Hello! I’m new to competitive Pokémon and this is my first uu team. Due to the relatively small distribution of Rapid Spin and Defog, it seemed like a hazard shuffler team might be successful, and this is my attempt. It works, but it definitely needs refinement.
At-a-glance:
Crustle @ Leftovers
Ability: Shell Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Iron Defense
- Body Press
- Stone Edge
My rocker of choice, Crustle can translate its strong physical bulk into offense with Body Press. After ID there are few physical attacks it cares about and it can do surprising damage. Meanwhile even uninvested STAB Stone Edge significantly chunks most pokemon and threatens most defoggers.
Golisopod @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Emergency Exit
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- First Impression
- Liquidation
- Leech Life
- Spikes
The other hazard setter Golisopod doubles as a revenge killer in the middle and late game. Liquidation and Leech Life are spammable STABs, although they’re seldom clicked
Flygon @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 212 HP / 252 Atk / 44 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Quick Attack
- Dragon Tail
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
The shuffler. This set is pretty self-explanatory. Dragon Tail to chip things and phase them out, priority to finish off weakened mons that come in, and RestTalk for longevity. There are a couple other pokemon that can do this role: Lucario, Arcanine, and Pangoro. Lucario was tested and was too frail to get in reliably or to perform the role. ExtremeSpeed Arcanine has bulk but gets walled by the common ghosts in the tier. So between Flygon and Scrappy Pangoro, Flygon is chosen because it has comparable bulk to Pangoro but is much faster, and it’s two useful immunities make it much easier to get in, while making it useful for double switches.
Hitmonlee @ Assault Vest
Ability: Reckless
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- High Jump Kick
- Throat Chop
- Blaze Kick
Hitmonlee’s weirdly high SpD with an assault vest means it can take surprisingly strong special hits. Rapid Spin clears hazards and gives Hitmonlee and speed boost that can threaten a sweep with Reckless-boosted HJKs. Throat Chop threatens ghosts that would try to spin block.
Doublade @ Eviolite
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Sneak
- Gyro Ball
- Sacred Sword
Doublade blocks spin, revenge kills, and threatens to set up and sweep, especially on teams weakened by hazards. There’s not really a lot else to say about it.
Milotic @ Leftovers
Ability: Marvel Scale
EVs: 252 HP / 148 Def / 108 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Dragon Breath
- Recover
- Haze
This is just a standard Milotic, but it provides a crucial defensive backbone to the team. There doesn’t seem to be a great deal of electric or grass coverage running around, and without those Milotic is very hard to break.
The Good:
Crustle has performed better than I hoped so far, being very reliable at getting up rocks, and if it gets an ID off night immovable on the physical side, while dishing out surprising damage. The hazard shuffle strategy in general has been easier to execute than I feared, and keeping hazards in play has mostly not been difficult.
The Bad:
This team struggles to break past bulky pokemon, particularly Galarian Weezing, Gastrodon, and opposing Milotic. This is made worse by the lack of grass coverage on the team to help deal with bulky waters. Also, Polteageist seems to give me serious problems every time I run into it, even though on paper it seems like I should handle it.
The Possibilities:
The two weakest links on this team seem to be Golisopod and Hitmonlee. I’ve considered running Roserade as a spiker instead in order threaten bulky waters, but with its bad physical bulk and the lack of HP Fire, it seems pretty exploitable. And First Impression on Golisopod is just so good. Hitmonlee seems to be very boom or bust, so a more reliable spinner that helped with some of my coverage problems would be excellent, but I haven’t found anything that doesn’t seem to come at the cost of too much offense.
At-a-glance:
Crustle @ Leftovers
Ability: Shell Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Iron Defense
- Body Press
- Stone Edge
My rocker of choice, Crustle can translate its strong physical bulk into offense with Body Press. After ID there are few physical attacks it cares about and it can do surprising damage. Meanwhile even uninvested STAB Stone Edge significantly chunks most pokemon and threatens most defoggers.
Golisopod @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Emergency Exit
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- First Impression
- Liquidation
- Leech Life
- Spikes
The other hazard setter Golisopod doubles as a revenge killer in the middle and late game. Liquidation and Leech Life are spammable STABs, although they’re seldom clicked
Flygon @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 212 HP / 252 Atk / 44 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Quick Attack
- Dragon Tail
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
The shuffler. This set is pretty self-explanatory. Dragon Tail to chip things and phase them out, priority to finish off weakened mons that come in, and RestTalk for longevity. There are a couple other pokemon that can do this role: Lucario, Arcanine, and Pangoro. Lucario was tested and was too frail to get in reliably or to perform the role. ExtremeSpeed Arcanine has bulk but gets walled by the common ghosts in the tier. So between Flygon and Scrappy Pangoro, Flygon is chosen because it has comparable bulk to Pangoro but is much faster, and it’s two useful immunities make it much easier to get in, while making it useful for double switches.
Hitmonlee @ Assault Vest
Ability: Reckless
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- High Jump Kick
- Throat Chop
- Blaze Kick
Hitmonlee’s weirdly high SpD with an assault vest means it can take surprisingly strong special hits. Rapid Spin clears hazards and gives Hitmonlee and speed boost that can threaten a sweep with Reckless-boosted HJKs. Throat Chop threatens ghosts that would try to spin block.
Doublade @ Eviolite
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Sneak
- Gyro Ball
- Sacred Sword
Doublade blocks spin, revenge kills, and threatens to set up and sweep, especially on teams weakened by hazards. There’s not really a lot else to say about it.
Milotic @ Leftovers
Ability: Marvel Scale
EVs: 252 HP / 148 Def / 108 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Dragon Breath
- Recover
- Haze
This is just a standard Milotic, but it provides a crucial defensive backbone to the team. There doesn’t seem to be a great deal of electric or grass coverage running around, and without those Milotic is very hard to break.
The Good:
Crustle has performed better than I hoped so far, being very reliable at getting up rocks, and if it gets an ID off night immovable on the physical side, while dishing out surprising damage. The hazard shuffle strategy in general has been easier to execute than I feared, and keeping hazards in play has mostly not been difficult.
The Bad:
This team struggles to break past bulky pokemon, particularly Galarian Weezing, Gastrodon, and opposing Milotic. This is made worse by the lack of grass coverage on the team to help deal with bulky waters. Also, Polteageist seems to give me serious problems every time I run into it, even though on paper it seems like I should handle it.
The Possibilities:
The two weakest links on this team seem to be Golisopod and Hitmonlee. I’ve considered running Roserade as a spiker instead in order threaten bulky waters, but with its bad physical bulk and the lack of HP Fire, it seems pretty exploitable. And First Impression on Golisopod is just so good. Hitmonlee seems to be very boom or bust, so a more reliable spinner that helped with some of my coverage problems would be excellent, but I haven’t found anything that doesn’t seem to come at the cost of too much offense.
