This is a pretty basic offensive team made for the UU metagame. It's primary goal is to break down walls and use its offensive synergy to open up the opposing team's defenses, allowing another poke to have some fun. This team accomplishes its task by utilizing its resistances, using the OU offensive concept of "similar counters", and brute force. I think of this team as pretty basic because it doesn't really use some common UU strategies to breaking stall, such as abuse of Encore / Taunt and trying very hard to get in Rapid Spins.
Onto the team! Changes/considerations in bold
Salamence (Honchkrow) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Insomnia
EVs: 108 Atk/112 Def/36 Spd/252 SAtk
Rash nature (+SAtk, -SDef)
- Dark Pulse
- Heat Wave
- Superpower
- Sucker Punch
Here's the MixMence of UU, relentlessly breaking down walls right off the bat to the point that the other team's defenses are trashed. The nature of this pokemon keeps entry hazards off the field from opposing lead pokemon, threatening with strong STAB attacks and amazing type coverage. It's a strange set at first glance, but it works very well for this team.
First off, OU brought down a very strong obstacle for Honchkrow: Donphan. Donphan can take Honchkrow's physical attacks all day, especially without Super Luck. Dark Pulse deals a solid 68% on average to the standard 252 HP / 0 SDef Donphan, meaning if it wants to set rocks when switching in it's going to die, and the rest of my team breathes a huge sigh of relief. If it wants to Ice Shard, the defensive investment keeps it from doing too much. Heat Wave is meant for Steelix and Registeel. These pokemon are fun to play with, who usually want to hit Honchkrow with their steel moves to dispose of it as quickly as possible. These pokemon are usually the Stealth Rockers of the team, meaning they probably won't get rocks as they are usually 2HKO'd by 2 Heat Waves or Heat Wave + Superpower (depending on how much Registeel takes from the first). With its special moves and threatening presence, Honchkrow does an excellent job at keeping away rocks and drilling the first hole in the opponent's defenses. Sucker Punch is always helpful and still strong off of 313 attack.
Rash and max special attack because this Krow is primarily a special attacker. The speed EVs are enough to outspeed Claydol, one of the faster walls. The attack EVs were for the 2HKO on standard Registeel with Heat Wave + Superpower. The remainder in defense has helped Honchkrow a ton in taking out Donphan, Steelix, and Registeel (takes about 34% from standard Registeel Iron Head).
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Cheerleader (Roserade) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 64 HP/192 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Sleep Powder
- Leaf Storm
- Sludge Bomb
- Synthesis / Rest
Life Orb Roserade is a monster to any kind of team. This pokemon was chosen for its great synergy with Honchkrow, who can't deal with bulky waters effectively. Roserade also greatly appreciates its main counters, Regsteel and Chansey, out of the way courtesy of Honchkrow. This is an amazing wall breaker in itself too, usually 2HKOing things with Sludge Bomb that try to take Leaf Storms, and sleeping anything problematic.
The bump in speed from the Modest Life Orb set is because Modest Specs Yanmega became a total bitch to this team (some are going Timid now gah). Also takes out max speed Life Orb Milotic, who liked to stay in and Ice Beam if they were feeling ballsy. However, I'm considering just max speed because apparently every other LO Rosie is running absolute max, and this Roserade always loses to them :[
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Brotom (Rotom) @ Choice Specs / Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk) / Modest with Scarf
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Trick
Yay for Brotom! Grants amazing resistances to this offensive team, keeping away Technitop for wrecking everything with priority, gives a solid answer to Donphan (Assurance isn't *too* hard to predict), and is just awesome as fuck on double switches with its type coverage and resistances. Many people underestimate the power of its STAB moves with Choice Specs. Thunderbolt usually OHKOs many many sweepers (mocks Absol and other Pursuiters trying to absorb Tricks and Shadow Balls, special Toxicroak, and many other things).
Pretty standard set. Hidden Power Ground over Grass is because Quagsire and Gastrodon should never concern me, and Ground hits Drapion and Steelix very hard. Trick is because Trick is cool. Max speed Timid reaches 308, enough to outspeed the huge pool of pokemon in UU that hang between 280 and 306. It's kind of like the pool of base 100s that OU has to deal with.
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Erection (Steelix) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Atk/252 SDef/4 Spd
Careful nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Iron Head
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Explosion
Steelix is the first part of the defensive glue of my team. Gets an early Stealth Rock on lead Ambipom, or rips out a huge chunk if I feel like they'll Taunt (usually the ones without Life Orb). Walls like a third of UU pokemon with huge defense and max special defense. This fits pretty well on my team by taking Toxic / Thunder Wave for the rest of the team, hard countering Chansey on a team with lots of special sweepers, and dealing back a surprisingly large amount of damage with max attack.
