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Hey gang! It's been a while. I'm gonna try to kill two birds with one stone in this post. Firstly, I just thought I'd drop in at the end of the gen, with a unique take on the Dual Screens HO trend that everyone has hopped on in recent months. Secondly, and more personally, I haven't been as involved on PS / forums these days, but this server has been something of a passion project for myself and the other admins since its inception, and we'd love to see more shining faces there! It's no secret that Smogon is more than a little gay, so if you're interested, feel free to pop in and say hi! That said, I'm still a UU main at heart, and this gen has been nothing if not ridiculous, so I'm happy to send off Gen 7 with an equally fun team! Enjoy ~ <3
Teambuilding Process

I knew I wanted to start with screens offense, since that was the wave at the time and is still really solid. I prefer Azelf over Xatu personally, partly cause it's so much cuter but also because the combination of Taunt and base 115 Speed is just really really good? This mon really has been up to the same old tricks since 2008.


Shoutouts Amane Misa for figuring out that Feraligatr was the best screens abuser in the tier. I love this mon to bits and was so excited for it to get popular again, which is why I wanted to build a screens team of my own when I saw that it was trending.



On top of being, well, Scizor, SD Quick Attack Scizor gels really well both offensively and defensively with Gatr, so I put it on next. Scizor also likes to bait out stuff that Gatr can set up on, too, which is pretty spicy.




Lead Krookodile is something of a staple on these types of teams. And while this set skews my matchup against stuff like Hydreigon and Fighting-types against me quite a bit, it's far from unwinnable, and lead Krook is honestly so annoying in so many other matchups that I personally find the shaky matchups worth it.





I love this little guy on hyper offense so, so much. Spinblocker + Disguise letting you soft-check basically any frail thing you want is just such a blessing. I also made this my Z mon.






The wild card. Surprisingly, Unburden Sceptile pulled its weight in the majority of games with this team independent of its surprise factor, so I was really impressed. It's no Hawlucha, but its coverage is really solid and it can set up on a surprising amount behind screens. More on that later!
Alright, let's get started!
The Team 






Azelf @ Light Clay 
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Light Screen
- Reflect
- Taunt
- U-turn
This is a dual screens team. Azelf is my sceens setter. There's really not much here that doesn't speak for itself or I didn't explain already. I guess I could make it Timid to weaken Foul Play? But I already dodge the 2HKO with Reflect up, so 






Feraligatr @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 36 HP / 252 Atk / 220 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Liquidation
- Crunch
- Ice Punch
- Dragon Dance
This mon got such a glow-up and I'm so happy. It's one of the best screens abusers around and as I mentioned one of the main reasons I wanted to build screens. As far as screens teams go, I find my gameplans are actually surprisingly fluid. But for the most part, Gatr is here to soften up the Aggrons and Suicunes and Amoonguses (Amoongi?) of the world early-mid game so that Scizor or Sceptile can pull something off later. Versus more aggressive teams you often just ditch the screens early on and throw off attacks until Gatr falls over so you can try and get a cheeky position with something else later. More than anything I'm just glad my boy is back.






Scizor @ Life Orb 
Ability: Technician
EVs: 72 HP / 252 Atk / 184 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Quick Attack
- Swords Dance
- Superpower
SD Quick Attack Scizor is one of my two late-game wincons, and on top of being an awesome screens mon, is supported quite comfortably by Gatr's wallbreaking talents. Quick Attack is standard for dual screens, and honestly I feel naked without it on any SD Scizor on any HO team. Since this is a screens team I also don't have a Scarfer and is actually really really slow, so Bullet Punch + Scizor's typing is super key to maintain control against all the things Bullet Punch keeps in check. That's only if you're desperate, though.






Krookodile @ Focus Sash 
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
I promise this'll be it for the staple screens mons; it's all relative fun from here. Like I said lead before, lead Krookodile has a lot of flawed matchups but I think I do a solid enough job making up for them. If Hydreigon wants to Defog right off the bat versus me, it's forced to get Knocked Off and/or Taunted. Hydreigon players have lots of little choices like that. I go more into that dynamic further down. At the end of the day, though, lead Krook has more good matchups than bad just because Krook is inherently good, and this team has enough go to it I feel like I give most other hazard removers a really hard time and can justify this set.






