Fire and Brimstone: peaked at 1512, #1

[reachzero]

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Overview

It's hardly a revelation that the UU metagame revolves around Spikes. Deny your opponent Spikes and get your own Spikes up, and the balance of the game tips in your favor. This team was designed to do exactly that. However, this team is fundamentally an balanced team, and so it revolves around two of the offensive Pokemon that value Spike support the most: Chandelure and Krookodile.

Playstyle

This team is almost the definition of balance; three of the Pokemon are primarily defensive Pokemon, three of them are primarily offensive. The point is to get hazards down when you can, bring Chandelure in as many times as possible, and blow stuff up.

The Team

Chandelure (F) @ Choice Specs Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 156 HP / 252 SAtk / 100 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Energy Ball
- Shadow Ball
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power [Fighting]


The star of the show, and an absolute monster. 2HKOs virtually everything that isn't Porygon2 and Snorlax, and even doing 37.4 - 44.09% to Snorlax with HP Fighting is pretty nasty if you have Stealth Rocks and a layer of Spikes up. The speed brings Chandelure to 220, which outspeeds 252 speed neutral nature Empoleon, and conveniently minimum speed (i.e. SpD) Roserade. In my opinion, there isn't any other threat worth going all the way up to 259 for.

Qwilfish (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Waterfall
- Spikes
- Haze
- Thunder Wave

Qwilfish is THE most underrated Pokemon in UU. I made this team when Deoxys-D was running rampant in UU, and I was never really tempted to switch. Checking Heracross (if not for Earthquake predictions it would be a counter) and virtually every other Fighting type in UU is a major incentive to using Qwilfish, and Thunder Wave is awesome for spreading paralysis, which Chandelure and Porygon2 absolutely love. Thunder Wave is especially good for hitting the frequent Raikou and Zapdos switching in. Haze is crucial for dealing in virtually everything Qwilfish handles: it shuts down DD Kingdra long enough for Qwilfish to set up Spikes, it neuters Bisharp completely, it gives my team something of a chance to survive seeing CM Suicune, the biggest threat to my team by far.

Porygon2 @ Eviolite Trait: Trace
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Discharge
- Ice Beam
- Tri Attack
- Recover


Porygon2 has absolutely amazing synergy with Qwilfish and Xatu, and protects me from Chandelure. In terms of taking punishment and dishing it out, Porygon2 is probably the strongest Pokemon in UU. I use Trace instead of Download because of the huge threat of Specs Chandelure, but it's also pretty awesome with Yanmega and Sharpedo becoming much more popular. Can be a victim of its own versatility since it can get really worn down because it just helps deal with so many threats. One of THE reasons you want Xatu to keep Spikes off the field.

Bronzong @ Leftovers Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 144 Atk / 64 Def / 48 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Gyro Ball
- Toxic
- Earthquake


Bronzong is almost a must in this metagame, with CB Flygon on so many teams. Bronzong is here for Stealth Rock, for CM Raikou, and Flygon. Bronzong isn't that great from an offensive standpoint, so if I could find another Pokemon that did those three things as well, I would probably do it. The EVs are admittedly somewhat arbitrary.

Krookodile (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge


Krookodile, aside from being a great revenge killer and Pursuit user (for enemy Xatu), is fantastic for late-game sweeps once the opposing team is weakened and multiple layers of hazards are down. Krook has tremendous synergy with Qwilfish and Chandelure; Victini can't hit Chandelure for any kind of real damage without Krook Pursuiting it in revenge, Stoutland can't Pursuit Chandelure without Krook Pursuiting it in return.

Xatu (F) @ Leftovers Trait: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 12 Def / 244 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Night Shade
- Toxic
- Psyshock
- Roost

In the Deoxys-D metagame, you absolutely needed Xatu to keep Spikes from going down. Even without Deoxys-D around, Xatu really helps in shutting down Roserade, and denies Stealth Rock to teams that rely on Pokemon like Bronzong, Claydol and Hippopotas to get it up. Special Defense is preferable on Xatu to make it easier to switch in on Roserade; Psyshock ensures that Xatu can actually beat Roserade. I have often thought of changing Night Shade to Reflect to make it easier to handle Krookodile. From a pure team synergy standpoint, Xatu is probably the least important Pokemon; I have thought seriously about replacing Xatu with Zapdos, which would really help the team deal with the bulky waters that plague this team (Suicune mostly). However, when I have actually tested this, I have always found myself missing Xatu for how completely it shuts down Bronzong, Roserade, Gligar and similar weak setup Pokemon.


