As it was my birthday yesterday, I wanted to take the opportunity to do my first RMT for the new generation to celebrate. Introducing Francis, a team i've been very fond of lately, showcasing what I believe to be the most effective way to currently make use of Double Dance Reuniclus in SS UU.
For a time after the Obstagoon ban, Double Dance Reuniclus was a very popular pick on a lot of teams for its ability to automatically win a lot of matchups due to the relative lack of dark types, with counterplay limited to stuff like SD Boots Weavile, Taunt Umbreon, and Haze Milotic. The Incineroar drop post home, and the rise in usage of Pangoro, unfortunately made this a lot harder to pull off, putting a massive obstacle in the way of Reuniclus sweeps. This team however showcases the best way to get around these issues and make solid usage out of one of the scariest win conditions in the tier.
Teambuilding Process
To best support Acid Armor Reuniclus, the basic requirement was to pair it with Toxic Spikes to punish Checks like Incineroar and Milotic, of which offensive Weezing-Galar is an incredible setter due to its ability to reliably pressure most removers, and check the dark-types like Pangoro, Incineroar, and Umbreon that Reuniclus hates. This leads to one further hurdle of course, in that you need some way to get Incineroar's Heavy Duty Boots removed. Escavalier tends to be the most reliable method of Knocking Off Incineroar, as most Incineroar teams are heavily reliant on it to switch into Escavalier.
The team at this point desperately needed a Dark-type to check Chandelure. Umbreon was a fantastic option here, especially due to its ability to amazingly support Escavalier and Weezing-Galar with Wish Support. Double Dance Reuniclus teams tend to be more reliant on Toxic Spikes and have less of a need for Stealth Rock, and Copycat Umbreon is an amazing tech here to allow the forgoing of a dedicated Rocks user, while still being able to copy rocks off most setters like Rhyperior, Gigalith, and Bronzong. This tech also has far more applications, which I will talk about later.
I definitely wanted a bulky Water-type on the team here at this point, and Milotic seemed like a great option to help check Cobalion, Escavalier and Chandelure, in particular making sure the team doesn't get overwhelmed by the latter if Umbreon gets Tricked.
The team definitely wanted some Speed control at this point due to being pretty slow overall, and Noivern was a great pick to provide this and another check to Pangoro and Cobalion. Defog support is also greatly appreciated in certain matchups. Due to the lack of an Electric-immunity making Pokemon like Toxtricity, Rotom-Wash, and Heliolisk really annoying, swapping Milotic for Gastrodon was a logical change, while still checking the above Steel-types.
In-depth
To best support Acid Armor Reuniclus, the basic requirement was to pair it with Toxic Spikes to punish Checks like Incineroar and Milotic, of which offensive Weezing-Galar is an incredible setter due to its ability to reliably pressure most removers, and check the dark-types like Pangoro, Incineroar, and Umbreon that Reuniclus hates. This leads to one further hurdle of course, in that you need some way to get Incineroar's Heavy Duty Boots removed. Escavalier tends to be the most reliable method of Knocking Off Incineroar, as most Incineroar teams are heavily reliant on it to switch into Escavalier.
The team at this point desperately needed a Dark-type to check Chandelure. Umbreon was a fantastic option here, especially due to its ability to amazingly support Escavalier and Weezing-Galar with Wish Support. Double Dance Reuniclus teams tend to be more reliant on Toxic Spikes and have less of a need for Stealth Rock, and Copycat Umbreon is an amazing tech here to allow the forgoing of a dedicated Rocks user, while still being able to copy rocks off most setters like Rhyperior, Gigalith, and Bronzong. This tech also has far more applications, which I will talk about later.
I definitely wanted a bulky Water-type on the team here at this point, and Milotic seemed like a great option to help check Cobalion, Escavalier and Chandelure, in particular making sure the team doesn't get overwhelmed by the latter if Umbreon gets Tricked.
The team definitely wanted some Speed control at this point due to being pretty slow overall, and Noivern was a great pick to provide this and another check to Pangoro and Cobalion. Defog support is also greatly appreciated in certain matchups. Due to the lack of an Electric-immunity making Pokemon like Toxtricity, Rotom-Wash, and Heliolisk really annoying, swapping Milotic for Gastrodon was a logical change, while still checking the above Steel-types.