Mimikyu @ Ghostium Z
Ability: Disguise
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Shadow Claw
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Sneak
Speaking of shifting momentum, I don't think anyone disputes that Lil' Mimi the undisputed queen of it for hyper offense. Whether it's forcing out Scarf Hydreigon (probably the biggest yikes for this team, but it's hyper offense so that's a given), killing a chipped +2 Infernape, or dying to get 40% of on Mega Steelix so that Sceptile can win later, the "trump card" factor of Mimikyu's Disguise just adds such an awesome new dynamic to UU offense and I just love it. I couldn't really fit Z anywhere on my team, so I gave it to her. With time though I found that the neutral nuke just felt right on it so it stayed. It's also Adamant for this reason, which may look odd, but (a) this team is odd already, and (b) the only particularly annoying things between 291 and 320 Speed are Nidoking, Lucario, and Heracross, so I'll gladly trade that for the power to OHKO Aggron with +4 Z after Rocks. You can easily swap it to Jolly if you don't like how that feels, though.






Sceptile @ Sitrus Berry 
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 12 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 240 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Leaf Blade
- Iron Tail
- Earthquake
Alright, here it is, the tech. Sceptile is my second late-game cleaner, and actually surprisingly brutal against stall thanks to its coverage too. For some reason, one night I just really wanted to build with this mon. I just... got a Sceptile bug, I dunno. Anyway, Leaf Blade / Iron Tail / Earthquake is super solid coverage, and base 85 Attack honestly isn't the worst thing the world, so I really wanted to pull this off. And lo and behold I did! The Speed investment is for Nihilego prior to Unburden, and allows you to set up on it with Light Screen up. It'll live lots of other stray hits with or without screens up, too, like Cobalion's unboosted Close Combat with Reflect down, which procs Unburden and lets you set up. This sort of thinking for when you set up started as an intuition ("Psh I can live that hit"), but became a science the more I learned calcs. You all know how learning teams goes. I usually don't like to talk about surprise factor when building or playing just because of its inherent unreliability, but in this case it kinda helps? But not really? Opponents will hold onto their Altaria or Togekiss or what have you to wall you then die to Iron Tail, but I don't really struggle with those mons that much unless I choke, so it's whatever. Anyway, I was thoroughly impressed with Sceptile's performance on this team, and I'm really glad I got that bug.
Threatlist 
- Scarf Hydreigon me forces to make more uncertain decisions than any other mon. Should I U-turn with Azelf as they bring in Hydreigon, or try to get a Light Screen up and force them to waste a turn? Or maybe I should Reflect on their U-turn and punish the incoming Scizor? I really just have to dance around this mon and hope I'm not outplayed, and if I'm not, then that's that, innit? That said, for every decision a Hydreigon player makes, I have a response, so while Hydreigon is annoying, it's rarely a losing game. I'll call it... a dynamic matchup.
- Terrakion + VoltTurn = X
- Click X
- Super awkward mon to play around, but I usually overwhelm it in the end. HO gives you no time for sleep fodder, so you just gotta get up and go and try to buy time until you can get screens up versus Hippowdon or some such.
- Stoward brought this to my attention, but yeah, WoW Mew is a big problem to a team with 6 physical attackers. This team was made before it dropped aaaaa!!!
If I missed your name and I've spoken to you personally please know that I rattled these names off without any coffee and does not necessarily reflect a lack of love for you! Love yourselves and stay hydrated!
Link to the server. Feel free to join us if you're straight and/or cis! We got snacks






^ Importable linked in sprites! ^







^ Importable linked in sprites! ^
Hey gang! It's been a while. I'm gonna try to kill two birds with one stone in this post. Firstly, I just thought I'd drop in at the end of the gen, with a unique take on the Dual Screens HO trend that everyone has hopped on in recent months. Secondly, and more personally, I haven't been as involved on PS / forums these days, but this server has been something of a passion project for myself and the other admins since its inception, and we'd love to see more shining faces there! It's no secret that Smogon is more than a little gay, so if you're interested, feel free to pop in and say hi! That said, I'm still a UU main at heart, and this gen has been nothing if not ridiculous, so I'm happy to send off Gen 7 with an equally fun team! Enjoy ~ <3



I knew I wanted to start with screens offense, since that was the wave at the time and is still really solid. I prefer Azelf over Xatu personally, partly cause it's so much cuter but also because the combination of Taunt and base 115 Speed is just really really good? This mon really has been up to the same old tricks since 2008.


Shoutouts Amane Misa for figuring out that Feraligatr was the best screens abuser in the tier. I love this mon to bits and was so excited for it to get popular again, which is why I wanted to build a screens team of my own when I saw that it was trending.



On top of being, well, Scizor, SD Quick Attack Scizor gels really well both offensively and defensively with Gatr, so I put it on next. Scizor also likes to bait out stuff that Gatr can set up on, too, which is pretty spicy.




