First UU RMT! :)

[Stevie1493]

I have been a prowler on these forums for years and I have finally decided to have one of my teams rated. I switch between 5 teams in UU that I regularly use; this one is the first one I EVER put together in 5th gen, and surprisingly it has been my most successful. I appreciate all input, changes, or constructive criticism!

Sableye, Victini, Zoroark, Registeel, Suicune, Heracross


Sableye @ Iron Ball
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Def / 136 SpD - Calm

- Taunt
- Trick
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover

I use Sableye as a lead. He might not be the most effective lead, but he can break a stall like no other. He keeps opposing pokes from setting up with taunt, which gives me the initial momentum. Tricking the opponent an iron ball is fun because people don't expect it. Trick wreaks havoc alongside Taunt on baton pass teams. I also love to ground pokemon like Crobat to open up a Heracross sweep. Will-O-Wisp gives my entire team longevity by halving attack stats, while recover keeps Sableye by my side longer to continue his utility. The EV's let Sableye take hits from both the special and physical spectrum.

Victini @ Life Orb
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe - Timid

- Blue Flare
- Focus Blast
- Psychic
- Grass Knot

I'm unsure about this set. Typically Victini will get a few really big hits in, but will never finish a sweep. The fire typing is useful for absorbing Will-O-Wisps that threaten my physical attackers. I use Blue Flare over V-create because it hits physically defensive pokemon that switch in harder than V-create does, plus I like the chance of a burn. Focus blast is a great coverage move that benefits from Victory Star. Psychic is a great STAB move that I use when I predict a fire type like Arcanine will be switching in. Grass knot is used on the likes of Rhypherior and Swampert. I've considered using Expert Belt over Life Orb, but I usually hit pokemon for neutral damage, except for Grass knot. 252 EVs in SpA and Spe to give Victini the speed and power to sweep.

Zoroark @ Choice Specs
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe - Timid

- Dark Pulse
- Flamethrower
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Ahhhh Zoroark.. The poke that I built this team around. It amazes me how people fail at predicting my Zoroark switch ins. I place Heracross in the final slot of the party.. my "Heracross" can HP Ice Gligar into oblivion, and in general hit other physically defensive switch ins to Heracross (Cofagrigus?) hard with one of my coverage moves. Max speed and SpA is standard for a specs set.

Registeel @ Leftovers
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD - Careful

- Stealth Rock
- Block
- Toxic
- Iron Head

Usually the second pokemon to see the field after Sableye, Registeel sets up stealth rocks and tanks hits all game due to his plethora of resistances. Stealth rocks is standard. The block/toxic combo I love to use on bulky water types. I have won several games with that strategy. Iron Head is for STAB and keeps me from being taunt bait. A pretty standard set outide of Block, the EVs give him the ability to take special hits well, because Calm Mind Suicune has max Def and I wanted a balanced defensive core.

Suicune @ Leftovers
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe - Bold

- Calm Mind
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Scald

My all time favorite Legendary. I have swept unprepared teams using scald with 4x SpA after a bunch of calm minds. This is such a standard set, so it doesn't need much explanation. It synergizes well the rest of the team, taking fire hits aimed at Heracross and Registeel and absorbing status aimed at my sweepers.

Heracross @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe - Adamant

- Close Combat
- Megahorn
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake

Standard ScarfCross. Once Zoroark has taken out Cofagrigus and Gligar, Heracross can sweep quite well. The iron ball comes in handy here. I have swept with EQ multiple times as a result of it. Heracross is a workhorse, it's hard to believe he got knocked down to UU.


This team has served me well, I feel like I can win MUCH more if I could switch up/replace Sableye and Victini. I am especially unsure of Victini's moveset. Plus I think I could have a much better lead than Sableye. All of the other pokes on this team pull their weight. I had some other questions but can't remember them now.. as I see a few responses I am sure they will come back to me.

Thanks!

 

[PTJon7]

Hey man pretty nice team, here are some things I think should help make it better:

1. Special Victini is a nice, but ultimately Physical Victini is superior for two reasons: V-Create and Bolt Strike. V-Create is obvious, its the most powerful move in the game besides a STAB explosion. Bolt Strike is just great, with a whopping 130 base power and high accuracy it is extremely useful. Here's a set I think that'll be good:

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Victini @ Life Orb
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 SDef - Adamant

- V-Create
- Bolt Strike
- Zen Headbutt
- U-Turn/Flare Blitz

Flare Blitz could be nice for when you're wanting to use a Fire attack without the large stat drops V-Create causes.


