In Heracrosshairs (First UU Team)

[STABX4]

Hi all,
I recently saw that UU seems to be pretty popular and although Ive played UU in the past, Ive never actually sat down to make a team specifically for that tier. As stated above, this is my first crack at a UU team so any help I can get would be greatly appreciated.
* Changes in bold
* Second Revision in Red

Team At A Glance:

In Depth Analysis:

Roserade@ Life Orb
Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA/4 HP/252 Speed
Timid
Giga Drain
Sleep Powder
HP Fire
Sludge Bomb
I Decided to do away with Azelf mainly due to its lack of offensive presence on an offensive team and because Kabutops can already set up stealth rocks if needed. Roserade allows my team to complete the classic FWG Core and gives me resistance against Electric types such as Zapdos.

Kabutops@ Leftovers
Swift Swim
EVs:252 HP/68 Atk/188 Def
Impish
Rapid Spin
Stealth Rock
Aqua Jet
Stone Edge
Kabutops has the benefit of being both a stealth rock setter and a rapid spinner to clear enemy hazards. Aqua Jet provides priority and when combined with Stone Edge a strong counter to Arcanine and Darmanitan.
I considered the Blastoise idea mentioned by GenXXZ, but I decided that while defensivley superior to Kabutops, Blastoise lacked the ability to set up rocks which I feel is an important asset for my team

Arcanine@ Life Orb
Flash Fire
72 HP/252 Atk/8 SpD/176 Speed
Adamant
Flare Blitz
ExtremeSpeed
Crunch
Close Combat
Arcanine is my main sweeper for this team, Flash Fire benefits from Heracross as it lures fire types to gain a free boost. Flare Blitz is the main STAB attack and destroys anything that doesnt resist it especially after the Flash Fire gain. Extremespeed allows Arcanine to take out weakened foes that wall Heracross. Crunch eliminates potential spin blockers while Close Combat deals damage to many UU physical threats.

Zapdos@ Life Orb
Pressure
EVs: 4 HP/252 SpA/252 Speed
Timid
Thunderbolt
Heat Wave
HP Ice
Roost
I opted for Zapdos over Crobat to help me deal with the Bulky Waters that plauge this team. Also has nice coverage moves in Heat Wave for Bronzong and HP Ice to control Flygon.

Kingdra@ Leftovers
Sniper
EVs: 252 Atk/4 SpD/252 Speed
Adamant
Substitute
Dragon Dance
Outrage
Waterfall
Kingdra serves this team as an alternative sweeper on case Arcanine goes down. Due to its unique typing which grants a variety of resistances, Kingdra can easily come in set up a sub to protect from status and boost with Dragon Dance, two of which allow it to outspeed most of the UU tier. Outrage and Waterfall are two strong physical STAB attacks that are only truly resisted by Empoleon.

Mienshao@ Choice Scarf
Reckless
EVs: 252 Atk/4 HP/252 Speed
Jolly
Hi Jump Kick
Stone Edge
U-Turn
Aerial Ace
I replaced Heracross with Mienshao mainly due to the fact that it accomplishes the same task while outspeeding other key revenge killers like Victini and Darmanitan and even hits harder with Hi Jump Kick.


Thanks for your help,
STABX4

 

[Plus]

Hello.

This looks like a pretty well built UU team, though I'm just concerned with how you're going to deal with faster scarfed threats like Victini or Flygon, the former has thing like Bolt Strike all of your team for neutral or SE damage, the latter which has Outrage and also hits your team for neutral or SE damage. And it's not like your team is bulky either, so pokemon like Raikou can really deal a good amount of damage to this team easily and quickly, with only Heracross being able to check it with Earthquake when it has an opportunity to switch in. I realize that this is an offensive team and sacrificing pokemon to bring others in seems like the best way to win with this team, so I'm not going to suggest much defensively, rather offensively so you don't run into too much trouble with things like Raikou and faster threats base 115+.