Lead Krookodile is something of a staple on these types of teams. And while this set skews my matchup against stuff like Hydreigon and Fighting-types against me quite a bit, it's far from unwinnable, and lead Krook is honestly so annoying in so many other matchups that I personally find the shaky matchups worth it.





I love this little guy on hyper offense so, so much. Spinblocker + Disguise letting you soft-check basically any frail thing you want is just such a blessing. I also made this my Z mon.






The wild card. Surprisingly, Unburden Sceptile pulled its weight in the majority of games with this team independent of its surprise factor, so I was really impressed. It's no Hawlucha, but its coverage is really solid and it can set up on a surprising amount behind screens. More on that later!
Alright, let's get started!










Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Light Screen
- Reflect
- Taunt
- U-turn









Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 36 HP / 252 Atk / 220 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Liquidation
- Crunch
- Ice Punch
- Dragon Dance








Ability: Technician
EVs: 72 HP / 252 Atk / 184 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Quick Attack
- Swords Dance
- Superpower








Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
I promise this'll be it for the staple screens mons; it's all relative fun from here. Like I said lead before, lead Krookodile has a lot of flawed matchups but I think I do a solid enough job making up for them. If Hydreigon wants to Defog right off the bat versus me, it's forced to get Knocked Off and/or Taunted. Hydreigon players have lots of little choices like that. I go more into that dynamic further down. At the end of the day, though, lead Krook has more good matchups than bad just because Krook is inherently good, and this team has enough go to it I feel like I give most other hazard removers a really hard time and can justify this set.








Ability: Disguise
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Shadow Claw
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Sneak
Speaking of shifting momentum, I don't think anyone disputes that Lil' Mimi the undisputed queen of it for hyper offense. Whether it's forcing out Scarf Hydreigon (probably the biggest yikes for this team, but it's hyper offense so that's a given), killing a chipped +2 Infernape, or dying to get 40% of on Mega Steelix so that Sceptile can win later, the "trump card" factor of Mimikyu's Disguise just adds such an awesome new dynamic to UU offense and I just love it. I couldn't really fit Z anywhere on my team, so I gave it to her. With time though I found that the neutral nuke just felt right on it so it stayed. It's also Adamant for this reason, which may look odd, but (a) this team is odd already, and (b) the only particularly annoying things between 291 and 320 Speed are Nidoking, Lucario, and Heracross, so I'll gladly trade that for the power to OHKO Aggron with +4 Z after Rocks. You can easily swap it to Jolly if you don't like how that feels, though.








Ability: Unburden
EVs: 12 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 240 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Leaf Blade
- Iron Tail
- Earthquake
Alright, here it is, the tech. Sceptile is my second late-game cleaner, and actually surprisingly brutal against stall thanks to its coverage too. For some reason, one night I just really wanted to build with this mon. I just... got a Sceptile bug, I dunno. Anyway, Leaf Blade / Iron Tail / Earthquake is super solid coverage, and base 85 Attack honestly isn't the worst thing the world, so I really wanted to pull this off. And lo and behold I did! The Speed investment is for Nihilego prior to Unburden, and allows you to set up on it with Light Screen up. It'll live lots of other stray hits with or without screens up, too, like Cobalion's unboosted Close Combat with Reflect down, which procs Unburden and lets you set up. This sort of thinking for when you set up started as an intuition ("Psh I can live that hit"), but became a science the more I learned calcs. You all know how learning teams goes. I usually don't like to talk about surprise factor when building or playing just because of its inherent unreliability, but in this case it kinda helps? But not really? Opponents will hold onto their Altaria or Togekiss or what have you to wall you then die to Iron Tail, but I don't really struggle with those mons that much unless I choke, so it's whatever. Anyway, I was thoroughly impressed with Sceptile's performance on this team, and I'm really glad I got that bug.


So here's the thing about cheese, and about mons about general, really. There's always the factor of "If". "If I can manage to get screens up, I can set up on this threat that 6-0's me, but if I get crit or if they get in at the right time, I just lose." It's often a matter of things at work far enough ahead that neither player sees what's happening unless you really are on another level. Pokemon is, inherently, an extremely volatile game, and has only gotten more volatile with the ever-increasing stupidity power creep. Crits and Z-Moves are dumb, yeah, but Pokemon isn't an uncompetitive game. It's just very, very, silly. And yes, I'm a solid player, but the influence of that "if" factor, at the end of the day, impacts strongly enough that it cannot be ignored.





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If I missed your name and I've spoken to you personally please know that I rattled these names off without any coffee and does not necessarily reflect a lack of love for you! Love yourselves and stay hydrated!
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