Gen 1 Dancing to Dorime - CatRat HO [RBY UU]

[pac]

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Hello there! I'm an RBY UU main who loves Hyper Offensive teams, and I set out to make a team that checks both those boxes, Essentially, I wanted to make an offense team that utilises the lesser-used Raticate, and it ended up turning out very well. Its even taken a win in UUFPL, shown here. This is easily my favorite RBY UU team of all time, and I wanted to share it with everyone.

Teambuilding Process ​

The team was made with the infamous Rat in mind. Its primary strength is access to Super Fang, one of the best moves in the game due to its guranteed 50% damage (even on Haunter!). Its speed tier also isn't terrible, although it falls short of the golden standard that is 100 Base Speed for offensive threats. Raticate allows for you to very consistently put Pokemon into a range where another Pokemon such as Dugtrio and Persian can clean up hard, while also backing a meaty STAB Hyper Beam.

The two best Pokemon in the tier, they will both appear on nearly every single team. Tentacruel is fast and acts as both solid coverage in the special offense department, as well as being a fantastic pivot for my offensive threats like Raticate. Hypno acts as my Sleeper and my Kadabra check, although this set is unique as described later.

I wanted Pokemon to take advantage of the extra chip that Raticate provides, and these made the most sense. Dugtrio is arguable #3 or #4 in the tier, due to its abilities to clean games with even one crit off its juicy 23.44% critical hit rate. Its STAB Earthquakes are especially relevant due to their ability to pressure Tentacruel. Persian does a similar thing, replacing possibly fatal Crit Earthquakes with STAB Slash. It also helps Dugtrio's Gyarados issue with Thunderbolt, while continuing the offensive pressure the team has.

The team was lacking in a reliable status spreader besides Hypno, and using a slow Pokemon such as Tangela would break momentum that the team builds. It also desperately needed another answer to physical walls such as Kangaskhan and Tangela. The team's general HO nature leaves it prone to dying if it loses said momentum, so Kadabra is the best option. It helps against opposing Kadabras that the team otherwise struggles with as well.

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The Team

John Paul I (Hypno)
- Psychic
- Seismic Toss
- Hypnosis
- Thunder Wave​

While Tentacruel also works as a lead in RBY UU, and would also work for this team, I personally have a distaste for it. It leaves your Tentacruel at unnecessary risk Turn 1 due to Wrap's 85% accuracy. Your Tentacruel going the Victreebel route and choking is even worse in this team than in others, as its Wrap is vital for ensuring your offensive threats can consistently and safely enter the field, and the team struggles to function at times otherwise due to its lopsided nature. Other than that its almost a standard lead Hypno, featuring Hypnosis, Thunder Wave, and Psychic. The interesting difference is the presence of Seismic Toss over Rest. While this is normaly inadvisable due to Hypno's importance throughout a game, in this case its main purpose is to spread status and threaten Hypnos into clicking Rest, allowing Raticate to take full advantage. In order to accomplish both tasks consistently, it needs to drop Rest.

John Paul II (Tentacruel)
- Blizzard
- Wrap
- Surf
- Rest
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Its just the basic Tentacruel set, same shit different day. Wrap allows you to immobilise your foes to allow for free switch-ins, Surf hits like a truck, Blizzard lets you freeze opposing Tentacruel in the ditto and act as general coverage. Unlike Hypno, many games can result in an endgame that fringes on Tentacruel, so Rest is still useful for longevity and to win some of those scenarios. Not much to be said here, over all.

credit to me for the poperat sprite
Francis (Raticate)
- Super Fang
- Hyper Beam
- Body Slam
- Blizzard

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Its the star of the show that you've all been waiting for, the Rat! In general, this is your early game threat. Your strategy is typically to come in on a predicted rest from Hypno, which is why Seismic Toss Hypno is so important to force that scenario. Use Super Fang to get Pokemon into desirable positions for Dugtrio, Persian, and Kadabra to be abused without them being risked early on. Don't underestimate it on its own though, its STAB Hyper Beams are no pushover. It will get many KOs with the combo of Super Fang into either Hyper Beam or a coverage move. This set has Blizzard so that Dragonite does not set up on you, but Thunderbolt is also an option if you prioritise Gyarados.