2. I don't think Zoroark should have Specs. It needs to have as favorable coverage as possible against its opponents, since it will die pretty much guaranteed against any decently powerful attack. Life Orb is your best bet. I'm also a fan of running Sucker Punch on Zoroark as well, as most people won't expect a physical attack from a special attacker.


3. As you saw in our match, your Suicune can be walled ridiculously easily. Though Poliwrath is not common, the set is still very easy to deal with for most teams, basically any bulky water type of the tier has Roar, and there won't be anything you can do to stop them. A taunter also shuts down that set, especially if Suicune is asleep since it can't Sleep Talk when taunted. The set is also begging for hax to fall upon it, though that really isn't that great of a reason that it isn't good.

I honestly don't know what to recommend for Suicune, I doubt you want to replace it if its your favorite legendary. I think Roar would be a useful thing to have on your team, maybe replacing Roar with Calm Mind would work?


4. Nice job making a team that covers its weaknesses so well. No more than 2 pokemon share a weakness.


Hope this was helpful, good luck!

 

[ss234]

Hi there. This looks like a pretty solid team, however there are some weaknesses.

The biggest weakness IMO is to electric types. Zapdos and Raikou threaten everything on your team for huge damage, and can quite easily come in on registeel and suicune with ease.

Therefore, I recommend replacing Registeel with Rhyperior. Rhyperior is a great answer to the electric types in the tier, thanks to solid rock and its EdgeQuake STAB's, hitting both raikou and zapdos for super-effective damage. Registeel isn't that great at all in this metagame, and lures in lots of powerful attackers due to its weak attacking options, while Rhyperior simply crushes almost everything apart from things like Gligar, which are lured in by Zoroark and destroyed.

Here is the rhyperior set:

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Rhyperior @ Leftovers
Trait: Solid Rock
EVs: 248 HP / 16 Atk / 244 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Blast
- Megahorn
- Stealth Rock

GL and I hope I helped.

 

[Stevie1493]

I appreciate the pointers guys.

First off, I would immediately switch to physical Victini if I didn't already have a team full of Physical attackers.. Suicune barely counts as a special attacker and Zoroark is frail. I have had my team annihilated late game by a Sableye with Will-O-Wisp before. It just halved my attack and healed off with recover. Adding another pure physical attacker would enhance this weakness. Is there an effective mixed attacking set? Or should I just replace Victini with something like Alakazam?

Second, Zoroark can't take life orb recoil. I usually save the Zoroark/Heracross combo until late game for the best chance of a sweep by one of them. and if Heracross has full HP and Zoroark doesn't due to life orb recoil than this strategy is ruined. Zoroark is usually a hit and run poke till late game as well, so the move diversity isn't as important, because I will usually attack once as a revenge kill and then switch back out.

Yes, Suicune CAN be walled easily, BUT... after a bunch of CM's scald can basically hit pokes that take 1/4 damage like Kingrda for neutral damage. So water absorb pokes (Like Poliwrath) are it's biggest crux. Suicune pulls it's weight, it sweeps with +4 Scalds as often or more than Heracross sweeps late game, because people simply don't have a counter for it. And to be totally honest, If I could have 5 moves, roar would have been the 5th one.. but this set simply doesn't work without any of the moves currently on it. Rest for recovery, sleep talk to not be dead weight, CM to make scald unresisted, and Scald obviously to attack. I definitely see your point though.

P.S. I've always loved Poliwrath, that was a cool set(:

To respond to Silvershadow.... This was one of the questions I forgot to ask!!! Zapdos has absolutely wrecked this team on multiple occasions.. I'm going to try out the Rhyperior set you mentioned and let you know how it works.

My main question now is Sableye... Is it a good lead for this team? I'm still learning how to use him, so he's not always the most effective, but I don't want to add any weaknesses to this team or lose his versatility.

Thanks guys!

 

[PTJon7]

My main question now is Sableye... Is it a good lead for this team? I'm still learning how to use him, so he's not always the most effective, but I don't want to add any weaknesses to this team or lose his versatility.

Here's what I think about Sableye: its obvious, its predictable, but it does its job. As much as I hate Sableye I can't deny that it is a very powerful wall and overall douche bag. I gotta say though if someone out predicts your Sableye, or gets behind a sub with Sableye on the field, you're in for a tough time. Thats why I think you need Foul Play as one of its moves. Trick is by far the least necessary of all its moves so I guess replacing that would work best. Here's the new set:

Hide

Sableye @ Leftover
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Def / 136 SpD - Calm

- Taunt
- Foul Play
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover