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 np SS UU Stage 0 - All I Want for Christmas is UU (UU Alpha is live!)

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After I was rekt by "Adrift & [Filler]" (sorry dude I don't know who you are on Smogon unfortunately), I've been inspired to do a Screen HO which is almost the same as Adrift but with some variations.. and thanks to this team I was able to reach the second place on the current ladder so I guess the team it's quite effective.. (GXE is horrible because I'm testing every team I'm making on this main account to be able to play in the highest part of the ladder).

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(click the sprites for importable)

The team is a pretty straightforward HO with Dual Screen Espeon which also act as my counter vs opponent's Entry Hazards, especially Sticky Web. Yawn is a decent move this generation and forces some switchs which is always useful vs some setup sweepers. Mamoswine is the Stealth Rock setter of the team and overall a nice Pokemon to pressure opponent's Pokemon.. then it's kinda no brain with 4 setup sweepers. Kommo-o is just the best Pokemon in the tier in my opinion and it's able to nuke really hard the opponent if it doesn't have a faster threat to revenge kill it. I decided to opt for Dragon Pulse instead of Clanging Scales because I'm pretty sure there is almost +90% of Soundproof Kommo-o and I don't want mine to not be able to nuke opponent's Kommo-o (especially defensive ones which would like to phaze mine with Dragon Tail). Then we have Polteageist with the Focus Sash which can be a scary finisher once Dark-types are gone and Doublade to pressure some Steel-types thanks to Sacred Sword. Last but not least.. there is an unusual pick : Butterfree. This Pokemon is actually pretty decent and can be really unhealthy to deal with since there isn't that much Flying resist in the tier. Compound Eyes is just amazing on this Pokemon and provides to it a 97.5% accuraccy Sleep Powder (you'll basically almost never miss) and a 91% accuraccy Hurricane which is really nice. Substitute is used to bother some defensive Pokemon like Pyukumuku and it's overall a super annoying Pokemon to deal with as you can see when I played it : here and when I faced it : there.

Otherwise.. I'd like to talk about some Pokemon once again.

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Kommo-o is just the best Pokemon in the tier at the moment.. While I don't believe that this is the most dangerous Pokemon in the tier neither the most complicated Pokemon to deal with, I firmly believe that this Pokemon is just the best in the tier so far and provides just so much utility to the point that I believe that it's dumb to not play it since it can fulfill almost whatever role it wants. People already know how good its set with Clangerous Soul is with Throat Spray but this set always struggle to beat something and has a pretty annoying 4MSS. If you want to be able to beat Umbreon, you really have to play Aura Sphere but on the other hand, you need Flamethrower to beat Doublade and ensure the OHKO on Frosmoth. Flash Cannon is also really important if you want your Kommo-o to be able to pressure Fairy-types.. and obviously.. the Dragon STAB is just too good to get rid of it. So yeah a great set but with its limits. On the other hand, defensive Kommo-o with Stealth Rock is one of the best blank check in the tier thanks to its typing and its access to the brand new and amazing attack : Body Press. It's also one of the few Pokemon which can handle 2 Facade from Guts Obstagoon and this is really important considering how good and dangerous Obstagoon is. However, Kommo-o can be played in many other ways thanks to its great typing, statistics and movepool. I've seen some people running physical Clangerous Soul with Drain Punch, Sub Bulk Up with Body Press, Fast Stealth Rock with Taunt but also some sets from USUM like DD, SD or Sub Belly Drum with Salac Berry. Overall this Pokemon is just great and I don't think you can be wrong by using it.

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A few weeks ago, I was kinda in love of this Pokemon and I couldn't wait to play with it.. Well now I can tell that I hate this Pokemon because it has absolutely 0 counter and it's insanely hard to deal with it especially when you're using some Balanced teams or more defensive teams. Despite its 90 BS in attack, Obstagoon hits like a truck in rampage, this is insane how it's hard to switch-in this Pokemon. Facade + Knock Off can punish anything on the tier and I don't see any good answers to it right now. At the moment, max physical defense Avalugg is probably the most consistent answer to Obsatgoon but it's a shakky answer because even if it doesn't struggle to heal itself thanks to Recover, it really hates being Knocked Off since without its boots, it takes badly Stealth Rock which means it really struggle to check Obstagoon if Stealth Rock are on its side of the field. The same thing applies to Kommo-o which is an even softer check to Obstagoon. This Pokemon has also some amazing defensive utility thanks to its bulk and its typing which provides it 2 useful immunities in the current metagame ; one to Psychic-type and another to Ghost-type. When you're facing an Obstagoon, you have to think about being Choice Locked on a Psychic or Ghost-type attack because it can allows Obstagoon to come freely on the field and to be able to smack something in return. The worst thing with this Pokemon is also that you never know what you're really facing. Outside of Facade and Knock Off, I firmly believe that it can run whatever fillers it want, it will always be effective. Close Combat allows it to punish Rock and Steel-types and to have 88% of chance to 2HKO max def Avalugg once it takes Stealth Rock damages. On the other hand, Taunt shut down a ton of defensive Pokemon while Parting Shot allows Obstagoon to be able to pivot while still being able to bother the opponent by decreasing its offensive statistics. Switcheroo is also really annoying and allows Obstagoon to bother a Pokemon by giving it its Flame Orb ; it also allows it to get a nice item like Leftovers.. Bulk Up can be useful on an opponent's switch and allows Obstagoon to hit even harder.. Last but not least I'd like to talk about Obstruct. About a weeks ago, I was thinking that it wasn't a great filler to Obstagoon and gosh.. I was wrong. Obstruct is probably the most disgusting tool on Obstagoon's arsenal because it allows it to make some nasty 50/50 vs some of its defensive checks which would like to punish it with something like Body Press (aka one of the best way to shut down an Obstagoon). For Obstagoon's player it's almost free to click Obstruct but for the other player, it's really hard because if you're making the wrong play you're offering a hit to Obstagoon or your decreasing by 2 stages your Pokemon's defense which means you'll have to sack it vs Obstagoon or switch.. which once again means a free hit for Obstagoon. Heres an example of the issue with Obstruct Obstagoon. I had to anticipate the fact that he was going to use Obstruct in order to beat it but if I made one mistake, my Kommo-o would have died... I don't know if this Pokemon will rise after the end of the UU Alpha but if it's not the case, I believe that we should take care of this issue as soon as possible because it doesn't affect in a good way the tier, on the contrary..

