ORAS UU First UU Team!

[Nimbus-Skye]

Hey guys, I've been playing the Battle Spot metagame for a long time before Smogon on the 3DS, but I wanted to try something new where I get to use some of the lesser-used Pokemon in Battle Spot and enjoy some variety in general. I've read up on a lot of Smogon articles and watched many UU tournaments that run on the official server's "tournaments" room, and have finally created my own team for use in UU. Any advice would be appreciated!

Aerodactyl-Mega @ Aerodactylite
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 60 HP / 192 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Taunt

This is easily my favorite Pokemon of UU. Great attack and speed. Although I do realize that I wasted its ability by running no contact moves on it, I needed both a stealth rock user and a taunt user. If anyone on my team would be better-suited to running these 2 moves, please tell me!

Gyarados @ Lum Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 88 HP / 220 Atk / 4 Def / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Ice Fang
- Earthquake

I love how this guy dropped to UU. I noticed significantly fewer players using a non-Mega Gyarados, so it's great to be able to use him in a lower tier where he fits better. That being said, this is my primary setup-sweeper. I invested mostly in attack and speed, which are ideal for a sweeper. HP is mainly to give him some much-needed bulk. His base defense is his second-lowest base stat, so I decided to invest 2 EVs in it so that with Intimidate, he's fairly bulky on the physical side as well. Lum berry is to avoid status ailments such as paralysis and burn, and is very useful against the Prankster Sableyes that run rampant in this tier. Dragon Dance is obviously for stat boosts, waterfall is the STAB move, Ice Fang is for coverage against bulky grass and dragon-types, and earthquake is primarily for Empoleon.

Cresselia @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 132 SpA / 44 SpD
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Psyshock
- Moonblast
- Moonlight

My wall. She is absurdly bulky and, in my experience, can take almost any hit and use moonlight to recover the damage taken. Obviously she shouldn't be pitted against her weaknesses intentionally, but she is my main sponge and check for most physical attackers. Leftovers is there to add some additional recovery in combination with Moonlight. Calm Mind is for taking advantage of a switch, Psyshock is my main STAB move, and Moonblast is for coverage against dark types.

Crobat
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 60 HP / 80 Def / 116 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Acrobatics
- U-turn
- Toxic
- Roost

Typically my lead, his main purpose is to poison one of the opposing Pokemon when taking advantage of a switch or U-Turning to gain momentum. Roost is there for a means of recovery, and Acrobatics is there for STAB. I didn't run an item for the sake of Acrobatics, but am considering Brave Bird since it has more power and doesn't require me to run without an item. However, I simply despise the recoil that Brave Bird has. Any recommendations?

Rotom-Heat @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 52 Def / 60 SpA / 148 Spe
Timid Nature
- Overheat
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Will-O-Wisp

This is my primary switch-in to ice-type moves, since half of my team members possess an unfortunate ice weakness. Since most ice-type attacks are coming from water-types, his STAB Volt Switch is very useful. If there are any actual ice-types, such as Mamoswine, he is sure to take them out with his mighty Overheat. I chose this form over Rotom-Mow because he possesses far more resistances, including useful ones to Bug, Grass, Fairy, and Flying. This enables him to not only check ice-type attackers, but many other types of Pokemon as well who do not have a Rock or Water-type move.

Flygon @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Stone Edge
- Power-Up Punch

One of my favorite Pokemon both aesthetically and competitively, I was happy to find him usable in UU. He checks most Rock, Steel, and Fire-types that lack HP Ice, so I found Power-Up Punch to be very suitable for him, especially when the opponent lacks a ghost-type. This essentially grants him an attack boost along with some chip damage, so I decided to run it on him. Earthquake is there for STAB and its generally excellent coverage, Outrage is for the secondary STAB to inflict as much damage as possible, and Stone Edge is for coverage against flying-types. The Life Orb makes this thing an absolute monster after its 1.5x attack boost from Power-Up Punch.


And that is my first UU team! If anyone has any comments or suggestions, feel free to leave them below!

