La Tierra en Fuego
Hi guys, my name is Kody and this is my new UU team. It is based around the big threat Entei and a few other over looked Pokemon in this metagame. I highly encourage you to give it a shot. The team is a blast to use, just get to know it and you will have success with it. The name "La Tierra en Fuego" means The Land on Fire, or The Earth on Fire. I gave it that name because when I pictured Entei running around I picture it setting the world ablaze with it. I'm not too big on introductions as you can tell, so with that I'll get right into the team. I spent a long time typing this up, it was a lot of hard work. If you enjoyed the team and appreciate the work I put into the RMT, please leave a luvdisc. I would really like to see that. Thank you!
- Moxie
- 252 Atk / 8 HP / 248 Spd
- Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Life Orb
- Moveset:
Sucker Punch- We all know one thing about Honchkrow, it isn’t that fast. So what a blessing it truly is for it to get Sucker Punch. As my pseudo priority move anything fast will still get hit. My main STAB of choice in most situations.
Brave Bird- What would any self respecting Flying type Pokemon do without Brave Bird? Especially one as bad ass as Honchkrow. This thing takes out so much with just an impressive amount of sheer power. Base 120 and STAB, kinda explains itself. However, be careful, Life Orb and Brave Bird recoil will catch up fast.
Superpower- Countless major walls in the UU tier are taken out with Superpower. Let's just name a few for the heck of it. Snorlax, Porygon2, Umbreon and even Registeel. The nice thing about Superpower is that the Attack drop is negated by Moxie, which is always a nice thing.
Pursuit- Oh the mind games I play with this move! An incredible amount of people just switch out thinking that I will use Sucker Punch, but then get smacked on the way out. If you're a good predictor, you will absolutely fall in love with this Pursuit + Sucker Punch combo.
- Why this Pokémon?
First and foremost, I have Honchkrow here because it is far and away my favorite Pokemon. Honchkrow will win most games single handedly. There is not much to say about it, predict well, know your opponent's set, don't bring it out too early. If you follow those rules then you're golden. - EVs, item and nature:
I run 248 Speed so that I outpace all base 70s with a neutral Nature (non-Jolly, Timid). The other 8 Evs go into HP so that I have a nice healthy odd number to come in on Stealth Rocks the maximum amount of times. Max Attack needs no explanation. Adamant nature over Jolly so that I can get a guaranteed OHKO on Heracross at +2. Life Orb gives me a sexy 1.3 times boost to all of my move's power, nice huh?
- Common matchups
: At +1 Sucker Punch is a guaranteed OHKO, know the type of Raikou though and watch out for SUb CM variants.
: Brave Bird will do about 45 reliably to max/max Blastoise, so if you feel comfortable with going for Brave Bird make sure it's below 40.
: At +1 Superpower is an OHKO for sure, with no boosts Superpower can still OHKO but not 100% of the time without Rocks on the field. Be aware.
: Always, always, always Pursuit it. They never stay in and attack knowing that I have Sucker Punch. The worst thing that can happen is that they Sub, but Pursuit still breaks the Substitute. After you break the Sub make sure you Sucker Punch because they will most likely Fire Blast you expecting your Pursuit again.
: Unless you are at +3 do not risk a Sucker Punch. The best thing to do is go to Hitmontop and Intimidate and then go to Mew to sponge the Close Combat.
- Intimidate
- 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spd
- Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Leftovers
- Moveset:
Rapid Spin- Having a Flying type as a major cog in the team forces me to run a Rapid Spin user. Rapid Spin keeps pesky stall teams at bay as well. When I see a team has something such as Nidoqueen in the lead position, I put Hitmontop as my lead so that I can immediately get hazards off the field. Rapid Spin also gets rid of those nasty Leech Seeds that can slowly drain me of my precious health.
Close Combat- This move does not get as much usage as I expected to be honest, but it does come in handy. Being able to hit Steel, Rock, Dark and Normal types for Super Effective damage with a STAB base 120 move is always a nice thing. I could possibly drop this move fro Mach Punch but that would almost undoubtedly force me to run Technician, which I do not want.
Toxic- Toxic is such a great move on a Rapid Spin user such as Hitmontop. Essentially every UU team has either Slowbro, a bulky Ghost or both. I just Toxic when they predict me to Rapid Spin and get a free Poison on them that wracks up fast which is nice against Slowbro, Cofagrigus and friends.