UU Offensive Threats

-Aerodactyl: Bronzong, Porygon2. Krookodile revenge kills. Not a threat to my team.

-Ambipom: Qwilfish, Bronzong. Not a major threat.

-Arcanine: Qwilfish paralyzes it and gets down at least one layer of Spikes. Can switch to Krookodile to take the obvious Wild Charge if need be.

-Azelf: Xatu usually comes in first to deny Stealth Rock; Krookodile revenge kills it rather easily.

-Azumarill: Qwilfish loves setting up on Azumarill.

-Bisharp: Qwilfish handles it much better than one would expect because of Haze and the fact that you don't need to directly attack Bisharp when it Sucker Punches.

-Chandelure: Trace Porygon2 is the second-best answer to Chandelure in UU.

-Cobalion: With Substitute, Cobalion is a big threat, but most don't carry Substitute, so Qwilfish handles most very well.

-Crobat: Porygon2 does very well against Crobat.

-Darmanitan: Qwilfish does well against Darmanitan, though you really need to get entry hazards down to wear Darma down, because Darmanitan with Earthquake can be troublesome.

-Durant: Qwilfish is a very strong answer to Durant.

-Eelektross: Porygon2 generally does well against this rare Pokemon.

-Escavalier: Qwilfish sets up on Escavalier; Chandelure can also come in.

-Flygon: The main reason I have Bronzong.

-Froslass: Highly annoying for everyone. Having Krookodile helps.

-Gallade: With Swords Dance and Zen Headbutt, not fun at all to face. With Bulk Up and Night Slash, Qwilfish sets up on it.

-Galvantula: Porygon2 does well enough. Hazards wearing it down is your best bet.

-Golurk: Don't let SubPunch Golurk get a Sub up. Attacking it and killing it is your best bet.

-Gorebyss: I hate Gorebyss. Porygon2 beats sweeper Gorebyss, but Qwilfish is what you want to stop SmashPass.

-Heracross: Qwilfish and Chandelure, but try to avoid switching into too many Earthquakes.

-Honchkrow: Intimidate from Qwilfish helps to soften the blows to Bronzong.

-Houndoom: Trace Porygon2 is good for facing Houndoom.

-Kingdra: Specs is very nasty. Rain Dance is perhaps slightly less nasty; Porygon2 can at least survive and cripple or kill it. DD is a bit easier since both Porygon2 and Qwilfish do well against it.

-Krookodile: Can be really annoying in terms of taking out Xatu. Porygon2 and Bronzong generally keep it from actually getting sweeps going.

-Lilligant: The combination of Xatu and Bronzong keep it in check, but there is some prediction involved, and what Hidden Power Lilligant carries factors in.

-Machamp: Qwilfish and Chandelure handle it well.

-Mew: Swords Dance and Nasty Plot are both very frightening, especially if it sets up before Spikes can bring it into Krookodile's KO range.

-Mismagius: Bronzong, Krookodile. No problem.

-Moltres: I hardly ever see it, but Porygon2 does okay.

-Nidoking: Porygon2 does well if it hasn't taken any prior damage, but if it already has this gets very dicey. Having Krook as a safety net helps.

-Ninjask: Porygon2 likes Tracing Speed Boost, Qwilfish setting up and then using Haze is amusing.

-Omastar: Porygon2, mostly. Ideally, don't let it set up.

-Poliwrath: Qwilfish sets up, Porygon2 kills it.

-Porygon-Z: Bronzong is the best bet. Krook often needs to revenge kill it if it has Nasty Plot.

-Raikou: Bronzong comes in first, keeps it from setting up too much, then Krook finishes it off.