I went with max attack because I wanted Steelix to maintain an offensive presence, and because Earthquake and Explosion are pretty damn strong with it. Iron Head over Gyro Ball because there was one match where some fucking Yanmega stalled out its 8 PP with fucking Protect and Substitute. Iron Head is still reliable damage and because Steelix lasts whole match. When it has to take on Missy and Yanmega and Honchkrow, the PP is greatly appreciated.
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La Moustache (Altaria) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP/40 Def/216 SDef
Careful nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Aerial Ace
- Earthquake / Roar
- Roost
- Toxic
Altaria is a fucking awesome wall for this team. Without Altaria my team would get blasted by Arcanine, Blaziken, Houndoom, Roserade, Yanmega, Moltres, some fighters, Toxicroak, and a lot of other sweepers.
Aerial Ace and EQ form a good combo that allows me to hit a lot of the pokemon it's meant to counter super effectively. Roost is awesome. Toxic is a huge help on this team. It hits a lot of walls switching into Altaria for some reason and stalls them to death with its great defenses and Roost. It is a huge help for this team when I stall out the bulky waters because it allows Honchkrow, Steelix, and Hitmontop to have an easier time. It's very easy to do too, taking like 30% from most Ice Beams when Roosting. If your pokemon has Ice Beam, it doesn't mean it's beating Altaria (ha ha Claydol).
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Jew Toy (Hitmontop) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP/252 Atk/4 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Fake Out
- Mach Punch
- Bullet Punch
- Close Combat
And after all the wall breaking, Toxic stalling, Exploding, and Trickery comes the late game sweeper. Technitop is an enormous help for heavily offensive teams, especially Rain Dance teams. It checks a lot of frail sweepers if it has to, but its main purpose is to wreck shit late game.
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Problems!
- sometimes Donphan can be a problem if it gets too many free turns. If it can get in on Steelix or Rotom's TB, my team will have to swallow a couple of hard hits. You can also see that I don't really have that many solid switches into it. It's usually taken out by Honchkrow, and worn down by Steelix EQs and Rotom, but its attacks will always hurt something if I don't predict correctly. What makes Donphan such a problem is its partners. If it can keep rocks away, things like Yanmega and Moltres can be pretty problematic to this team, or other offensive teams in general who rely on Donphan's support.
- SubToxic stalling Moltres: it can get a sub on HALF MY TEAM. From there it can dismantle my whole team. By the way this team is played however, it's usually not getting a sub up. Luckily people try to switch into Roserade, only to be 2HKOd or slept. Kind of a paper weakness, but it's ruined me a couple of times. Plus it's not too common!
Thanks to everyone in advance for the rates!
Onto the team! Changes/considerations in bold
Salamence (Honchkrow) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Insomnia
EVs: 108 Atk/112 Def/36 Spd/252 SAtk
Rash nature (+SAtk, -SDef)
- Dark Pulse
- Heat Wave
- Superpower
- Sucker Punch
Here's the MixMence of UU, relentlessly breaking down walls right off the bat to the point that the other team's defenses are trashed. The nature of this pokemon keeps entry hazards off the field from opposing lead pokemon, threatening with strong STAB attacks and amazing type coverage. It's a strange set at first glance, but it works very well for this team.
First off, OU brought down a very strong obstacle for Honchkrow: Donphan. Donphan can take Honchkrow's physical attacks all day, especially without Super Luck. Dark Pulse deals a solid 68% on average to the standard 252 HP / 0 SDef Donphan, meaning if it wants to set rocks when switching in it's going to die, and the rest of my team breathes a huge sigh of relief. If it wants to Ice Shard, the defensive investment keeps it from doing too much. Heat Wave is meant for Steelix and Registeel. These pokemon are fun to play with, who usually want to hit Honchkrow with their steel moves to dispose of it as quickly as possible. These pokemon are usually the Stealth Rockers of the team, meaning they probably won't get rocks as they are usually 2HKO'd by 2 Heat Waves or Heat Wave + Superpower (depending on how much Registeel takes from the first). With its special moves and threatening presence, Honchkrow does an excellent job at keeping away rocks and drilling the first hole in the opponent's defenses. Sucker Punch is always helpful and still strong off of 313 attack.
Rash and max special attack because this Krow is primarily a special attacker. The speed EVs are enough to outspeed Claydol, one of the faster walls. The attack EVs were for the 2HKO on standard Registeel with Heat Wave + Superpower. The remainder in defense has helped Honchkrow a ton in taking out Donphan, Steelix, and Registeel (takes about 34% from standard Registeel Iron Head).
