matchups, there is nothing unwinnable which is why I love it.

Chandelure @

Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid nature

- Taunt

- Will-O-Wisp

- Hex

- Flamethrower
The basis of the team, Chandelure is going to start us off here. This set is actually amazing. Funnily enough, I was scheming of destroying Porygon2 with Substitute Toxic Chandelure when Bouff mentioned this particular variant. Taunt + Will-O-Wisp is great to weaken defensive pokemon like Snorlax, Florges, Porygon2, and Mandibuzz. You Wisp on the switch and then prevent them from healing, clearing the way for the slightly weaker cleaning members of the team. Another benefit of Taunt is keeping up your spikes against pokemon like Empoleon and Gligar who would normally Defog for minimal cost against Chandelure. Be careful against Empoleon, especially once the Taunt is revealed. Pokemon like Hydreigon especially dislike being burned as hazards + burn really adds up quickly. Hex adds another dimension to the set by giving you a 130 BP STAB move provided that the opponent is statused. It fits naturally here since the set is based around Wisp but additional team support is usually required to make it work which leads us to the next member. I run Infiltrator here to hit through Hoopa's sub and to prevent Porygon2 from walling me.

Qwilfish @

Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spe
Bold nature

- Taunt

- Scald

- Spikes

- Thunder Wave
You remember that additional team support I was talking about? Here it is. Qwilfish is actually an amazing partner for Taunt Chandelure. First of all, Spikes are a godsend for something that causes so many switches as Taunt Chandelure. Second, Chandelure can help maintain those Spikes with Taunt. Defensively, Qwilfish removes pretty much all burdens from Chandelure which is a blessing since Chand tries to do too much if it has to check things as well as trying to keep up pressure. In terms of the overall team, Qwilfish handles Fighting types and Doublade with Intimidate and lays up Spikes to weaken the opponent. Qwilfish also chucks out TWaves against the fast defoggers like Salamence and Crobat who are a pain when they outspeed things. TWave and Scald burns both count for Hex bonus damage so keep that in mind. A lot of times Reuniclus will catch a Scald burn from Qwilfish and get blown away by Chandelure's Hex later on. Qwilfish is also the Entei switch in so try to dodge as many burns as possible. EVs are simple and outspeed Adamant Machamp and some Suicune.

Cobalion @

Ability: Justified
Jolly nature
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

- Taunt

- Close Combat

- Iron Head

- Stealth Rock
The third portion of the Taunt Spam trio and the only one that outspeeds Salamence. Thankfully, Salamence always clicks Defog because I have a Florges and who in their right mind would stay in with Cobalion vs Salamence. Anyways, Cobalion provides a good check to a lot of dudes that are troublesome to the team. Primarily, Beedrill, Sharpedo, and Mamoswine fall here. It also gives me a secondary answer to Hydreigon so I can vary up my plays because Florges and Cobalion keeps my opponent guessing. In general, Cobalion and Florges combo together to check a bunch of the same pokemon to really sure up my matchup versus much of the common metagame. Aside from that, Cobalion provides SR to further stack hazards and the standard dual STAB to hit a bunch of the common dudes for good damage. There isn't much more to say about Cobalion but he does his job admirably and often ends up picking off a couple dudes at the end of the game to secure a win.

Sceptile @

Ability: Lightning Rod
Timid nature
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

- Giga Drain

- Dragon Pulse

- Focus Blast

- Leaf Storm
With Chandelure luring in and weakening Florges, P2, and co. Mega Sceptile becomes absurdly threatening to a whole heap of teams. When you look at a lot of teams, their main answers to Sceptile include Whimsicott, Florges, and Porygon. Whimsi is easily whittled with Leaf Storms and the other two naturally take a load of damage by the unorthodox Chandelure set. Sceptile's moveset is very standard but effective. I initially had Hidden Power Fire over Focus Blast but there was a major issue with Empoleon that necessitated Focus Blast's usage. Leaf Storm is another great move to keep on the set since something like Slurpuff is very threatening once it sets up and I have no reliable way to answer it. For this reason, Leaf Storm gets the nod and kills after Stealth Rock 100% of the time. I opt for a timid nature for the ability to outspeed Azelf pre-mega evolution and for the ability to pick off Scarf Chandelure late game. I also can't afford to be outsped by Crobat if it happens to be running max speed since this team is very weak to Crobat. Sceptile is great on the team by answering water types fairly reliably while making my matchup versus offense very favorable. It's no slouch versus more defensive teams as well because of the rest of the teams ability to slowly chip down the other side.