I don't know if you absolutely need a dedicated anti-lead for this team, so I really do think you could consider replacing Azelf for something that would address your issue of a lack of electric resist. Honestly, having Kingdra and Arcanine sounds like a really good idea to run a grass type to compliment the two, thus completing a FWG core. The addition of a grass type would help you switch into water types more easily without having to resort to Kingdra all the time. Roserade would be a pretty good addition to this team as it has the chance to absorb toxic spikes should Kabutops die, can provide you Sleep, and hits like a truck if you are using the offensive set. Obviously, Roserade isn't the best response to Raikou or Zapdos, but Roserade is capable of outspeeding most Zapdos as they don't run max speed most of the time, and Raikou without HP Ice or Extrasensory would have trouble dealing with Roserade as well. But since this is offense, I don't think that it's too much of a problem. I just think that Roserade would benefit your team greatly because of the natural synergy it has with your team, and provides valuable assets such as sleep and electric/water resists.

Lastly, you might want to consider running Scarf Mienshao over Scarf Heracross if only because outspeeding +1 base 100s like Victini and Flygon are invaluable in offense. Heracross seems to do its job well, I just think that Mienshao might be doing it even better for you in certain cases. Mienshao hits harder with Hi Jump Kick, and U-turn allows you to chip away at your opponent's health, which is really nice to have when you already have a pokemon alongside Mienshao who U-turns, which is Crobat. Another nice pokemon that Mienshao outspeeds is Scarf Darmanitan. It would kind of suck if Darmanitan was brought in to revenge kill your Heracross, and your switch in to Darmanitan (Kabutops) dies instead to Superpower. The extra 20 points in speed that Mienshao offers is really nice for your team, and I do think you should consider it.

Mienshao@ Choice Scarf
Reckless/Regenerator Jolly 252 atk/252 spe /4 hp
HJK/Stone Edge/U-Turn/Aerial Ace

Roserade@ Life Orb
Natural Cure Timid 252 satk/252 spe / 4 hp
Giga Drain/Sleep Powder/HP Fire/Sludge Bomb

The choice between Reckless and Regenerator is up to you, really. I like Reckless because it gives HJK that extra oomph tbat lets Mienshao plow through most teams barring Ghosts, while Regenerator is nice for longevity versus stallier teams.

Good luck with the team, hope I helped.

 

[GenXXZ]

Hello, this is a cool UU team. Here's a couple things that I would recommend.

Right now, Azelf isn't performing the best it can as a lead. Umboosted Azelf doesn't do as much damage as you think, and there are quite a few leads out there that can work around all-out-offense. Adding Taunt will keep bulkier leads like Registeel, Bronzong, and Rhyperior from getting up rocks, which Arcanine and Crobat will appreciate, even though you have a spinner. Speaking of which, Azelf can set its own rocks, so I recommend you fit that set with Stealth Rocks as well.

Now that Azelf has rocks, Kabutops is completely outclassed by Blastoise. Blastoise is defensive on both sides of the spectrum and it can provide some useful utility for the team, such as, of course, Rapid Spinning, and also phasing, and even the ability to spread poisoning if you wish. It also has access to Foresight, leaving it unspinblocked by the likes of Cofagrigus (which Kabutops can't boast).

In my opinion, Stallbreaker Crobat is much more effective when it has access to Super Fang. U-Turn is useful for gaining momentum against toxic immune foes, but since you already have an extremely offensive Arcanine on the team, steel types do not require as much attention. Super Fang is also a good option against steel types as well, as Bronzong and Registeel will not appreciate being brought down to 50%.

That's it from me! Good luck.

 

[78rqp58y]

Hello this a great team to start off with in the uu tier. To help with your electric weakness and overall lack of bulk try rhyperior over azelf. It will still have an offensive presence and support with stealth rocks. It also has great synergy with the rest of your team because you all ready have pokes that resist its weakness.
Although altogether very nice team and keep up the hard work.

 

[STABX4]

hey guys,
after further testing im having some major problems with Milotic, Blastoise, and really anything that can phaze out Kingdra like Nidoqueen
any fixes you can think of?

 

[GenXXZ]

Perhaps Zapdos instead of Crobat?