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Cheerleader (Roserade) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 64 HP/192 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Sleep Powder
- Leaf Storm
- Sludge Bomb
- Synthesis / Rest
Life Orb Roserade is a monster to any kind of team. This pokemon was chosen for its great synergy with Honchkrow, who can't deal with bulky waters effectively. Roserade also greatly appreciates its main counters, Regsteel and Chansey, out of the way courtesy of Honchkrow. This is an amazing wall breaker in itself too, usually 2HKOing things with Sludge Bomb that try to take Leaf Storms, and sleeping anything problematic.
The bump in speed from the Modest Life Orb set is because Modest Specs Yanmega became a total bitch to this team (some are going Timid now gah). Also takes out max speed Life Orb Milotic, who liked to stay in and Ice Beam if they were feeling ballsy. However, I'm considering just max speed because apparently every other LO Rosie is running absolute max, and this Roserade always loses to them :[
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Brotom (Rotom) @ Choice Specs / Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk) / Modest with Scarf
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Trick
Yay for Brotom! Grants amazing resistances to this offensive team, keeping away Technitop for wrecking everything with priority, gives a solid answer to Donphan (Assurance isn't *too* hard to predict), and is just awesome as fuck on double switches with its type coverage and resistances. Many people underestimate the power of its STAB moves with Choice Specs. Thunderbolt usually OHKOs many many sweepers (mocks Absol and other Pursuiters trying to absorb Tricks and Shadow Balls, special Toxicroak, and many other things).
Pretty standard set. Hidden Power Ground over Grass is because Quagsire and Gastrodon should never concern me, and Ground hits Drapion and Steelix very hard. Trick is because Trick is cool. Max speed Timid reaches 308, enough to outspeed the huge pool of pokemon in UU that hang between 280 and 306. It's kind of like the pool of base 100s that OU has to deal with.
---
Erection (Steelix) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Atk/252 SDef/4 Spd
Careful nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Iron Head
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Explosion
Steelix is the first part of the defensive glue of my team. Gets an early Stealth Rock on lead Ambipom, or rips out a huge chunk if I feel like they'll Taunt (usually the ones without Life Orb). Walls like a third of UU pokemon with huge defense and max special defense. This fits pretty well on my team by taking Toxic / Thunder Wave for the rest of the team, hard countering Chansey on a team with lots of special sweepers, and dealing back a surprisingly large amount of damage with max attack.
I went with max attack because I wanted Steelix to maintain an offensive presence, and because Earthquake and Explosion are pretty damn strong with it. Iron Head over Gyro Ball because there was one match where some fucking Yanmega stalled out its 8 PP with fucking Protect and Substitute. Iron Head is still reliable damage and because Steelix lasts whole match. When it has to take on Missy and Yanmega and Honchkrow, the PP is greatly appreciated.
---
La Moustache (Altaria) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP/40 Def/216 SDef
Careful nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Aerial Ace
- Earthquake / Roar
- Roost
- Toxic
Altaria is a fucking awesome wall for this team. Without Altaria my team would get blasted by Arcanine, Blaziken, Houndoom, Roserade, Yanmega, Moltres, some fighters, Toxicroak, and a lot of other sweepers.
Aerial Ace and EQ form a good combo that allows me to hit a lot of the pokemon it's meant to counter super effectively. Roost is awesome. Toxic is a huge help on this team. It hits a lot of walls switching into Altaria for some reason and stalls them to death with its great defenses and Roost. It is a huge help for this team when I stall out the bulky waters because it allows Honchkrow, Steelix, and Hitmontop to have an easier time. It's very easy to do too, taking like 30% from most Ice Beams when Roosting. If your pokemon has Ice Beam, it doesn't mean it's beating Altaria (ha ha Claydol).
---
Jew Toy (Hitmontop) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP/252 Atk/4 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Fake Out
- Mach Punch
- Bullet Punch
- Close Combat
And after all the wall breaking, Toxic stalling, Exploding, and Trickery comes the late game sweeper. Technitop is an enormous help for heavily offensive teams, especially Rain Dance teams. It checks a lot of frail sweepers if it has to, but its main purpose is to wreck shit late game.
---
Problems!
- sometimes Donphan can be a problem if it gets too many free turns. If it can get in on Steelix or Rotom's TB, my team will have to swallow a couple of hard hits. You can also see that I don't really have that many solid switches into it. It's usually taken out by Honchkrow, and worn down by Steelix EQs and Rotom, but its attacks will always hurt something if I don't predict correctly. What makes Donphan such a problem is its partners. If it can keep rocks away, things like Yanmega and Moltres can be pretty problematic to this team, or other offensive teams in general who rely on Donphan's support.
- SubToxic stalling Moltres: it can get a sub on HALF MY TEAM. From there it can dismantle my whole team. By the way this team is played however, it's usually not getting a sub up. Luckily people try to switch into Roserade, only to be 2HKOd or slept. Kind of a paper weakness, but it's ruined me a couple of times. Plus it's not too common!
Thanks to everyone in advance for the rates!