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I'm enjoying quite a lot this two Pokemon. Their set of Double Dancer (Acid Armor + Calm Mind) allows them to be really nasty vs a plethora of teams but also allows them to check a lot of things on the physical and/or special side. Obviously, Reuniclus needs some support to get rid of Dark-types but once they're gone, this Pokemon can really 6-0 almost any build. On the other hand, Alcreamie is another dangerous Double Dancer which doesn't have any immunity to its STAB but struggles vs Steel-types. Like Reuniclus, when those kind of checks are gone, it's really hard to beat it and most of the time you'll have to rely on Toxic or a miraculous Critical Hit to get rid of it. Both are fun, feel free to try them !

I've been running a pretty similar version of this team (main diff is goon instead of Butterfree), and maybe it's just my lack of skills (only playing at 1400 on UU) but I have trouble getting past Weezing in particular. It doesn't look like you have anything that sets up too easily on Weezing, so how do you play around it?
 
Dropping these teams. Gonna try new stuff so I wanna share my wealth with the community on my ladder teams before I try a hand at making newer ones.

Chip (Weezing-Galar) (M) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
Happiness: 160
EVs: 248 HP / 84 Def / 172 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Will-O-Wisp
- Defog
- Pain Split
- Strange Steam

E.D.M. (Umbreon) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
Shiny: Yes
Happiness: 160
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Foul Play
- Yawn
- Protect
- Wish

Badfish (Jellicent) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
Shiny: Yes
Happiness: 160
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Hex
- Recover
- Will-O-Wisp

Zege (Braviary) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Defiant
Shiny: Yes
Happiness: 160
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Brave Bird
- Close Combat
- Facade

reltuC (Salazzle) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Corrosion
Shiny: Yes
Happiness: 160
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic
- Fire Blast
- Sludge Wave
- Nasty Plot

JUMPEE! (Rotom-Mow) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
Happiness: 160
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Leaf Storm
- Thunderbolt
- Trick

Mostly use this team the essence of mindgames. Use dual scarfers with the VoltSwitch core and lead into either very strong walls or to Salazzle. The most after thought Pokémon imo is probably Jellicent but he does the job well enough to suit most battles. I mostly wanted a bulky water that isn’t going to be completely fried once a strong grass or electric type shows up. You can switch this spot out with a Mantine or Milotic if you wish. This team’s goal is to whittle down with status, stall out strong hits / boosters, revenge kill as needed with the scarfers.

Die Antwoord (Durant) @ Life Orb
Ability: Hustle
Shiny: Yes
Happiness: 160
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- First Impression
- Crunch
- Iron Head
- Stomping Tantrum

Jabberwocky (Indeedee) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Psychic Surge
Happiness: 160
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam
- Shadow Ball
- Trick

Viola (Milotic) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Marvel Scale
Happiness: 160
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Recover
- Haze
- Ice Beam

Shroob (Roserade) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Natural Cure
Shiny: Yes
Happiness: 160
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Bomb
- Toxic
- Giga Drain
- Leech Seed

Fiya Fiya! (Turtonator) (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Shell Armor
Shiny: Yes
Happiness: 160
EVs: 160 HP / 252 SpA / 96 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shell Smash
- Rapid Spin
- Fire Blast
- Draco Meteor

Ire (Hippowdon) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
Shiny: Yes
Happiness: 160
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Whirlwind
- Slack Off
- Yawn

This team is mostly focused on having no useless turns and always having functionality versus as many teams and switch ins as possible. Unfortunately this team is weak to the growing number of strong offensive water types such as Araqunaid and Golisopod unless Milotic can get a scald burn off. I run with no rocks as I found you can force more situations out with Yawn more so than safely putting rocks up. Most of the SR weak meta Pokémon are running countermeasures to not take rock damage so I used something simpler. Indeedee can be replaced with Gengar if you prefer more damage and versatility under your revenge killer spot.

I got to roughly 196th? (1440+) utilizing both teams. Hope you guys can put them into great use or at least find a neat idea to use when viewing my teams.
 
So, am I the only one using vileplume right now? I think now that it has half as many Pokémon to worry about, it can finally start to show it’s worth.

Item: Black Sludge
Effect Spore
252 HP, 252 DEF
Bold nature
-Strength Sap
-Leech Seed
-Toxic
-Sludge Wave/Giga Drain

I’ve used this set a lot in the past week or so and this mon always puts in work.