-Rhyperior: Bronzong and Porygon2 between them handle Rhyperior quite well.

-Rotom-C: Porygon2 can handle it acceptably.

-Rotom-H: Porygon2 can handle it acceptably.

-Sceptile: Bronzong does well enough.

-Scolipede: Bronzong and Qwilfish tag-team to do well against it.

-Sharpedo: Porygon2 and Qwilfish together like seeing Sharpedo, but beware of Waterfall flinches if you try to Recover-stall too much for the Speed Boosts.

-Shaymin: SpD Xatu is actually a great answer to Shaymin, especially in conjuction with Bronzong.

-Sigilyph: Chandelure blows it up if it relies on Stored Power, but I could see Psyshock versions being trouble.

-Smeargle: Xatu does well, but SmashPass...is a problem.

-Snorlax: Qwilish generally sets up and uses Haze to keep Snorlax from Cursing successfully long enough to weaken it into KO range for Krook/Chandelure. Looks like a big problem on paper, rarely as bad in practice.

-Stoutland: Bronzong, Chandelure, and Krookodile are bad news for Stoutland.

-Suicune: HUGE PROBLEM. Qwilfish can delay Crocune and SubCM long enough for Porygon2 to spam Discharge in hope of a crit, but really beating either set, especially Crocune, requires rather substantial luck. Luckily Crocune in particularly is pretty rare high on the ladder. A big enough issue that I am always thinking about changing something to handle this better.

-Togekiss: If it's faster than Chandelure, intensely annoying. If not, it's probably going down.

-Venomoth: The hard part is figuring out what to let Sleep. Chandelure does okay in terms of taking Tinted Lens Bug Buzz.

-Victini: Qwilfish and Chandelure do as well as you could want, especially in combination with Krookodile.

-Weavile: Qwilfish and Bronzong both do very well against Weavile.

-Yanmega: Porygon2 lols at Speed Boost Yanmega. Tinted Lens Specs is a lot rougher, but can at least be revenge killed by Krook.

-Zoroark: As annoying as always. Porygon2 does...ok...but will die if Zoroark has Nasty Plot and Focus Blast. Krookodile is good as insurance here.

UU Defensive Threats

-Blastoise: Annoying, not unbreakable. Chandelure often weakens it into kill range or destroys it outright. If not, I try to hit it with Xatu's Toxic.

-Bronzong: Xatu lols at most Bronzong. Chandelure destroys even odd Bronzong like Calm Mind versions.

-Claydol: Xatu walls Claydol pretty badly and can Toxic it.

-Clefable: Really annoying. CM Clefable is a major threat. Other versions can be hurt by Chandelure and Krookodile.

-Cresselia: Support versions lose to Xatu. SubCM (which is very rare, of course) could be taken out by the combination of Bronzong and Krookodile.

-Cryogonal: Cryogonal sees Krookodile in its nightmares.

-Drapion: Qwilfish wishes Drapion was used more often.

-Dusclops: Xatu shuts down virtually everything Dusclops does, and Qwilfish can set up on it.

-Empoleon: Xatu usually comes in first, and weakens it into Chandelure's kill range, which doesn't take much.

-Ferroseed: Xatu shuts it down entirely.

-Gligar: Xatu shuts it down entirely.

-Hippopotas: Xatu shuts it down entirely.

-Hitmontop: Qwilfish sets up on Technitop. Chandelure wipes out Rapid Spin 'Top, but don't switch into Stone Edge, since Stone Edge + Sucker Punch together will kill you. Anything else means Chandelure will win.

-Milotic: Can be annoying. Try to lure it into a Chandelure Shadow Ball or especially Energy Ball, and you'll often cripple it for good. Xatu is usually my switch-in, threatening it out with Toxic. DO NOT risk hitting it with Discharge. DO NOT.

-Nidoqueen: SpD Xatu does well, especially since I have Psyshock.

-Porygon2: If it Traces Xatu's Magic Bounce, hilariously long Porygon2 vs Porygon2 stall wars ensue. If not, Bronzong Toxics it.