Florges @

Ability: Flower Veil
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def /4 SpD
Bold nature

- Moonblast

- Calm Mind

- Heal Bell

- Synthesis
Florges is basically here to make sure I don't auto lose to the plethora of dragons in the tier. At the same time, Florges ensures that I have a solid chance at busting through a lot of fatter teams, especially with Spikes support. A neat sequence that I see happen in some games goes like this. Hydreigon is in versus Qwilfish and clicks Draco as I go Florges. Doublade comes in and takes 20% from Moonblast. I go into Qwilfish on the Doublade and lay up a spike. He goes back into Hydrei and I am free to go into Florges again. Moonblast now deals 32% and Doublade is sitting under half and can't switch into Florges anymore. As you can see, Florges + Spikes can be a solid way to whittle down its normal answers that you see on a lot of teams. Heal Bell is also a valuable move that keeps Qwilfish a little bit safer from Entei.

Hydreigon @

Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid nature

- Draco Meteor

- Dark Pulse

- Flash Cannon

- U-Turn
Scarf Hydreigon enters the fray and ties the team together beautifully. Defensively, Hydreigon stops Chandelure, Hoopa, and Krookodile. It also provides a third water resist and fire resist which is highly valuable especially when running Infiltrator Chandelure. Offensively, Hydreigon generates a ton of momentum and essentially fills the same role as Sceptile. Both are fast dragons that excel in the late game. The critical differences show up when facing Psychic types like Reuniclus who is a large threat to the team. Hydreigon also outspeeds Mega Aerodactyl which is a key distinction. The moveset is largely standard except for the change of Flash Cannon > Fire Blast. There was no particular reason I did this just that I figured being able to pick off Florges at an earlier HP would be beneficial since Fire Blasting a Cobalion or something would undo a lot of my hard work. It also lets me clean up in a few different situations like say its low HP Florges and 75% Mega Aerodactyl. Instead of having to Dark Pulse flinch the Florges, I just clean with Flash Cannon.

Threats

Suicune is a real bitch to handle, especially Ice beam variants. Generally, Sceptile has to do the legwork in stopping it from getting out of control. I recommend running more speed on Qwilfish to always taunt it. Hex from Chandelure is also great for popping it if it is asleep with no boosts.

Reuniclus is a real bitch to handle, especially Calm Mind variants. Woah, that sounds familiar...Anyways, ya bulky calm minders are the main threat to the team so I'm going to stop covering them. Reuniclus is a little bit easier to handle since Chandelure hits it SE with Hex and if Reun is statused then Hex does something like 80% even at +1 SpD

DD Iron Tail kinda takes me for a ride but most other sets are handled okay provided I play smart.

Don't play against someone using Plot Lucario, it's not fun.

Nidoqueen is more manageable than Plot Luc but it's incredibly difficult to switch into. If you can force it to take a hit early then you'll be in a decent position but if they play it conservatively it's tough to deal with.

Empoleon is supremely obnoxious to play against with this team. It beats mostly everything 1v1. Luckily, that makes it want to switch into most things, especially Chandelure where it will get wisped and subsequently murdered by Hex + Burn damage. It's annoying but can be dealt with since its actual potential to win on its own is really low.

Replays

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-278293101 - A game by Based Scythe versus Korby. The triple Taunt attack accelerated the game and kept up the critical hazards that allowed Sceptile to sweep. This is a normal representation of the team versus stall. Stack spikes, click Taunt, win with Sceptile.