SS is broken on its own, but having access to both toxic and leech is very handy for wearing down opposing bulky Pokémon, and with a respectable spatk stat, it’s no slouch on offense.

Can also run spdef investment if that’s what your team needs. Sludge is mostly for threatening fairies better when they’d otherwise wall you.

Effect spore can be clutch too if you’re lucky.

Thoughts?
 
Out of curiosity, what reason is there to use Bewear over Sirfetch'd? Sirfetch'd is faster, stronger, has Knock Off and First Impression, and gets Scrappy. The main things Bewear has over it are better bulk with Fluffy, Normal-STAB, and a Ghost-immunity (which is actually pretty cool with Gengar in the tier).

I guess it would depend on what you were using them for. Sirfetch'd might be better for a Choice Band set, while Bewear could use its extra bulk for a Swords Dance set.
 
Out of curiosity, what reason is there to use Bewear over Sirfetch'd? Sirfetch'd is faster, stronger, has Knock Off and First Impression, and gets Scrappy. The main things Bewear has over it are better bulk with Fluffy, Normal-STAB, and a Ghost-immunity (which is actually pretty cool with Gengar in the tier).

I guess it would depend on what you were using them for. Sirfetch'd might be better for a Choice Band set, while Bewear could use its extra bulk for a Swords Dance set.

Bewear gets bulk up and drain punch.
 
Out of curiosity, what reason is there to use Bewear over Sirfetch'd? Sirfetch'd is faster, stronger, has Knock Off and First Impression, and gets Scrappy. The main things Bewear has over it are better bulk with Fluffy, Normal-STAB, and a Ghost-immunity (which is actually pretty cool with Gengar in the tier).

I guess it would depend on what you were using them for. Sirfetch'd might be better for a Choice Band set, while Bewear could use its extra bulk for a Swords Dance set.
You just answered to your own question. Bewear is bulkier and it can check some things that Sirfetch'd can't thanks to its ability Fluffy (including Obstagoon which is kinda huge for an offensive Pokemon).
 
What is the most broken move in the game right now?
Obviously Fishious Rend Knock Off!

With megas and Z-crystals gone, spamming Knock Off is pretty free and I found it really hard switching my Hippowdon or Weezing into Knock Off. But i have the answer:


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Silvally aka the Arceus of NU and below serves it part of an late-game cleaner or defensive pivot just like last generation. But its also the best "Knock Off-Counter". The best typings to abuse that are Silvally-Fairy ; Silvally-Fighting and Silvally-Dark.
Especially Silvally-Fairy made a great pivot for me since Fighting-types, Dragon-types and Dark-types are so good right now in the meta. Silvally has the stats to make it a decent check to pokemons like Kommo-o.
Silvally can be slapped on your Team with ease but in my opinion its best at pivoting around with Parting Shot to bring in the big guns on your team.

Silvally-Steel:
Since i only covered the best switch-ins to Knock Off i didnt talked about the best pivot because it doesnt resist it. The steel-variant is the best for pivotiong around because pure steel typing is so good.

Silvally(-Normal):
Silvally @ Silk Scarf
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Crunch
- Multi-Attack
- Swords Dance

- Fire Fang
With the boost of Multi-Attack, an Swords Dance-Silk Scarf Silvally can be really threatening. Get rid of the steel and bulky ghost types and this set will give you credits for it.
 
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Speaking of sun, I've had a lot of fun on the ladder with vileplume , sweeping lots of team even in the high ladder with a growth LO set.
It was on dynamax era when sun was better, but the set I'm presenting here isn't directly damaged by the dynamax ban. Here's my flower boi

Vileplume @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Strength Sap
- Solar Beam
- Sludge Bomb/ sludge wave
- Growth

This set overlooks inaccureate sleep inducing moves for sheer power. Grass/poison coverage is bad against poison and steel types, but +2 solar beam and sludge bomb muscle through non spd boosted resists with ease (gengar, doublade, lucario, salazzle), and unboosted hits still heavily threaten offense.

Strenght sap gives vileplume a better matchup against bulky pokemon like araquanid, snorlax and hippowdon, and makes it possible to attempt a sweep multiple times if torkoal remains alive.
Vileplume is a bulky mon even uninvested, and it's hard to break on the physical side without super-effective moves.
Of course there are some counters/strong checks to it (fire blast goodra, bronzong, mantine, scarfers faster than jolly braviary with super effective moves), but I think this mon is a valid threat under sun.

If someone is interested I can make some calcs tomorrow.
 