Raticate Hyper Beam vs. Kadabra: 270-318 (95.4 - 112.3%) -- 74.4% chance to OHKO
Raticate Hyper Beam vs. Tentacruel: 184-217 (50.6 - 59.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Raticate Hyper Beam vs. Hypno: 178-210 (47.7 - 56.3%) -- 86.3% chance to 2HKO
Raticate Blizzard vs. Dragonite: 231-272 (60 - 70.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Raticate Thunderbolt vs. Gyarados: 183-216 (46.5 - 54.9%) -- 67.1% chance to 2HKO

Even if its not getting a KO, landing one Super Fang can be enough to allow another Pokemon to come in and revenge KO while coming in safely without risk of being hit by status, being a massive tempo move that can win games on its own.

Benedict XVI (Persian)
- Slash
- Thunderbolt
- Hyper Beam
- Toxic

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Persian is your other Normal-type physical attacker alongside Raticate, this time with the advantage of being extremely fast, while trading the utlity of Super Fang for the raw might of its STAB Slash that will crit nearly every single time. There's honestly not too much to say here, it's pretty intuitive to use. Note that Thunderbolt is only really clicked against Omastar, Gyarados, and the rare Poliwrath, as Slash will do more against other Water-types such as Tentacruel, Vaporeon, and Dewgong.

John XXIII (Dugtrio)
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Substitute
- Toxic​

It's the infamous "BIG DUG". This is the main Pokemon that will take advantage of the damage your Raticates and Persians are doing. Seriously, 23.44% critical hit rate is absolute crack. This Pokemon will absolutely steal games given the chance. When the opponent's Lead Tentacruel clicks Wrap on Hypno, switch this in. This will force Tentacruel out, allowing you to kickstart the game. Switching into Raticate can be a good idea, as its likely that they will be bringing in a Dugtrio check such as Gyarados or Kangaskhan that will dislike being hit by Raticate, allowing for free damage. Other than knowing when to switch Dugtrio in, there isn't much to the Pokemon. It is fast, it hits hard, click Toxic if a Dragonite switches in. Note that Substitute can easily be replaced with Slash to make it less Tangela weak, however I appreciate Substitutes ability to randomly take games from a well timed full paralysis from the opponent, or on a predicted switch-out. Slash is definitely the more consistent option however.

Pius XI (Kadabra)
- Psychic
- Seismic Toss
- Recover
- Thunder Wave
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Kadabra functions both as a cleaner / attacker, operating on the Special side rather than the physical side like Persian or Raticate, but it also doubles as your status spreader. Spreading paralysis is vital to decreasing the opportunities for the opponent to claw themselves back into a winning position by keeping them on the backfoot. It also helps against Physical walls such as Kangaskhan and Tangela, which Dugtrio especially does not like.

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General Team Strategy ​

So as you've probably gathered, this team is extremely offensive. You slam on the gas pedal in the first few turns and do not let go, else you'll die. This may not be intuitive to those who play more standard RBY UU teams, so here's a couple tips.

Be confident in your reads:​

In order to succeed with CatRat HO, you will have to flex the superior size of your balls and make some hard reads to allow your wincons to come in and wreak havoc. The standard safe options will many times place you on the backfoot temporarily, which is a problem for a team with very few resources to come back from that.

Make aggressive trades:​

With three different wincon buttons you can press, making aggressive trades with one of them will many times win games, moreso than in most games. This is because you take advantage of this much harder than your opponent, since they usually only have one or two sweepers. You have 3, potentially 5 depending on how Raticate and Tentacruel are played out.

Prioritise Pivoting with Wrap:​

The sad reality is, 2/3 of your team cannot take basic attacks very well. Due to this, the vast majority of your switch-ins will be on hard reads, as well as through Tentacruel Wrap. Otherwise, you risk failing a potential sweep because you can't take enough hits. This is less relevant in other teams where your Pokemon can actually just... switch in.

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Flaws

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Articuno, in my eyes, is undoubtedly this team's worst matchup. You just have to put in too many resources to put the damn thing into commission, and you dont have a solid defensive check in Dewgong or Vaporeon.

Other than Articuno, Aerodactyl is the other biggest roadblock. It outspeeds all of our offensive threats, threatens with Burn from Fire Blast, and is a check to our primary endgame wincon in Dugtrio.

Besides these two, we have decent checks and answers to every Pokemon in the tier with proper positioning and predictions. This team will obliterate through even these two if it is able to gain enough momentum early on.

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The other biggest flaw in this team is the inherent accuracy issues. The team can and will collapse under a Wrap or Super Fang miss planted at a wrong time. However, its ability to steal games can overshadow this. In general, games will end much shorter due to this, and will typically be more lopsided one way or the other.

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Special Thanks

Special thanks to chessprime, Plague von Karma, and the numerous other people in the RBY UU community who have helped me improve and use this team to its maximum potential!




Team Pokepaste​