In-depth
mr l green thunder (Reuniclus) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Acid Armor
- Recover
- Stored Power
Double Dance Reuniclus is a super dangerous win con that can set up on so much in the tier and has rather limited (albeit common) checks once it begins to set up. Reuniclus usage in general has been much lower in recent months than in the past, and people are more lax in general on their counterplay than they used to be. In general Double Dance Reuniclus definitely needs to be heavily supported in the teambuilder, as it's otherwise fairly matchup dependent, and sets like LO 3 attacks are generally a lot more immediately threatening due to the very limited switch ins they provide. These Acid Armor sets are still a great choice on these fat balance teams however for the defensive utility they provide in checking threats like Toxic offensive Weezing-Galar while providing an amazing bulky win con however.
francis (Gastrodon) @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
- Recover
- Toxic
Gastrodon is a fantastic option on defensive teams currently due to the massive popularity of Rotom-Wash. It's crucial Electric-immunity in general makes Volt Switch a lot less free to click, even if it can't direcltly switch into Heliolisk or Toxtricity, by preventing these sort of teams being overwhelmed by Volt Switch momentum, and by limiting the number of Pokemon such Electrics abuse by using a Water-type they dont switch into. Ice Beam on this particular team allows it to not be beaten by Taunt Noivern, which can annoy quite a few members of the team.
the underwhere (Umbreon) @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Foul Play
- Wish
- Copycat
- Protect
While Umbreon usage has been a lot lower in recent months due to Incineroar, it's still one of the most effective special walls in the tier, and always an excellent choice with Weezing-Galar on Balance. Where this gets interesting is with the usage of Copycat on this team, instead of a more traditional option like Heal Bell or Taunt. Acid Armor Reuniclus teams like this tend to be more reliant on Toxic Spikes than SR, but with Copycat Umbreon this team can forgo a Rocker entirely, as Umbreon can easily copy Stealth Rocks off of a lot of common rockers like Rhyperior, Bronzong, and Gigalith.
This has far more application than just doing this however, and is a very versatile option that you can explore when looking at the team preview. Some relevant common examples include: copying Roost/Recover as Pokemon switch out to avoid 2 turn recovery, mirror spiking Roserade to prevent it freely abusing you, copying Heal Bell from Umbreon/bulky Sylveon to make up for lack of it on yourself, copying toxic to punish would be switch ins like Incineroar/Sylvon, and much more unlimited potential such as demonstrated in this CPL replay, copying stuff like Flamethrower from Pokemon you check like Chandelure, to nail normal would be amazing free switch-ins like Cobalion/Lucario.
whoa zone (Weezing-Galar) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 172 HP / 252 SpA / 84 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic Spikes
- Fire Blast
- Sludge Bomb
- Strange Steam
Ever since I first created Offensive Weezing-Galar in Alpha, I've always been in love with this set, as its an incredible combination of dangerous wallbreaker and defensive utility. In the post mamoswine metagame, it has only improved again however, and it tends to put a lot of pressure on common team structures featuring super common Pokemon like Pangoro, Incineroar, Sylveon, and Escavalier that it can get wallbreaking oppoortunities against. In particular, it's one of the most effective Toxic Spikes setters in the tier due to how well it pressures basically all removers, while the team has solid counterplay to absorbers like Roserade. It's definitely the most effective setter with Reuniclus however, instead of Roserade, as it checks all the threatening Dark-types like Umbreon, Pangoro, and Incineroar that Reuniclus hates, and can put more pressure on stuff like Escavalier for Reuni too.