UU Alpha Tour Round Three

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Round 3 Usage
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Code:
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon            | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Obstagoon          |   11 |  30.56% |  27.27% |
| 2    | Rhyperior          |    9 |  25.00% |  44.44% |
| 3    | Drapion            |    8 |  22.22% |  75.00% |
| 3    | Doublade           |    8 |  22.22% |  62.50% |
| 3    | Inteleon           |    8 |  22.22% |  62.50% |
| 3    | Hippowdon          |    8 |  22.22% |  37.50% |
| 7    | Sirfetch'd         |    7 |  19.44% |  57.14% |
| 8    | Weezing-Galar      |    6 |  16.67% |  66.67% |
| 8    | Avalugg            |    6 |  16.67% |  50.00% |
| 8    | Copperajah         |    6 |  16.67% |  50.00% |
| 8    | Noivern            |    6 |  16.67% |  50.00% |
| 8    | Sylveon            |    6 |  16.67% |  50.00% |
| 13   | Umbreon            |    5 |  13.89% |  80.00% |
| 13   | Polteageist        |    5 |  13.89% |  20.00% |
| 15   | Bronzong           |    4 |  11.11% | 100.00% |
| 15   | Diggersby          |    4 |  11.11% |  75.00% |
| 15   | Mantine            |    4 |  11.11% |  50.00% |
| 15   | Heliolisk          |    4 |  11.11% |   0.00% |
| 19   | Roserade           |    3 |   8.33% | 100.00% |
| 19   | Espeon             |    3 |   8.33% | 100.00% |
| 19   | Reuniclus          |    3 |   8.33% | 100.00% |
| 19   | Mamoswine          |    3 |   8.33% |  66.67% |
| 19   | Gastrodon          |    3 |   8.33% |  66.67% |
| 19   | Whimsicott         |    3 |   8.33% |  66.67% |
| 19   | Sigilyph           |    3 |   8.33% |  66.67% |
| 19   | Vaporeon           |    3 |   8.33% |  66.67% |
| 19   | Lucario            |    3 |   8.33% |  66.67% |
| 19   | Tsareena           |    3 |   8.33% |  33.33% |
| 19   | Crawdaunt          |    3 |   8.33% |   0.00% |
| 19   | Passimian          |    3 |   8.33% |   0.00% |
| 19   | Rotom-Mow          |    3 |   8.33% |   0.00% |
| 32   | Torkoal            |    2 |   5.56% | 100.00% |
| 32   | Charizard          |    2 |   5.56% | 100.00% |
| 32   | Shiftry            |    2 |   5.56% | 100.00% |
| 32   | Cloyster           |    2 |   5.56% | 100.00% |
| 32   | Froslass           |    2 |   5.56% |  50.00% |
| 32   | Bewear             |    2 |   5.56% |  50.00% |
| 32   | Steelix            |    2 |   5.56% |  50.00% |
| 32   | Centiskorch        |    2 |   5.56% |  50.00% |
| 32   | Xatu               |    2 |   5.56% |  50.00% |
| 32   | Runerigus          |    2 |   5.56% |   0.00% |
| 32   | Jellicent          |    2 |   5.56% |   0.00% |
| 32   | Durant             |    2 |   5.56% |   0.00% |
| 32   | Salazzle           |    2 |   5.56% |   0.00% |
| 32   | Milotic            |    2 |   5.56% |   0.00% |
| 32   | Boltund            |    2 |   5.56% |   0.00% |
| 32   | Coalossal          |    2 |   5.56% |   0.00% |
| 48   | Pyukumuku          |    1 |   2.78% | 100.00% |
| 48   | Indeedee           |    1 |   2.78% | 100.00% |
| 48   | Butterfree         |    1 |   2.78% | 100.00% |
| 48   | Haxorus            |    1 |   2.78% | 100.00% |
| 48   | Hitmonlee          |    1 |   2.78% | 100.00% |
| 48   | Vikavolt           |    1 |   2.78% | 100.00% |
| 48   | Braviary           |    1 |   2.78% | 100.00% |
| 48   | Chandelure         |    1 |   2.78% | 100.00% |
| 48   | Haunter            |    1 |   2.78% | 100.00% |
| 48   | Arcanine           |    1 |   2.78% | 100.00% |
| 48   | Arctozolt          |    1 |   2.78% | 100.00% |
| 48   | Sableye            |    1 |   2.78% | 100.00% |
| 48   | Appletun           |    1 |   2.78% | 100.00% |
| 48   | Musharna           |    1 |   2.78% |   0.00% |
| 48   | Glaceon            |    1 |   2.78% |   0.00% |
| 48   | Frosmoth           |    1 |   2.78% |   0.00% |
| 48   | Gardevoir          |    1 |   2.78% |   0.00% |
| 48   | Claydol            |    1 |   2.78% |   0.00% |
| 48   | Vileplume          |    1 |   2.78% |   0.00% |
| 48   | Mew                |    1 |   2.78% |   0.00% |
| 48   | Rapidash-Galar     |    1 |   2.78% |   0.00% |
| 48   | Flapple            |    1 |   2.78% |   0.00% |
| 48   | Goodra             |    1 |   2.78% |   0.00% |
| 48   | Eldegoss           |    1 |   2.78% |   0.00% |
| 48   | Weavile            |    1 |   2.78% |   0.00% |
| 48   | Cramorant          |    1 |   2.78% |   0.00% |
| 48   | Shuckle            |    1 |   2.78% |   0.00% |
| 48   | Flygon             |    1 |   2.78% |   0.00% |
| -    | Gourgeist-*        |    1 |   2.78% |   0.00% |
| 48   | Rotom-Fan          |    1 |   2.78% |   0.00% |
| 48   | Gourgeist-Super    |    1 |   2.78% |   0.00% |
For those who are unaware both Kommo-o and Gengar were banned for this round of UU Alpha so it comes to no surprise that Obstagoon had the most usage this round. There are a few Pokemon that I want to point out here but I also want to talk about some of the trends with the removal of Kommo-o and Gengar for this round. Please keep in mind this is with regards to both being removed though all of the below Pokemon I will mention are still pretty good in the meta in my opinion.