-Quagsire: Xatu. Chandelure can OHKO it with Energy Ball if it comes to that.

-Qwilfish: I love Qwilfish, but Xatu honestly lols at it.

-Registeel: Xatu shuts down Registeel. Krookodile also comes in with impunity.

-Roserade: SpD Xatu is designed to take this on.

-Rotom: Porygon2 does ok, as does Krookodile.

-Sableye: Xatu and Chandelure tag-team to deal with this. Remember to give both 0 IVs in Attack so Foul Play hurts less.

-Slowbro: Xatu shuts this down nicely. Porygon2 and Chandelure can kill it outright.

-Spiritomb: Qwilfish sets up on it. I haven't seen a Calm Mind Spiritomb in UU yet.

-Swampert: with Sub, really annoying. Ordinarily, Xatu and Porygon2 do well. Very easily lured into death by Chandelure.

-Tangrowth: Xatu shuts it down.

-Umbreon: Qwilfish sets up all over it. Chandelure can actually 2HKO it with Fire Blast. Bronzong's Toxic is what usually actually kills it, though.

-Uxie: Xatu shuts it down.

-Whimsicott: Xatu REALLY shuts it down.

-Xatu: Krookodile is one of the Pokemon Xatu doesn't like. Trace Porygon2 it likes even less.

-Zapdos: Porygon2 handles it quite well.


If I could change anything about this team, it would have to be finding a way to really handle Suicune, especially Crocune. How do I do that without tearing apart the synergy that really makes this team work?

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Qwilfish (F) @ Leftovers Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Waterfall
- Spikes
- Haze
- Thunder Wave
Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Trait: Trace
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Discharge
- Ice Beam
- Psych Up
- Recover
Chandelure (F) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 156 HP / 252 SAtk / 100 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Energy Ball
- Shadow Ball
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
Xatu (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 12 Def / 244 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Night Shade
- Toxic
- Psyshock
- Roost
Bronzong @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 144 Atk / 64 Def / 48 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Gyro Ball
- Toxic
- Earthquake
Krookodile (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge

 

[destinyunknown]

This is an amazing team reachzero (haven't I told you yet?) and I really wouldn't change any pokemon on your team as it would break the great sinergy it has...

I don't know what to do about suicune's issue, I thought about something gimmicky like psych up porygon (since tri attack isn't used that much) but that would end on a pressure stall war/hoping for a crit so it's not a good answer

 

[Pocket]

Thanks for sharing your successful team, reachzero. The solid strategy really shines through even through paper lol. It's no surprise you were able to conquer the UU ladder by winning the Spikes war and plummeting hits like a truck with your Specs Chandelure and Moxie Krookodile.

The easiest fix to your problem was mentioned by DestinyUnknown, Psych Up over Tri Attack on P2. With the offensive spread of yours, Discharge would do 36-43%, a good chance to 3HKO Suicune after equal CM boosts. It would not hurt to go with Thunderbolt to inflict a min 43%, a sure 3HKO.

Congrats to your prolific success in UU, reachzero!

 

[kokoloko]

Great team, only thing I would like to see is U-turn over Night Shade on Xatu, since I don't see Night Shade doing much and U-turn is such an awesome move on Xatu. Alternatively, you could run Haze on it in order to slow down Suicune, which is admittedly a huge threat.

 

[SixftHax]

I saw my boy joey(PokeaimMD) use this team, and Cheese(CheeseByMyself) use it as well
its pretty good

 

[Psychotic]

I hate running into this team, and you should be banned for using Qwilfish. It's so damn effective.

Luvdisc <3

 

[NickiMinaj]

Hey, great team! I played this team once on the ladder and speedier Togekiss varients (Max Hp Max Speed varients with Nasty Plot, Roost, Air Slash, and Heal Bell) can really mess your team up (I pretty much cut right through your team, though hax was involved. But, what can you expect from Togekiss xD). If I were you I would definitely try out Zapdos over Xatu. Though Zapdos cannot replace Xatu in terms of bouncing back hazards, it definitely stops your team from being destroyed by Togekiss.