i'm not nice (Escavalier) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Overcoat
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Atk / 192 Def / 48 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Iron Head
- Knock Off
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
Escavalier is one of the most splashable Pokemon in this tier currently, due to how dangerous Pokemon like Roserade, Necrozma, and Haxorus can be, and how fantastic of a breaker it can be while providing all of this defensive utility due to its amazing stats, typing, and coverage. Being the only true Roserade counter is absolutely essential for these sort of bulky teams featuring multiple Pokemon Roserade can abuse, as they really cannot afford to let it Sleep Powder Pokemon. Equally as important for this team, however, it is by far the best Pokemon at luring Incineroar in to be Knocked, allowing it to be affected by Tspikes. These sort of Incineroar teams tend to rely on it as the main check to Escavalier too, so this allows the dangerous combination of Escavalier + Tspikes to be an incredibly powerful breaking combination, either forcing in less decent switch-ins or allowing a Reuniclus late game sweep. This EV spread in particular allows Escavalier to outspeed Gigalith, put more pressure on checks like Incineroar, Noivern, and Rotom-Wash with an Adamant nature, while the bulk ensures it can check haxorus and dd necrozma as reliably as possible.
florosapien cavern (Noivern) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 232 HP / 24 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Defog
- Flamethrower
- Roost
Noivern rounds off this team fantastically, being the best speed control option for these sorts of teams due to its ability to outspeed and pressure all sorts of dangerous threats like Heliolisk, Cobalion and Roserade. A bulkier EV spread is much more useful on this team, allowing it to be a more reliable check to stuff like Cobalion and Escavalier. It also provides the absolutely best Defog option for this team, and Infiltrator really helps it put more pressure on common Screens teams atm.
Conclusion and Threatlist
- Machamp is definitely the toughest matchup, as it can put a lot of offensive pressure on Escavalier/Gastrodon/Reuniclus (at +0)/Umbreon. The team does have some defensive counterplay with a bulkier noivern spread, but Machamp also struggles to switch into most of these Pokemon freely, and can be very quickly worn down.
- While CB Pangoro isn't a huge issue with the presence of Weezing-Galar and a bulky Noivern, and not being able to abuse Umbreon, SD Sets can put some decent pressure on the team, especially Hyper Offensive versions with Iron Head > Bullet Punch, which the team relies on Noivern to deal with.
- While Copperajah doesn't really switch into anything freely, it can put a lot of pressure on Escavalier/Gastrodon once its in, and doesn't really have any switch ins, and AV versions can also get opportunities versus Weezing-Galar and Noivern. The team mainly relies on the fact it cant really switch in freely however, and forcing lots of 50/50s on the copperajah users part, while Umbreon can also put decent pressure on it with Foul Play.Shoutouts
UU friends - Juuno Accelgor Twilight lyd PinkDragonTamer DraconicLepus avarice Lilburr Bebo Hilomilo Daiyaga TMM martha A Cake Wearing A Hat Smallsmallrose pokeisfun CBU Donphantastic basaninho Mygrein Stoward Slowpoke92i lucqq Euphonos explodingdaisies esche TSR
Glaceon Goons - Eve Brandon ODR SeelofApproval sketchy ecchi Wigglytuff PhantomHurious Splash
Crew - Jordy maroon curiosity Conflux Estronic Rage Jho Gross Sweep Decem Panther-T Rekeri TPP Perish Song
PU friends - gum keppy royesk yogi Ashley Specs TJ
ty to everyone tbh for making being part of this community worth it! sorry to anyone i missed :(
Importable
mr l green thunder (Reuniclus) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Acid Armor
- Recover
- Stored Power
(Gastrodon) @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
- Recover
- Toxic
the underwhere (Umbreon) @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Foul Play
- Wish
- Copycat
- Protect
whoa zone (Weezing-Galar) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 172 HP / 252 SpA / 84 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic Spikes
- Fire Blast
- Sludge Bomb
- Strange Steam
i'm not nice (Escavalier) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Overcoat
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Atk / 192 Def / 48 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Iron Head
- Knock Off
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
florosapien cavern (Noivern) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 232 HP / 24 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Defog
- Flamethrower
- Roost
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Acid Armor
- Recover
- Stored Power
(Gastrodon) @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
- Recover
- Toxic
the underwhere (Umbreon) @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Foul Play
- Wish
- Copycat
- Protect
whoa zone (Weezing-Galar) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 172 HP / 252 SpA / 84 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic Spikes
- Fire Blast
- Sludge Bomb
- Strange Steam
i'm not nice (Escavalier) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Overcoat
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Atk / 192 Def / 48 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Iron Head
- Knock Off
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
florosapien cavern (Noivern) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 232 HP / 24 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Defog
- Flamethrower
- Roost
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