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With the banning of Kommo-o, other Fighting-types are no longer overshadowed and saw more usage as a result. Sirfetch'd and Lucario being the clear outliers in this regard, though there were a few Bewear's used also. Sirfetch'd has had a lot of usage this round and its clear to see why with CB sets having limited switchins thanks to Scrappy. Not many things in the tier switch into a CB Close Combat other than a few bulky Flying- and Fairy-types (All of which it can punish with Knock Off), so I can see this being a prominent wallbreaker in the Underused tier going into Beta. Lucario has the ability to perform both Nasty Plot and Swords Dance sets with access to priority to make up for its Speed tier, which allows it to deal with Obstagoon. Lucario provides a decent amount of defensive utility to offense with it being one of the better Weavile checks. Bewear performs a similar role to Sirfetch'd but has the benefit of being a lot bulkier, so as a result pulls of Swords Dance sets better. It is nice to see there being more diversity in Fighting-types in the tier if Kommo-o were to leave.

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With Gengar being banned bulkier teams have been used a lot more this round and Pokemon like Galarian Weezing and Sylveon have gotten a lot better as a result. They no longer have to worry about letting in Gengar for free, giving it a free opportunity to wallbreak. They can now comfortably perform the roles they want to without having to run sub-optimal coverage like Shadow Ball for the former. Roserade has also seen a lot of usage this round and for a similar reason doesn't have to worry about inviting in Gengar. Roserade is a Pokemon I have been really enjoying lately as it has access to both Toxic Spikes and Spikes and absorbs the former too. With it being one of the few offensive Grass-types I'm sure it'll find a place in the tier.

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Even with Gengar being removed from the tour this Pokemon saw a lot of usage. It is one of the tier's best Toxic Spike users and still has the ability to check Polteageist and other Ghost-types. With the limited number of Knock Off users, I don't see this Pokemon falling off too hard. A set I want to highlight was one Alpha Rabbit was using and one I was laddering with two days ago actually and that is Choice Scarf Drapion. I've found this Pokemon to be a fairly decent scarfer with its ability to revenge kill Pokemon like Lucario, Gardevoir, Mew, Salazzle, etc. With its pretty good Speed tier, I think it can excel as a scarfer decently well though I wouldn't say its anything revolutionary.

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That's about all I wanted to highlight from the tour, though I want to talk about one last Pokemon I have been seeing quite a lot on ladder, which is Gardevoir. Gardevoir has been a pretty effective Choice Scarf user from experience of using and playing against it. It's one of the few specially offensive Fairy-types at our disposal as I don't really consider Whimsicott to really fulfill this role. With it having access to Trick it is able to cripple all of its bulkier checks and got access to Mystical Fire this gen allowing it to better dent the Steel-types that pivot in. Gardevoir also has a useful ability in Trace, which lets it beat the sun abusers and always pivot into Vaporeon/Mantine etc. This Mon already had a 4.2% usage in UU within the first 12 days so wouldn't be surprised to see it above the cutoff when Beta begins in a few days.

This will be the last post regarding UU Alpha and overall I've had a lot of fun playing this shit even with some questionable stuff being in the tier. It's been a lot more refreshing building than gen 7 and once a lot of the issues have left the tier this looks like it'll be really enjoyable to play. I've mainly been using Bulky Offense personally as Balance has felt very hard to use and hyper offense has generally felt like a coin flip in most games. Also, OU VR rankings came out and
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these three have been ranked in C, which doesn't necessarily correlate to usage but it would be interesting to see how they do here (Mimikyu come back to us ;-;). Thank you for taking the time to read my posts!
 
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I managed to top the UU alpha ladder before the new year (perhaps due to some ppl taking a break from climbing during the holidays :D). I'm not sure if it resets when UU goes into beta, but I'm gonna make a post to celebrate it regardless.

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My teams:

I've mostly used the following two teams from 1500 onwards, as most of my other teams were built pre dynamax ban (click sprites for links).

:Reuniclus: :Machamp: :Hippowdon: :Umbreon: :weezing-galar: :heliolisk:

This team worked very well for a while, until people clued into how powerful Obstagoon is and until Tspike teams started picking up in popularity. Notably, the team lacks both a grounded poison type to absorb tspikes and an Obstagoon check, which meant that both of those things were very threatening to my team's defensive core. I would have to play around Goon a lot of the time and try to hit it on the switch with a Focus Blast from Reuniclus or chip it down into range of Heliolisk, which is not ideal when you see the mon in 50% of your games. Other than that, Reuniclus absolutely demolishes teams without a Dark type as Future Sight damage can let you stack up damage on walls or just straight up OHKO offensive threats when people forget about it and make a ballsy double. It also beats any special attacker that doesn't hit it SE and is especially useful for checking clang Kommo as it has enough SPA investment to always OHKO from full or after a Clangsoul boost. My breaker of choice is Machamp as it doesnt really have switchins outside of Runerigus which is usually a 1 for 1 (you take the kill but they get rid of your Guts making champ useless). I have BP over Heavy Slam for some utility vs offensive teams, but slam elevates it's breaking power even further.

:sylveon: :drapion: :bewear: :claydol: :mantine: :togedemaru:

I built this team after running into Goon/Tspikes one too many times. Drap takes care of tspikes and give me tspikes of my own along with checking Gengar + Poltea very well, esp. with Wish support from Syl. The Bear is a really nice Obstagoon check - it's holding Helmet to give me some chip on Uturn spammers and punish Knock off from dark types. It honestly beats most physical attackers from full, even if they hit it SE due to how broken Fluffy is. I saw some people using Sub Metronome Mantine so I decided to slap it on this team as a switchin to fat water types but I haven't been that impressed with it. Hurricane is too unreliable and gets PP stalled by WishTect but Air Slash BP seems too low for my tastes. There is prob a better mon to put in this slot but I'm not sure what it would be. The team is a bit weak to spikestack + spinbockers but i somehow managed to win most games vs those types of teams regardless.

