SM Ubers Diamonds are forever

[Umbra#]

Introduction ​

I feel like I should apologise, I’m sure some people here read this thread and rolled their eyes. I wrote it at work and whilst I’d read the required reading for posting a rate my team thread but I don’t think I took it in. So I’m taking another run up.

My goal is to use dialga with specs because he’s a favourite of mine, I don’t really know how to build a whole team around one Pokemon but I certainly tried to.

Teambuilding Process​

Hide

Well come to the star of the show, so this is where I started, the idea being to catch people by surprise expecting a stones setter and finding a wall breaker, it does depend on good prection but it’s not normally too hard.

I chose ho-oh to make up the other side of my core, nothing really switches into Dialga well if I predict right, but if I don’t the biggest threats are earth and fighting, hence ho-oh as a nice mixed wall and physical Attacker

Ho-oh needs a defogger and I found that Giratina is the most reliable one, he can also come in on some mons ho-oh doesn’t want to, using rocks moves as a second physical wall

The first three were easy, the next three were harder, but I knew I needed a setter and a Xearneus check and this guy seemed to tick both boxes.

At this point I’m looking at a glaring Yveltal weakness, Arceus counters that and gives me some more nice switch ins too, like Zygarde

And finally I felt like I was missing a counter to Kyogra, which oddly I’ve found Groudon does fine, just needed a little more speed than usual and he was able to switch into on thunder, or any water move or even ice beam and 2Ko with earthquake.

The Team​

Dialga @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Power Gem
- Fire Blast
- Flash Cannon
​

Anything weak to Draco dies in my experience, as do a lot of Neutrals (Yveltal that start by taunting you), making for a nice wall breaker. Fireblast covers most of the steel types in the tier, like Necrozma DM, Ferrothorn. Flash Cannon is a nasty surprise for fairy switch ins, especially Geo Xearneus. Power gem is for an easy kill on ho-oh which normally don’t even bother switching out when Dialga comes in. He switches into toxic nicely and flying moves.

Giratina @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 128 Def / 128 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rest
- Defog
- Will-O-Wisp
- Toxic
​

Rest for recovery, Defog I hope speaks for itself. Will-O-Whisp cripples attackers that want to set up, on him, toxic used to be Roar but I found I wanted to sit in on a lot of Groudon with Giratina and I needed something to do to him. Chesto over leftovers because I’ve never been able to find time to let him wake up without being set up on, so I found rest without it useless.

Ho-Oh @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 244 HP / 216 Def / 48 SpD
Impish Nature
- Toxic
- Brave Bird
- Recover
- Sacred Fire
​

Pretty sure this is the standard mixed wall set, the only debate I have is toxic vs sub. Sub blocks a lot of status effects but toxic let’s me eat through a lot of things it can only impotently block otherwise

Necrozma-Dusk-Mane @ Ultranecrozium Z
Ability: Prism Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 152 Atk / 104 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Sunsteel Strike
- Photon Geyser
​

Earthquake is there to grant several areas of nice coverage otherwise steel types wall him, photon geyzer as a Z move is brakes some walls, sunsteel is essential so he can do his job as a Xearneus switch in. Which is also why he has those IVs. I keep his steel type as long as I can for fairies and switch ins to Toxic. The main use of his transformation is to go second, evolve take a speed boost and go first for me. Or to use his Z move.

Arceus-Fairy @ Pixie Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 252 HP / 156 SpA / 100 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Judgment
- Earth Power
- Recover
- Defog
​

Earth power is a nice coverage move to dent steel types who want to switch in, doesn’t 2KO most of them but it wittles mons down. Judgement is his stab and it’s amazing for smacking slower dragon types that stay in on him for reasons I’ve yet to fathom. Like Rayquaza, Giratina and Zygarde. Recover speaks for itself, Defog has been refresh, toxic and calm mind before. I found I had enough status coverage already, refresh was hard to find an opportunity to use, between my two steel and Giratina types I’m fairly good at absorbing toxic and I found I mostly wanted to use recover anyway. Calm mind I found tricky to work, I think I’d need it and refresh to make it work and then I’d have no coverage move. So Defog it is, it’s important for ho-oh not to have stealth rocks around anyway. That speed investment means he outspeeds Yveltal invested in speed.