Here are some sets:
Offensive
Zapdos @ Life Orb/Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Heat Wave
- Hidden Power [Grass] or if you want Hidden Power [Flying]
- Roost
Specially Defensive
Zapdos @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 236 SDef / 24 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt/Discharge
- Heat Wave/Hidden Power [Flying]
- Hidden Power [Grass]/Roar
- Roost

Hope I helped!

 

[asterat]

One thing you could try over krookodile or Xatu is a choice scarf Rotom-C. Rotom-C can still check Xatu, getting a nice momentum going with volt switch. It can also trick suicune before it gets too late, or simply nuke the shit out of it with leaf storm.
Rotom-C@ choic scarf
-trick
-volt switch
-leaf storm
-HP ice/fire.
4 HP, 252 SpA, 252 SPe

 

[FlareBlitz]

I cannot really think of any major changes to combat Suicune, simply because it seems like every team member serves an important purpose here. Your best option may simply be to replace Thunder Wave with Taunt on Qwilfish. This lets you go to Xatu on the Scald, Toxic it, and then back to Qwilfish for another Taunt. This has the potential to do some major damage to Qwilfish, depending on whether Scald burns or not, and offensive Suicune will take out at least two members before going down, but at least Crocune no longer destroys the team. You may also want to consider running max speed and Timid on Chandelure - this lets you get the jump on every Togekiss and also lets you do substantial damage to Modest Specs Kingdra before it nukes you.

Most of the other solutions I can think of simply open you up to different threats, since this team is constructed of Pokemon that are very good at their specific tasks. I was also going to suggest Zapdos over Xatu, but SR and hazards reduce the effectiveness of this team substantially, and that's not acceptable due to the lack of a spinner.

 

[Lohgock]

I remember facing you with that team on the ladder as you totally destroyed my stall-team with your chand.

Maybe you want to try a Muscle Band over your current Leftovers on Bronzong which lets Gyro Ball hit a lot harder, but recoverie is more important than more power on something like Bronzong I guess.

 

[Nibiria]

This team is cool...I don't play UU at all but I use Chandelure on my OU team and even then he rips enemies to shreds, so I dread to think what he could do in UU.

 

[FPlease]

Played someone who used this team and I won.

What won it for me was my (specially defensive swagger) sableye that nuked your whole team. It subbed on bronzong and just ran through your team. In your checks and counters for sableye you say xatu and chandelure can handle it, but xatu takes 56% from foul play meaning a crit can OHKO or roost gets pp stalled. Chandelure can't switch in on it safely as subsitute is pretty much guarenteed. After that sub chandelure cleaned up (lol I had the premature knowledge that my 168 speed chandelure outspeed yours which helped).

With this experience I must say your are more sableye weak than you think, atleast to the rather uncommon swagger set.

Your also weak to trick scarf rotom formes. Your reliance on porygon2 to handle them, in these cases is bad making a big hole in your defenses w/o eviolite and choice lock.

A third thing that I find gives your team troubles is CB/LO physically offensive azelf. Zen headbutt/ u-turn /fire punch/ice punch/trick coverage can really punches leaks into your team. You gotta have your prediction pants on really tight.

I would suggest replacements but I am always cautious with teams like these because I always open up other leaks

 

[666lumberjack]

The team losing to an incredibly rare set of a fairly uncommon Pokemon is not a priority for Reach, I would think. An ordinary Sabelye with will-o-wisp/recover/foul play/taunt or something similar is unlikely to be an issue for him since it's just giving flash fire boosts and is vastly more common than your subswagger set which I had never even heard of let alone seen until you posted that. Rotom formes may be more of a problem since a tricked duck is a crippled one, but if worst comes to worst Chandy can switch into most of them to absorb either trick or their main STAB. He just has to watch out for getting Volt switched, which is a pain but can be beaten with smart play.
Anyway, I watched a few of your games on the ladder and even though the team was suffering badly from hax (turn one Porygon2 crit being a notable example) it still impressed me with the way it had an answer to almost everything your opponent did right up until they got lucky or you rolled low damage. This is a great team, and I should congratulate you on reaching #1 with it!