Random thoughts

With the prevalence of offensive ghosts, fightings and dark types, dark + fairy defensive cores seem really good to me for fat teams right now - the best two being :umbreon: + :weezing-galar: and :sylveon: + :drapion:. Eeveelutions seem really powerful in general due to their relatively high BST compared to other mons and access to recovery combined with the lack of Toxic distribution. They can often work as wincons in their own right after direct counters are eliminated (similarly to how Blissey or Chansey could win after all physical attackers were taken out), which is why they are complemented so well by Weez in the case of Um and Drap in the case of Syl.

I like :Heliolisk: much more than most people, especially Scarf. I will admit that part of that is a remnant of the DMAX meta where scarf Lisk was a nice check for all the Airstream abusers, but it's still useful. The nice speed tier means it outspeeds most things after +1 and can often act as a wincon after resists are weakened enough. It's also very useful against Webs as it outspeeds virtually all abusers even under webs.

I think both :machamp: and :reuniclus: are underused (no pun intended). I like champ as a breaker more than Sirfetchd due to Guts and it's ability to pressure Fairies alot harder with Facade/Heavy Slam, whereas Reuniclus can sometimes score free wins off of people going hard into a Dark type only to die to a Focus Blast. Regenerator means it can repeteadly soak up hits and really complements Um + Weez since it can check Lucario and Kommo, which are the two most common fighting types that Weezing has trouble checking.

Some other users have mentioned how good Tspikes are rn and I'm going to echo their sentiment. I've ran into some HO teams without a grounded poison type and getting up a layer of Tspikes basically guarantees me the win vs them, as I can simply stall with my Eevelution's Protect to accrue chip damage. Bulky teams are similary pressured by tspikes as poison chip on walls can let you score crucial 2hkos that wouldn't be possible otherwise.

I might be in the minority, but i really don't think :Gengar: or :Kommo-o:take the spot of best mon in UU. That title belongs to :Obstagoon:. It's true that both Kommo and Gengar require dedicated checks to stop, but their checks are very splashable - mons like Umbreon or Drapion are very useful overall and are good inclusions even in a meta wo Gengar, same goes for Sylveon checking Kommo-O. Obstagoon checks are fewer in number and way more niche - Bewear has been rising in popularity almost solely due to the fact that Fluffy lets it switch into Obstagoon relatively safely. Luckily, Obstagoon is seeing a fair amount of usage in OU as well, so I'm expecting it to rise in January.

Last thing, :Hippowdon: is a balance staple. It's so bulky it can be EVd to check pretty much anything that doesn't hit it SE: Spdef can check gengar very nicely, living a +2 shadowball and ohkoing w EQ, whereas physically defensive can even beat Obstagoon (if it doesn't run Bulk Up).

Conclusion

I didn't play much UU last gen besides some room tours and the Camo UU tour, since I mostly stuck to OU when playing standard tiers, but I've been having a lot of fun with UU this gen. Hopefully the meta stays as fun as it is right now. Happy new year!
 
Cool

1. Departures

Kommo-O: Nothing more or less needs to be said. Got into the top 3 for usage. Was stupidly annoying on virtually every ladder team. Could wallbreak, setup, become a stealth rock lead, and more. Almost everybody did not Kommo being around for how degenerate it is with it’s versatility compared to everything else in tier. Glad it’s gone.

Sylveon: Fairies lose a strong wisher / special attacker but there are others in tier that can make this more than manageable. Other strong wishers like Vaporeon and Umbreon are still here and offensive fairies like Alcremie and Ribombee are still here. Go figure. Sylveon going hurts but it isn’t the worst thing. If anything this damages Sun Teams as a lot of them use Sylveon towards baiting in Steels and frying them with Mystical Fire.

Mew: Awww. :c

I liked Mew being around. It had versatility but was generally tame compared to the competition. With Mew gone a buncha playstyles lost an option. Dual Screens lost a good screener, offensive teams lost a great DDancer, and other options. While it’s special sets were mostly outshadowed by Gengar it still had a lot of other stuff it was doing that kept Mew relevant in the game for UU. Sad to see this one go.

2. Arrivals

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It’s cool he is here.

Honestly I could end it at that. While everyone is hype for his presence being here I have some reserves. We already have very strong water-types in tier from both the bulky and offensive spectrum. Having Barraskewda here is cool as already being 2nd fastest in tier is nothing to sneeze at with a beefy 123 STAB to back himself up. Anything he is gonna hit is gonna hit like a truck. Despite this that’s all that we are really getting. A very hard hitting choice bander or LO user. Even then I am curious how his play will overlap with the omnipresent Crawdaunt in tier. He is a very simple but threatening Pokémon. However, I am ultimately split on how he will hang with the other waters in tier or if his offense can hang with some of the tier’s best attackers such as Obstagoon or Gengar.