Stone Edge- The last moveslot is always a toss up but I noticed that Zapdos, Honchkrow and Victini are massive threats so I enjoy the benefit of having a move to hit them for Super Effective damage and can sometimes result in an OHKO when they switch in and take Stealth Rocks damage as well. This is the shakiest of all of Hitmontop's moves too, so if it could be dropped for something else, I might be willing to do that.
- Why this Pokémon?
So many strong physical threats dominate the tier and a bulky defensive Intimidate user fits the bill perfectly. The synergy with Honchkrow is quite a nice bonus as well. All in all my number one check to Heracross, Darmanitan, Mienshao and Arcanine. Without Hitmontop this team would get annihilated by those big threats. So, job well done Hitmontop. - EVs, item and nature:
As mentioned before, I needed a reliable check to hard hitting physical Pokemon. With that in mind what other EVs should I run but max Defense and 248 HP? None do the job better than that. 248 EVs in HP so that I have an odd number and I can come in on Stealth Rocks the maximum amount of times. Intimidate automatically nabs me the advantage by lowering the enemy Attack by 1 stage. Leftovers are mandatory on a bulky wall such as Hitmontop.
- Common matchups
: I nearly always go straight for Close Combat and not Toxic, since Umbreon usually has Heal Bell. If I can scout around enough and find that Umbreon does not carry Heal Bell I Toxic it, take Poison on myself via Synchronize and Heal Bell later on with my own Umbreon.
: With Scrafty I'm in a similar position as I am with Umbreon. I won't go for Toxic straight away because there is a good chance that it has Shed Skin ability. It is much better to go with Close Combat and do about 50 than waste a turn with Toxic.
- Synchronize
- 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spd
- Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Leftovers
- Moveset:
Stealth Rocks- Stealth Rocks are a must on any good team in this metagame, as far as I'm concerned. Rocks are my only hazard on this team which makes keeping them on the field vital if I wish to get the maximum potential out of Entei late game. Big threats in this metagame like Zapdos, Darmanitan, Honchkrow and Togekiss all take 25% just from switching in with Stealth Rocks on the field. The role of Rocks is not to be underestimated.
Wil-o-Wisp- Burning something is always useful since it cuts the opposition's Attack stat in half. After a burn pretty much nothing on the physical side will be taking out Mew any time soon, barring crits, that is. As a general warning, do not attempt to burn Herecross on the switch or otherwise. I used to do this but soon realized that most Heracross (Heracrossai?) have Guts ability, which just puts extra strain on Hitmontop. Wil-o-Wisp does have some pretty inconsistent accuracy, but I'll continue to use it until another option presents itself. If I feel that I am not getting the full benefit of having Wil-o-Wisp I will simply change it to Psychic.
Taunt- This team falls and falls fast to pokemon that set up on it. Let me name a few, CM Suicune, Agility Zapdos, SD Cobalian, etc. Taunt is absolutely one of the most important moves on this team for that reason. It also keeps Stealth Rocks off my side of the field, which I like. Oh, and it's good fun to catch a Sableye on switch in with Taunt.
Softboiled- Staying alive, sponging hits, and being an annoyance are some of Mew's specialties. Without solid recovery, his roles would not be filled out very easily. A nice way to get back a cool 50% is always nice. Not much to say about it. I use this over Recover because I like the name better.
- Why this Pokémon?
I wanted a good lead pokemon, Froslass, which seems to be UU's only lead, just wasn't my cup of tea. Neither were some of the other leads like Azelf, I wanted something that put immediate pressure on stall teams. It is far bulkier than Pokemon should be so it has absolutely zero trouble setting up Stealth Rocks and just being an overall annoyance to other teams. - EVs, item and nature:
Max Defense is what I use to take repeated U-Turns with relative ease from Mienshao and Darmanitan cores as well as sponge Foul Plays all day from Umbreon. The 248 HP EVs, you guessed it, are so I have an odd HP number and can come in the maximum amount of times on Stealth Rocks. The extra 8 EVs go into Speed so that I can speed creep other base 100s with little to no investment in Speed. Leftovers to help with my bulk, not much here that has not been said before.
- Common matchups
: Taunt this. Always. Dont be afraid of Payback or Foul Play, they do very little to Mew. After the Taunt your array of options increases drastically. I usually choose now to go to Hitmontop and get a free Rapid Spin or Toxic the switch in.