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gold-uu-46956 - Another game by Scythe where he sort of falls behind early but makes a sick play and CCs into the Rotom-C with Cobalion and catches Porygon2, really jumping him ahead.

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-261379138 - A good example of the team dealing with stall. I stack up the hazards and Blissey can't switch in. It tries to and gets 2hko'd so Sceptile would run through the rest of the team.

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-261473164 - Sceptile does it again. A couple well timed double switches give me hazards, Florges gets 2hkod easily.

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-261678336 - Checking Rotom-C repeatedly is something I forgot to mention and is another reason why Sceptile is godly. Chandelure also makes a nice appearance here, Taunting P2 and killing Salamence for little cost.

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-282973226 - Me vs Psychotic. Not my best showing since I nearly got swept by PuP RP MAggron but it was still a good game.

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-uu-83211 - Qwilfish really shines in this game, taking on Beedrill and Feraligatr nicely and spreading the necessary Spikes to secure a Hydreigon sweep lategame.

Closing Thoughts:
So as we come to a close for our second installment of Cooking with YABO, I'd like to address how the team is played once more. Overall, the team attempts to stack hazards and rack up residual damage on the common stops to Mega Sceptile. This frees Sceptile to ravage unprepared teams, particularly when they underestimate the damage from Giga Drain + Leaf Storm. While it does struggle with bulky calm minders, its matchup versus pretty much everything else is really solid. I've passed it to a few people who have used it in UU open to solid success and as far as I know, it is actually undefeated in tour play. It's a fun team to play because it has a strategy and executes it. It isn't quite like the normal teams I build but it worked out well. Anyways, that's all for now and see you next time when we take on another dish!

Importable

Chandelure @ Leftovers
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Hex
- Flamethrower

Qwilfish @ Black Sludge
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spikes
- Scald
- Taunt
- Thunder Wave

Cobalion @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Taunt
- Close Combat
- Iron Head
- Stealth Rock

Sceptile-Mega @ Sceptilite
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Giga Drain
- Leaf Storm
- Dragon Pulse
- Focus Blast

Florges @ Leftovers
Ability: Flower Veil
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Aromatherapy
- Synthesis

Hydreigon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Flash Cannon
- U-turn

Shoutouts

Shout out to all the pear

 

[dodmen]

Hey man, really nice team. Really cool how well these mons synergize and complement each other both defensively and offensively, so there isn't anything to be offered here in terms of replacing 'mons or changing up movesets. The only thing I've thought of that can benefit your team is running the standard Calm variant of Florges, since I just feel like between Cobalion and Qwilfish stuff you'd run a Bold nature for (like Hera, Krook, Lucario). Running Calm Florges would let you beat Nidoqueen/king, who are easily the most threatning single 'mons to this team, by CM'ing on the switch, and would also let you be safer against Mega Blastoise, opposing Mega Sceptile, and even Mega Ampharos. The only real cost I can see would be slightly weaker to Shark, but with any of Qwil, Coba, or Hydrei healthy it shouldn't be a problem. So yea, basically Calm gives you better insurance against special attackers like those that your team might have trouble with otherwise.

Cool team again! Where the seafood thing comes into play I have no idea.

 

[nv]

Glad to see this finally posted! (Different banner tho rip). Anyways, onto the rate!

• Only thing I can suggest is running Pain Split > Thunder Wave on Qwilfish just to not have conflicting statuses and give a form of recovery for Qwilfish so shit like burns don't wear it down as quickly. It also allows Qwilfish to really whittle down high HP mons such as Blissey, Suicune, and Reuniclus on the obvious Calm Mind.
• While I do like the Taunt spam you have going on, Volt Switch on Cobalion could be an option for ez momentum (which is always appreciated on offensive teams) and forms a nice VoltTurn core with Hydreigon which can pressure and overwhelm the opponent with your hazard stack.
• I second dodmen's change to Calm variant of Florges as this allows you to combat the Nidos a bit better while also taking on non-Flash Cannon variants of Nasty Plot Lucario.

Other than that, this looks like a solid offense team and while I can't play offense, I can appreciate it! :)