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oh no

There was a reason why Hawlucha has been borderline and or away from UU meta for awhile. Now he is back for seemingly round 4 still doing what he does best. Coming in as the BEST Unburden abuser in the game Hawlucha will just kill over most things it touches with Brave Bird / Close Combat after a Swords Dance. Swords Dance attacker or SD + Substitute sets I am already not ready for this flying masked bird to terrorize the meta. I buy into the hype beast of Lucha existing in UU meta. However,

Many of us thought on jump Diggersby who has had a similar history was going to be a problem when it was introduced back to the tier for Sw/Sh and so far few complaints have been risen. I’m not saying Hawlucha won’t be so fortunate. It has a sordid legacy of being quickbanned, risen, or borderlined away from UU. I’m just saying there could be the small chance he doesn’t become a problem. There are things in place such as Weezing-Galar, Braviary, Strong Electric-Type leads, and a growing presence of scald users / bulky waters that can make things difficult for Hawlucha to get his boosts needed. We will have to see how this month plays out.

| 40 | Gengar | 3.384% |
Oh for christ sake
 
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Many of us thought on jump Diggersby who has had a similar history was going to be a problem when it was introduced back to the tier for Sw/Sh and so far few complaints have been risen. I’m not saying Hawlucha won’t be so fortunate. It has a sordid legacy of being quickbanned, risen, or borderlined away from UU. I’m just saying there could be the small chance he doesn’t become a problem. There are things in place such as Weezing-Galar, Braviary, Strong Electric-Type leads, and a growing presence of scald users / bulky waters that can make things difficult for Hawlucha to get his boosts needed. We will have to see how this month plays out.

I don't think Diggersby and Hawlucha are comparable in this aspect because Diggersby actually got nerfed. Its big hit was losing Return/Frustration as that deprived it of one of its best STAB options, forcing it to rely on either the weaker Body Slam or the inaccurate Mega Kick.

Hawlucha has only gotten BETTER. It got freaking Close Combat AND Brave Bird this gen. The former even lets it activate Unburden without any kind of support.

I understand wanting to at least give Lucha something resembling a chance, but I personally don't think it'll pan out well at all.
 
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Alright so I've been playing gen 8 for like a week or so, and I've only built a few teams (all of which I'm confident aren't good). I did peak the ladder though and I had a lot of fun doing so, so I just wanted to get some random, incoherent thoughts on the teams I used and the meta as a whole atm.
This is the first team I ever tried to build, albeit no longer allowed, but it is what I used for the majority of these games. I kinda figured even though there was a ton of scary shit on paper, it would be hard to make a hard offense that would have actual consistency over longer periods of time, as well as just wanting something slower paced considering my inexperience in the tier compared to others. While it was here, Sylveon was an absolute beast and could p much solo entire teams under the right circumstances. Even though losing Heal Bell obviously sucked, Sylv actually became harder to beat offensively now that it can run an additional coverage move. In the old days, stuff like Nidoqueen/Rose/Steels could infinitely switch in and abuse Sylv, but that was less so the case, as it could pressure the switches to Gengar and the limited Steel options. I knew as soon as I saw the Spin buff that I had to try out Tsareena again, and it was pretty solid, mainly for keeping them off vs Hippo fats since Rhyp can't pressure it without tox this gen. I ended up using a Taunt TSpikes Drapion that I saw posted in this thread by someone whos slipping my mind atm, but that set was awesome in pressuring stuff like Umbreon and semi stalls in general. Rhyperiors cool and kinda checks Obstagoon so there's that. The best part of this team was absolutely boots Taunt Roost 2 atk Noivern, which could solo almost any fat team with the aid of hazards, mainly so it could muscle past Umbreon, Milotic, etc. over time. CB Escav i kinda threw on, wanting a bulkyish steel and more breaking power, which I had none of and it was ok. Everything getting Mystical Fire blows tho.

This team was super close to being outright 6-0d by Galar Weezing but eh it worked out, also I swear like half these losses came from Hurricane misses but it do be like that sometimes, shoutouts SM Specs Moltres. Opposing Mamoswine literally won too, but fsr all them are sash and Sylveon walled bar flinches. Not a perfect team, but between the Taunt users + Tspikes and Sylv being fire, it ended up doing really well, especially against the fatter semi stalls I alluded too, which plague the upper ladder.

So after getting my shit pushed in 90 times by Obstagoon, but usually getting out by the skin of my teeth, I really really wanted to try out this broken monster. This team isn't great by any means, but it's more up-my-alley playstyle wise and has some hard hitters to abuse. Obviously, that bred more inconsistency given its offensive nature in such a volatile meta that I'm not all too familiar with building, but ay it was fun and did alright. Obstagoon is literal god, between its bulk, coverage, and speed; the latter of which is deceptively amazing for what its meant to do. The main other mon I wanted to use was Galar Weezing, which also kept cock punching me on the ladder with the other team. Although here I stole a cool offensive TSpiker set from TSR and it was dank for luring Durant and things, while packing a nice punch with its cool coverage and decent offensive stats. Specs Inteleon was another mon I was weak to, so maybe you see the theme here. The punch + speed was cool although I found out the hard way it does not in fact outrun Noivern, which apparently slaughters this team. Bronzong is Bronzong, except without Toxic so it loses to Noivern and Skill Swap primarily for Xatu, which I saw 0 of. Flygon is Flygon. Dhelmise gave me spin alongside my tspiker and spin block if it came down to it. It also murked stuff like Milotic assuming it was healthy and completely cock blocked Shuckle since you trap it turn 1 and can spam spin. I had a wonderful idea of running Colbur to soft check Obstagoon, since it destroys me, but it turns out they could obstruct and kill me. Overall it was an ok addition. Like I said, this team wasn't phenomenal, but it had hard hitters, momentum stuff, and hazards, so what's not to like?