Groudon-Primal @ Red Orb
Ability: Desolate Land
EVs: 252 HP / 236 Atk / 20 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock
- Roar
​

Speed IVs mean he normally outspeed other normal Groudon sets and Kyogra sets, which is what he’s for, Kyogra specifically. Roar to phase out things that think that can set up. Toxic for walls that jump in and then I found it useful to have a second stealth rock.

Conclusion​

The team peaked at 1550 area, so has laddered, now floating around low 1500, I think someone more familiar with the meta (I started playing again after quitting during gen V last week) could get further but I’m also sure there is some finessing to be done.

Importable

Dialga @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Power Gem
- Fire Blast
- Flash Cannon

Giratina @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 128 Def / 128 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rest
- Defog
- Will-O-Wisp
- Toxic

Ho-Oh @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 244 HP / 216 Def / 48 SpD
Impish Nature
- Toxic
- Brave Bird
- Recover
- Sacred Fire

Necrozma-Dusk-Mane @ Ultranecrozium Z
Ability: Prism Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 152 Atk / 104 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Sunsteel Strike
- Photon Geyser

Arceus-Fairy @ Pixie Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 252 HP / 156 SpA / 100 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Judgment
- Earth Power
- Recover
- Defog

Groudon-Primal @ Red Orb
Ability: Desolate Land
EVs: 252 HP / 236 Atk / 20 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock
- Roar

 

[Umbra#]

Bump, please give me a chance xD

 

[Saphi]

Not too many UBER players here ;D.

So just from glancing at your team, you seem to be fairly weak to certain set-up sweepers such as Mega-Salamence and Rayquaza. Megamence in particular can come in and set-up on Ho-Oh, Giratina and a Fire-Blast locked Dialga. He won't care about status as he carries Facade and can procede to OHKO or 2HKO your entire team with just a bit of chip damage. Mega-Gengar is also a big threat to your team being able to eat your Giratina for breakfast and doing huge chunks of dmg to your entire team bar maybe Ho-Oh. You see where I am going with this? Your Giratina seems to be the weak link in your team.

Now how to patch up the weakness to these A+ threats according to Smogon's UBERS viability ranking?

Replace Giratina with a physically defensive Yveltal. Yveltal, while being less bulky than Giratina, has access to an arguably better recovery move in Roost and better utility in Taunt+Foul Play. He can reliably check all the before-mentioned threats and many more such as Marshadows carrying Rock Tomb.

Yveltal @ Leftovers
Ability: Dark Aura
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Foul Play
- Roost
- Defog
- Toxic

I am also not a big fan of the Double Defog set-up. I'd use Toxic > Defog on Arceus-Fairy to cripple opposing Support Arceus forms. That would make your team have too many Toxic users, which is why you could use Substitute > Toxic on Ho-Oh. I'm also not sure about the Groudon set, how useful is it really?

 

[Umbra#]

Wow thank you so much for your feedback.

Since I made this thread I actually changed my Necrozma to be max attack max speed and hit around, 1600 on the ladder which I’m super happy with. I think someone more familiar with Uber’s (I’ve been playing less than a week) would get further too.

You’re right on the money about mega Mence and Gengar by the way, although gengar has died trying to switch in on various mons various times. The only way I’ve found around mega mence is to reserve dialga, sack something to bring in Arceus or to surprise with ultra Necrozma. The other big threat I have an issue with is attack deoxies, which Yveltal would also help.

Yveltal with bulk does look like a good switch in for Tina, whose main use was to beat the omnipresent Pgroudon. Which Yveltal could do more easily probably. And it alleviates my dark weakness a little.

As for double Defog, I have actually found that pretty useful and I think I would find it even more so switching in Yveltal as my team would become weaker still to rocks.

Edit: as for Pgroudon
He’s definitely not the star of the team but I’ve just not found a better rocks setter, him spreading rocks and toxic has been helpful and I have enjoyed his physical bulk but I think overall he is probably one of the least valuable team members. The most being Ho-oh, Arceus Necrozma and Dialga.