 

[Adaam]

Hi there, nice first team and welcome to UU! A big problem I immediately see is Stealth Rock. You have 4 Rock weak mons and no way to remove them, so no doubt they will quickly wear down your team once set up. Additionally, Dark type pokemon look like they can break through your team easily. M-Sharpedo, Hydreigon, Krookodile, M-Absol, and Sableye all break holes or spread burns on your team since you have no switch i to any of these mons. Bulky Waters also spam Scald relatively freely and are a nuisance to deal with since nothing on the team really 1v1s UU's common Waters.

First change is a must: Defog over Toxic to remove Stealth Rock. With 4 Rocks weak mons, having a way to remove Rocks is a must. Toxic is alright, but many times Crobat lures in Steel types that do not care for it, so Defog's utility far surpasses it.

The spread is also quite inefficient. The EVs seem all over the place, so try out a more concise spread of 184 HP / 72 Atk / 252 Spe with a Jolly Nature and Sky Plate item. You also would want to change Brave Bird over Acrobatics just to get that extra power. The spread + item + move change lets you OHKO Shaymin and Machamp after Rocks. It would be very frustrating to deal with threats like those if Crobat couldn't threaten them out, so this change is recommended even with the unfortunate recoil. You could also try a simple max Attack and Speed spread. Whatever you prefer, you can choose.

Lastly, an optional change is Taunt over U-Turn to stop CM Florges from setting up, as Whimsicott does not like taking Moonblasts, and unfortunately Crobat struggles 1v1 against it without max Atk investment or Taunt.

-->

Now to help with the teams large Dark/Water problem, I'm thinking of replacing Cresselia with Whimiscott. Whims helps so much with the aforementioned Darks and serves as a Draco switch in from the likes of Hydreigon, although watch out for Fire Blast. Whims also mitigates the teams problems with Water types by serving as an OK Scald switch in vs defensive ones and shutting down set up from offensive ones that sweep you after a boost. Here is the set:

CM Florges

Whimsicott @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 128 Def / 128 Spe
Timid Nature
- Encore
- U-turn
- Moonblast
- Giga Drain

Memento and Stun Spore are both options over Giga Drain are viable if you want to make setting up with Gyarados easier or emergency check some threats. However, Crobat and M-Aero are fast enough that speed isn't too much of an issue.

The EV Spread lets you outspeed positive base 100s (mainly Salamence) while maximizing physical bulk to check the physical Waters and Darks mentioned before.

-->

I know you love Flygon, but it simply isn't good in UU. It is largely outclasses as a wallbreaker by other Dragons, so you're better off with SR Swampert over Flygon. The Whimsicott change makes you weaker to Fire spam, and there are very few better Fire checks than Swampert. Swampert is also a much more reliable Rocker than M-Aero, as it beats all the tier's spinners, threatens to burn defoggers with Scald, and has superior bulk to find many opportunities to switch in. Here is the set:

SR Pert

Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 240 HP / 16 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Scald
- Roar

You can also try Ice Beam over Roar to relieve pressure off of Whims to switch into Dragons like DD Mence, M-Sceptile, and Hydreigon.

M-Aero's set and spread can definitely be improved now that we have SR on Swampert. A spread of 216 Atk / 40 Def / 252 Spe and a Jolly Nature is better since the EVs let you survive a Jolly LO Ice Shard from Mamoswine after Rocks while maximizing Attack and Speed.
Pursuit over Stealth Rock is another change you should make, as in a metagame dominated by Alakazam, having a decently reliable way to kill it is incredibly useful, especially when we have no Psychic resists. It also has the benefit of trapping Chandelure, which spams Shadow Balls for free.

Roost over Taunt to improve Aero's longevity. Taunt doesn't seem like it is that useful, as you aren't running the stallbreaker Taunt+Toxic set and there isn't any scenario I can imagine Taunt being more useful than Roost. Roost lets us repeatedly switch into things we rely on Aero to check, like the aforementioned Alakazam, Crobat, and so on.

Stone Edge over Rock Slide is a must. Rock Slide is laughably weak and makes M-Aero very nonthreatening. For reference, DD Mence sets up on Rock Slide Aero after Intimidate, whereas Stone Edge KOs after Rocks.