General thoughts:
  • Holy shit the ladder sash Mamo use; I mean it saved me every time I faced it, but the 99% usage was out of hand​
  • Obstagoon is broken​
  • Toxic being gone on a lot of mons is actually really cool and I'm curious to see how bulky teams adapt down the road, people will inevitably try all they can and tbh I'm excited to see where it goes​
  • Taunt Noivern is the truth​
  • Hurricane sucks but we'll begrudgingly use it all gen​
  • Boots Avalugg is satan, but again seeing its viability take such a turn is cool​
  • The teapot is underwhelming​
  • Sirfetch'd is so fucking strong​
  • I'm scared to put Durant in my builder but it doesn't stop my opponents from hitting every move they click​
Anyway, thanks for reading whatever this was, and I'm really excited for what the future of this tier may hold, especially with the recent rises and our new ability to ban stuff. I still don't have a great grasp on things and TSR has held my hand through telling me what things do, but hopefully I get around to trying more stuff in the coming weeks.
 
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I don't think Diggersby and Hawlucha are comparable in this aspect because Diggersby actually got nerfed. Its big hit was losing Return/Frustration as that deprived it of one of its best STAB options, forcing it to rely on either the weaker Body Slam or the inaccurate Mega Kick.

Hawlucha has only gotten BETTER. It got freaking Close Combat AND Brave Bird this gen. The former even lets it activate Unburden without any kind of support.

I understand wanting to at least give Lucha something resembling a chance, but I personally don't think it'll pan out well at all.
The key is not letting it set up. There’s a good chunk of priority available, and a handful of things that can check it, but once it’s at +2 you are losing something. That doesn’t seem that much worse than every fast, powerful sweeper with a setup move.

Of course, I’m biased because I really like the excuse to use Doublade.
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The key is not letting it set up. There’s a good chunk of priority available, and a handful of things that can check it, but once it’s at +2 you are losing something. That doesn’t seem that much worse than every fast, powerful sweeper with a setup move.

Of course, I’m biased because I really like the excuse to use Doublade.
lucha gets darkest lariat now so it can do this:

+2 252+ Atk Hawlucha Darkest Lariat vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Doublade: 152-180 (47.6 - 56.4%) -- 83.6% chance to 2HKO

doublade still checks lucha, probably just about the only thing that does without relying on stab ice shard tbh, but it's very easy to wear down and often wants to check other things too so it's far from unbreakable
 
Alpha was great fun and this team I build provided some neat experiences while showcasing 2 or 3 lesser used 'mons. Nothing spectacular, but well rounded enough to sustain in the upper half of the Ladder ~1500-1600.

:Sandaconda: - :Cursola: - :Arcanine: - :Drapion: - :Weavile: - :Mantine: (Link)

:Sandaconda: Sandacondas ability to Glare everything from Hippowdon to Noivern while also beeing immun to status has prooven to be a great set of skills that might justify its use over Hippo in some teams/occasions. This 'mon has its obvious advantages against stall and not having to worry about getting poisoned by Weezing etc. makes you click that Glare with a much better feeling.

:Cursola: Cursola gets up that Sub more often than I have initially expected and S-Ball+Ice Beam paired with the high Base SpAtk makes this 'mon offensive threatening while still beeing a check to most special 'mons. Liked it very much, though I see how this most likely stays RU.

:Arcanine: The Boots are the truth guys. Intimidate might be slightly nerfed, but its still so good, to come in on many physical attackers. Having a safe switchin to Ice and Gras attacks is ever so usefull, when your physical wall is a snake with suboptimal recovery. I've picked Overheat over PlayRough/Will-o to get a sursprise option for stuff like Torkoal or full Def Hippo.

:Drapion: Everything said by TheNumberMan. Great 'mon. Great set.

:Weavile: Great revengekiller and thanks to the Boots it can onehandedly destroy Webs-Offense.

:Mantine: This was allready mentioned in this threat, but Metronom-Mantine is way better than it has any right to be. You get free Subs against all kinds of popular 'mons - Umbreon, Milotic, Araquanid just to name a few - and it builds up immense pressure if paired with T-Spike or Para support. This 'mon is the absolute star of this team and took plenty of wins, especially against the bulky teams running arround.

If you wanna have a good time playin' with silly Sandaconda and Cursola this is the right team for you. Nothing wild, but equipped for most of the stuff running arround.


Have a good day and a good new year.
 
lucha gets darkest lariat now so it can do this:

+2 252+ Atk Hawlucha Darkest Lariat vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Doublade: 152-180 (47.6 - 56.4%) -- 83.6% chance to 2HKO

doublade still checks lucha, probably just about the only thing that does without relying on stab ice shard tbh, but it's very easy to wear down and often wants to check other things too so it's far from unbreakable
I think that means the only wall if it hits +2 now is Rotom-Fan. Why does GF do these things to us?
 
lucha gets darkest lariat now so it can do this:

+2 252+ Atk Hawlucha Darkest Lariat vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Doublade: 152-180 (47.6 - 56.4%) -- 83.6% chance to 2HKO

doublade still checks lucha, probably just about the only thing that does without relying on stab ice shard tbh, but it's very easy to wear down and often wants to check other things too so it's far from unbreakable
Hawlucha doesn't get Darkest Lariat, best move it gets is Throat Chop for Doublade
 
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