: You might be tempted to Wil-o-Wisp first turn on this, but go for the Taunt instead. That prevents Stealth Rocks and Rock Polish from being set up in your face. Wil-o-Wisp turn two so that Megahorn will only do about 30. After this, put up your own Stealth Rocks if you have not already done so.
: Mmmm, this one gets tricky. Most of the time they will simply start putting up Spikes, which is good for you and you Taunt turn one so that only one layer of Spikes is up. If it chooses to Taunt you first, go to Umbreon.
- Pressure
- 144 HP / 252 Atk / 112 Spd
- Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Choice Band
- Moveset:
Flare Blitz- Would I really have an Entei without Flare Blitz? I mean really? Base 120 STAB coming off of Choice Band Entei has an insane amount of power. The only downside to the move is recoil, but that is a small price to pay for being able to power through teams with incredible force.
Extremespeed- Having access to a +2 priority move is amazing on a Pokemon that has the late game clean up potential that Entei does. Most things that fall below 40% are easy pickins' for Extremespeed. The Normal typing is one that gives it nice neutral copverage agasint most types, and the others Entei can deal with relatively easily except for Rock. I am able to outspeed all other priority moves with Extremespeed as well, so yea that's right back off Aqua Jet Azumarill, Sucker Punch Honchkrow and your other little buddies too.
Stone Edge- I do not use this move much at all in fairness. The only time that I use this is against Zapdos and bulky Waters that resist my STAB and need a tad more power than Extremespeed. The main reason that I do not lock myself into it very often is the shady accuracy. 80% is not terrible, but if a game depends on it, I want to be locked into Extremespeed or Flare Blitz instead.
Toxic- Remember when I mentioned I had a problem against bulky Waters? Well Toxic is my main answer to that. Nobody expects Toxic at all, they freely switch in their valuable walls and get smacked up with a strong poison that saps more and more health each turn. The number one thing that I hit with this is Slowbro, man do I hate Slowbro. I am able to cut the longevity of other walls like Cresselia, Snorlax, Hitmontop and others, all of which switch into Entei without a second thought.
- Why this Pokémon?
It's the team's namesake! The whole reason I started getting serious into lower tiers. And my first Pokemon love. Aside from those reasons, I use it punch holes in teams and clean up pretty much anything late game. The added bulk is why I use it over the brother Pokemon Arcanine who shares many of the same characteristics. He does what the title implies, sets the land on fire. - EVs, item and nature:
The EVs are kind of interesting on Entei. I run max Attack for obvious reasons, it hits a nice healthy 361 Attack which coupled with Choice Band hits 541 Attack. The 112 Speed EVs let me outpace all + Nature base 70s (Jolly, Timid). The rest goes into HP for bulk and lets me hit 407 HP which, again, is an odd number letting me come into those Rocks an odd number of times.
- Common matchups
: If Darmanitan is below 60, stay in and Extremespeed.
: Zapdos poses no real threat to Entei, in most cases Stone Edge is the best option. If Zapdos is low on health Extremespeed it before it Roosts.
: When you're sure Sableye is going for Wil-o-Wisp come into Entei to absorb it and Flare Blitz. It might take two hits to knock it out depending on Recover but it will die to the second one for sure.
: From full health Entei takes on Herracross comfortably knowing that Close Combat fails to OHKO without boosts, simply Flare Blitz here and OHKO back. As always, if Herracross is below 50% feel free to Extremespeed it to take it out.
:
: Entei has impressive bulk and can easily tank Scalds from these 2. If Shaymin is not around then Toxic here. Watch out for Specs Slowbro, that is getting more use lately.
- Synchronize
- 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 Atk
- Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Leftovers
- Moveset:
Wish- Having the ability to pass on big Wish boosts to the team is extraordinarily helpful. Wishing and then switching to Darmanitan or Honchkrow and completely erasing the Stealth Rocks and Life Orb damage is one of the greatest feelings with this team. Wish is one of those moves on this team that kind of glues it together.
Protect- UU is absolutely full of choiced Pokemon. With Protect I am able to scout out movesets and go to an appropriate Pokemon to handle whatever needs to be taken care of. Protect + Wish keeps me healthy and allows me to stall out certain threats should they arise, from the Special Attacking side at least.
Heal Bell- My team absolutely hates status. Status of all kinds. I have not one Pokemon on this team that benefits from status such as Poison Heal or something. If I need to win stall wars, this move is undoubtedly the most important. I can shrug off enemy Toxic, Wil-o-Wisp, Thunderwave and even random hax with relative ease. A support Pokemon like Umbreon relies on this type of move. The PP does run short on occasion, however.