Again, the EVs can definitely be improved. A simple spread of 4 Def / 252 Atk / 252 Spe with a Jolly Nature is ideal since you want to outspeed Mamoswine and non-Scarf Chandelure before a boost and maximizing Attack.

Earthquake seems good on this set cause Empoleon is a massive nuisance otherwise. However, Ice Fang is a mediocre coverage move due to its low BP. It only really hits Salamence harder than other coverage moves, so Stone Edge over Ice Fang is recommended to stop Zapdos from ending a Gyarados sweep while still hitting things like Hydreigon and Grass types for decent damage.

-->

Nasty Plot Infernape over Rotom-H is my last change. Having 4 Rocks weak mon is really difficult to play around, and Rotom-H seemed like the weakest link. With Swampert and Gyarados, losing a reliable Mamo switch in is not the end of the world, and Pert + Aero deal with the Flying and Fire types Rotom-H checks. Infernape brings much more to the team. Remember those pesky Darks like M-Shark, Absol, and Hydreigon? Infernape provides a secondary way to check them with Vacuum Wave priority. Sableye becomes a joke to face with Ape + Whims, and Ape synergizes well with Gyarados as is easily disposes of bulky Grasses that wall Gyara. Try forcing a switch into a bulky Steel with Crobat/Whims to bring in Ape for free and proceed to wreck havoc.

Here is the set:

NP Ape

Infernape @ Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Fire Blast
- Focus Blast
- Vacuum Wave

I hope I helped!

 

[Nimbus-Skye]

Hi there, nice first team and welcome to UU! A big problem I immediately see is Stealth Rock. You have 4 Rock weak mons and no way to remove them, so no doubt they will quickly wear down your team once set up. Additionally, Dark type pokemon look like they can break through your team easily. M-Sharpedo, Hydreigon, Krookodile, M-Absol, and Sableye all break holes or spread burns on your team since you have no switch i to any of these mons. Bulky Waters also spam Scald relatively freely and are a nuisance to deal with since nothing on the team really 1v1s UU's common Waters.

First change is a must: Defog over Toxic to remove Stealth Rock. With 4 Rocks weak mons, having a way to remove Rocks is a must. Toxic is alright, but many times Crobat lures in Steel types that do not care for it, so Defog's utility far surpasses it.

The spread is also quite inefficient. The EVs seem all over the place, so try out a more concise spread of 184 HP / 72 Atk / 252 Spe with a Jolly Nature and Sky Plate item. You also would want to change Brave Bird over Acrobatics just to get that extra power. The spread + item + move change lets you OHKO Shaymin and Machamp after Rocks. It would be very frustrating to deal with threats like those if Crobat couldn't threaten them out, so this change is recommended even with the unfortunate recoil. You could also try a simple max Attack and Speed spread. Whatever you prefer, you can choose.

Lastly, an optional change is Taunt over U-Turn to stop CM Florges from setting up, as Whimsicott does not like taking Moonblasts, and unfortunately Crobat struggles 1v1 against it without max Atk investment or Taunt.

-->

Now to help with the teams large Dark/Water problem, I'm thinking of replacing Cresselia with Whimiscott. Whims helps so much with the aforementioned Darks and serves as a Draco switch in from the likes of Hydreigon, although watch out for Fire Blast. Whims also mitigates the teams problems with Water types by serving as an OK Scald switch in vs defensive ones and shutting down set up from offensive ones that sweep you after a boost. Here is the set:

CM Florges

Whimsicott @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 128 Def / 128 Spe
Timid Nature
- Encore
- U-turn
- Moonblast
- Giga Drain

Memento and Stun Spore are both options over Giga Drain are viable if you want to make setting up with Gyarados easier or emergency check some threats. However, Crobat and M-Aero are fast enough that speed isn't too much of an issue.

The EV Spread lets you outspeed positive base 100s (mainly Salamence) while maximizing physical bulk to check the physical Waters and Darks mentioned before.

