SS UU First Foray into UU

[MinhtheMage]

Heya! I used to play a bit of OU in my spare time, and after dropping it for a few years I've decided to try and try out UU as I find the meta to be much more interesting and fun to play against. I'm an all around inexperienced team builder in general, but I think I've done an okay job here. I'm looking for some good pointers to really help round it out and jumpstart me into learning the tier better!

Celesteela @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 244 SpA / 20 SpD / 244 Spe
Modest Nature
- Air Slash
- Flash Cannon
- Flamethrower
- Protect

Meant to be my main special sweeper here. Flash Cannon for STAB bonus, Air Slash for a combination of STAB bonus and flinch chance, Flamethrower for extra coverage, and Protect to scout out potentially dangerous moves. With my team revolving a lot around Bisharp and Zeraora, I opted for Celesteela as a special sweeper to give me a boost in the special damage department.

Noivern @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Defog
- Taunt
- U-turn

Meant to be my main support and hazard clearer. Has what I'd expect of a typical support- Defog for hazard clearing, Taunt to prevent setting up, Hurricane for damage and confusion, and U-Turn for pivoting. Heavy Boots makes constantly swapping him in pretty safe and reliable. I've seen Noivern be pretty successful in the tier and thought he'd be pretty invaluable for my team.

Kommo-o @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 Spe
Bold Nature
- Body Press
- Flamethrower
- Iron Defense
- Toxic

My physical wall and pseudo damage dealer. Iron Defense and a lot of defense EVs for big physical bulk, Body Press to take advantage of the high Defense stats, Toxic for stalling and Flamethrower for extra coverage. Rocky Helmet for extra damage, but I've debated trying out a Leftovers set too.

Zeraora @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Plasma Fists
- Knock Off
- Close Combat
- Volt Switch

Along with Bisharp, one of the stars of my team. I've been liking Zeraora a lot and it feels really good to slot in. High Attack and Speed to make use of its already high base stats, along with Plasma Fists for STAB bonus and Volt Switch for free swaps. Knock Off provides a good support benefit to him on top of giving good coverage, and Close Combat is super good in tandem with Volt Switch so that I don't have to worry too much about reduced defensive stats.

Tapu Bulu @ Leftovers
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Careful Nature
- Swords Dance
- Horn Leech
- Darkest Lariat
- Synthesis

Not a Pokemon I've really used much in the past, but from the short time I've had with it, it's been pretty useful. My special wall with a good offensive set, once it gets set up it's really hard to break through. Swords Dance isn't super risky to set up due to high Special Defense, and the combination of Horn Leech, Synthesis and Leftovers keep it really healthy. Finally, I went with Darkest Lariat to counter setup reliant Pokemon.

Bisharp @ Black Glasses
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Iron Head
- Swords Dance
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch

The other star of my team, and my personal favorite Pokemon. I always love building teams around it, and it can do so much. Once it gets a Swords Dance set up, it'll pretty much one shot anything that doesn't resist Steel or Dark. Iron Head, Knock Off, and Sucker Punch are such a strong combination of attack moves that covers a lot of different scenarios and can put out so much damage.

Please, tear my team apart! This is my first time really building a team in UU and I would appreciate all the help I could get. All advice is good, as it'll contribute to me learning the metagame inside and out!

 

[Twilight]

Hiya MinhtheMage this looks like a cool start to a Hyper Offense team so that's the route I'm going to take this down. You have Bisharp and offensive Celesteela so it seemed very easy to take it down this path. Given you are new to the tier it's expected that some of these sets are a little off and could be improved. If you would prefer this was taken down a Bulky Offense route then feel free to PM me and I'll help you make a variant of that.

Major Changes:

>

: To be blunt Noivern sucks. As I said in the OP I went down a HO route with this so lead Mew looked like a great pick here. A Spikes stack lead can give you many opportunities for Bisharp to gain a Defiant boost and it just helps these partners sweep in general.

>

: With Mew having Stealth Rock you don't really need Kommo-o anymore. I decided to go with a Calm Mind Latias over it because it is a better response to Victini and it gives you a Water resist that isn't punished by Scald unlike Tapu Bulu. It also improves the Speed control of this team alongside Zeraora making you less susceptible to threats like Keldeo and Terrakion.

Minor Changes:

(Set Change): With this being a HO team I went with a more offensive Tapu Bulu. Close Combat giving you neutral coverage against foes like Kommo-o and Bisharp. Megahorn helps you break through Tangrowth while retaining coverage for Latias and Reuniclus.

(Set Change): So all offensive Celesteela want to run Autotomize to let them sweep. I also suggest using Power Herb + Meteor Beam here to let it get that immediate +1 boost. This also lets it breakthrough Pokemon like Rotom-H for example.

(Set Change): I would consider going a Bulk Up Zeraora here. I made the item Grassy Seed, which can activate off Tapu Bulu's terrain so that Acrobatics does more damage to foes like Kommo-o and Amoonguss etc. You could also consider Lum Berry but it'll be a little harder to activate here. Knock Off lets you beat Thundurus-Therian 1on1 but Close Combat felt nicer to improve the matchup against Mamoswine and Kyurem.

(Optional): With how prone this team can be to stuff like Mystical Fire Latias, Flamethrower Salamence, etc. I would consider running Occa Berry on Bisharp to get the better of them. The damage drop will suck in some cases but easing these matchups could go a long way.

<Click the sprites for the importable>
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Here is a quick replay of the team in action. I hope the team works well for you and if you have any questions feel free to message me. Like I mentioned at the start if you would prefer to take a BO route then I'm down to build something with you. I hope you stick around in the tier if it is too your liking :D

 

[MinhtheMage]

Wow! This helped quite a bit!

Replay trying it out for the first time: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1252509100

I've struggled a lot more in a lot of battles and this fixed so many issues. Everything feels so much easier and better to use and it's a lot more cohesive. Thanks!

And yeah I plan on sticking around UU for the forseeable future, the meta is a lot more interesting to me than OU.