Foul Play- This is one of those interesting moves that I really like from Gen 5. It does damage based on how high the opposition's Attack stat is. So I absolutely love when Choice Banded Darmanitan comes in on Foul Play and get OHKO'd. If I manage to get Taunted, I still have a way to fight back. I use this over Payback for the higher damage output on those physical attackers.
- Why this Pokémon?
The best special wall bar none. Snorlax you say? Does Snorlax wall all kinds of Special hits as well as support the team with Wish and Heal Bell? Nah. Which clearly makes Umbreon the best Special wall for this spot. Umbreon does more than what I ever expected it to. Nothing to change, it does its job perfectly. - EVs, item and nature:
Max Special Defense, max HP. Pretty simple I think. All it needs to do is wall Special hits, I have others to wall Physical ones so I do not waste EVs investing in Defense like some people do, it's just silly to use them where they are not needed in my opinion. Leftovers to heal back a tad bit of my HP per turn.
- Common matchups
: Snorlax has nothing Umbreon, I do not have the slightest clue why people bring their Snorlax in to get walled by Umbreon and eventually taken out by Foul Play.
: Protect turn one against this, it will show you for one if they are choiced and two which move they are going to use. If you can predict the Hi Jump Kick and Protect that turn it will force Mienshao to miss and lose 50%.
- Natural Cure
- 252 Spd / 252 HP / 4 SAtk
- Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Leftovers
- Moveset:
Seed Flare- Seed Flare is Shaymin's signature move and it is an absolutely wonderful one at that. It is a base 120 STAB move that has the added bonus of decreasing the enemies Special Defense by two whole stages, that results in Shaymin being an unintentional wall breaker in a lot of situations.
Substitute- Substitute has been one of my favorite moves since Generation 1. Having something take damage for you while you are free to do as you please is such a tantalizing idea. When I am behind a sub and something that is notorious for U-Turning, think Flygon and Crobat, I just use Substitute again and when they U-Turn out I have another free Substitute. ON most things I just Sub up against things that can not touch me and begin their slow painful destruction.
Leech Seed- That slow painful destruction I mentioned, this is where it truly begins. When I am behind a Sub I always Leech and with that combination of Leech recovery with Leftovers I restore nearly the entire 25% that I used on my Sub. This combination of Sub and Seeds can single handedly cripple many teams.
Air Slash- Air Slash is mainly here as my Heracross counter. It will OHKO reliably after Stealth Rocks and Shaymin is perfect bait for Heracross. It also gives me pretty nice offensive coverage, only walled by Steel types really.
- Why this Pokémon?
Suicune. Yes, that's why. Suicune was by far the biggest threat to this team. I knew something had to be done about that. Knowing that most Suicunes do not carry Ice Beam, I figured a bulky Grass type is the thing I need. Sub-Seed is just an added bonus. This Shaymin causes so many rage quits and has become my new favorite set to use. It was also newly introduced to the Battle Factory on PO after I was pm'd asking for the set. - EVs, item and nature:
Max Speed allows me to Speed tie or even outpace most Zapdos variants and all other base 100s. The key is to get a Substitute up fast and maxSpeed with Timid nature is the way to do it. I mentioned before a bulky Grass type, bulky means max HP. You might not think Shaymin can take that much abuse, but you would be sorely mistaken. Shaymin is one of the bulkiest pokemon, and hardest to take down when it runs that max HP.
- Common matchups
: Snorlax is able to break my Substitute but I also get a ton of HP back from Leech Seeds, so you want to stay in against Snorlax and let it slowly kill itself by trying to take you out.
Code:
Honchkrow (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 8 HP / 252 Atk / 248 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Sucker Punch
- Brave Bird
- Superpower
- Pursuit
Hitmontop (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Rapid Spin
- Close Combat
- Toxic
- Stone Edge
Umbreon (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Synchronize
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Wish
- Heal Bell
- Protect
- Foul Play
Mew @ Leftovers
Trait: Synchronize
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 4 SAtk / 4 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Stealth Rock
- Will-O-Wisp
- Taunt
- Roost
Entei @ Choice Band
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 144 HP / 252 Atk / 112 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- ExtremeSpeed
- Stone Edge
- Toxic
- Flare Blitz
Shaymin @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Seed Flare
- Air Slash
- Substitute
- Leech Seed