-->

I know you love Flygon, but it simply isn't good in UU. It is largely outclasses as a wallbreaker by other Dragons, so you're better off with SR Swampert over Flygon. The Whimsicott change makes you weaker to Fire spam, and there are very few better Fire checks than Swampert. Swampert is also a much more reliable Rocker than M-Aero, as it beats all the tier's spinners, threatens to burn defoggers with Scald, and has superior bulk to find many opportunities to switch in. Here is the set:

SR Pert

Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 240 HP / 16 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Scald
- Roar

You can also try Ice Beam over Roar to relieve pressure off of Whims to switch into Dragons like DD Mence, M-Sceptile, and Hydreigon.

M-Aero's set and spread can definitely be improved now that we have SR on Swampert. A spread of 216 Atk / 40 Def / 252 Spe and a Jolly Nature is better since the EVs let you survive a Jolly LO Ice Shard from Mamoswine after Rocks while maximizing Attack and Speed.
Pursuit over Stealth Rock is another change you should make, as in a metagame dominated by Alakazam, having a decently reliable way to kill it is incredibly useful, especially when we have no Psychic resists. It also has the benefit of trapping Chandelure, which spams Shadow Balls for free.

Roost over Taunt to improve Aero's longevity. Taunt doesn't seem like it is that useful, as you aren't running the stallbreaker Taunt+Toxic set and there isn't any scenario I can imagine Taunt being more useful than Roost. Roost lets us repeatedly switch into things we rely on Aero to check, like the aforementioned Alakazam, Crobat, and so on.

Stone Edge over Rock Slide is a must. Rock Slide is laughably weak and makes M-Aero very nonthreatening. For reference, DD Mence sets up on Rock Slide Aero after Intimidate, whereas Stone Edge KOs after Rocks.

Again, the EVs can definitely be improved. A simple spread of 4 Def / 252 Atk / 252 Spe with a Jolly Nature is ideal since you want to outspeed Mamoswine and non-Scarf Chandelure before a boost and maximizing Attack.

Earthquake seems good on this set cause Empoleon is a massive nuisance otherwise. However, Ice Fang is a mediocre coverage move due to its low BP. It only really hits Salamence harder than other coverage moves, so Stone Edge over Ice Fang is recommended to stop Zapdos from ending a Gyarados sweep while still hitting things like Hydreigon and Grass types for decent damage.

-->

Nasty Plot Infernape over Rotom-H is my last change. Having 4 Rocks weak mon is really difficult to play around, and Rotom-H seemed like the weakest link. With Swampert and Gyarados, losing a reliable Mamo switch in is not the end of the world, and Pert + Aero deal with the Flying and Fire types Rotom-H checks. Infernape brings much more to the team. Remember those pesky Darks like M-Shark, Absol, and Hydreigon? Infernape provides a secondary way to check them with Vacuum Wave priority. Sableye becomes a joke to face with Ape + Whims, and Ape synergizes well with Gyarados as is easily disposes of bulky Grasses that wall Gyara. Try forcing a switch into a bulky Steel with Crobat/Whims to bring in Ape for free and proceed to wreck havoc.

Here is the set:

NP Ape

Infernape @ Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Fire Blast
- Focus Blast
- Vacuum Wave

I hope I helped!

Thanks for the suggestions! I've been waiting for an entire week for such an in-depth review of my team. That being said, I feel that you have made quite extreme modifications to my team, specifically changing out half of my team members. For reference, one of the official RMT announcements here: http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/common-rating-mistakes-you-should-avoid.3477398/ has stated that raters should not completely change a team in the revision process. I am quite new to the UU metagame and might not know much about this tier, but are my some of my original members (Flygon, Rotom-H, and Cresselia) able to stay with some minimum changes in their movesets?

 

[Adaam]

I understand that I made a bit more pokemon swaps than I ideally want to. However, I found these changes necessary to mitigate the crippling Stealth Rock weakness, and Flygon is not currently viable as a wallbreaker in the UU metagame, so it had to go unfortunately. If you're hesitant to make these changes, then Cresselia can be kept, but I really recommend the Swampert + Whims over Rotom-H and Flygon. Watch out for Dark types though, as Whims gets worn down easily.