Offensive UU (currently ranked 8th on Leaderboard)

Peachfuzz

Sure, defensive pokemon shine in UU, where there is a lack of real firepower compared to OU to break down the stall teams that dominate the top of the ladder. This team, however, is an offensive UU team designed to combat the defensive threats. Not with just wall breaking, but with trapping and sweepers to take advantage of the holes created, as well as some surprises. This team can also keep up with the very offensive teams that occasionally pop up (mainly weather teams). With a good strategy to break walls and the use of some popular tactics present in OU, offensive teams can do very well in UU.

Onto the team! Changes/considerations in Bold

hitmonlee.png

Hitmonlee (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Limber
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Blaze Kick

To kick off the offense, we have Choice Scarf Hitmonlee. Hitmonlee may not seem like it fares all that well vs. bulky leads and Ambipom, Hitmonlee acts as a very strong hitter and revenge killer, reaching 409 speed. It's funny how many leads get a huge chunk ripped off when they try to set up (looking at the Nidos and Roserade), and that is when I make a double switch depending on the move used (Blaze Kick is used, I go to Venusaur to take on the water type, Close Combat is used, I go to Hitmontop to take the ghost, Earthquake, I will go to Steelix for Fliers,etc). Overall pretty reliable, delicious special defense, hits hard and fast. Scores LOTS of late game sweeps.

Also would like to note the numerous times people tried to T Wave over and over and over. Cool switch into Registeel and Chansey. Lee doesn't get enough love.
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moltres.png

Moltres @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Spd/252 SAtk/4 SDef
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Air Slash
- Substitute
- Roost

This is why I love UU. Moltres can come in on a ton of things like Fighters, Shaymin, Claydol, Steelix, Spiritomb, Blaziken, and start blasting away or stalling PP if needed. My favorite Moltres set that always takes people by surprise (probably the speed). Usually comes in before rocks are set up, or the turn of, Subs, and starts taking things down. This is a monstrous attacker, and makes me wonder why the SubRoost Toxic set is so popular.
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steelix.png

Steelix (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 SDef
Careful nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Roar
- Earthquake
- Explosion

Counters Ambipom and Swellow, sets up rocks, Roars away Subs that people like to set up in its face (Mismagius and SubSeeders), and delivers powerful Earthquakes and Explosions. And shits on Linoone, the little bastard that has swept this offensive team way too many times...

The strange EV spread: max attack and special defense with a Careful nature. The main thing is taking down bulky waters that block Moltres. What usually happens is Slowbro/Milotic switch in on the Stealth Rock set up turn, deal 73% with a Surf, and die in a fiery Explosion. Similar to Imran's Baitlix set posted a while ago, who had a Passho Berry (reduces super effective water attacks) and the same EVs. That set was fun, but the ability to make Ambipom and Swellow useless for a while and slowly recover with Leftovers makes this Steelix stay around for a long time and Explode when the time is right, not the moment the bulky water comes in.
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hitmontop.png

Hitmontop (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP/252 Atk/4 SDef
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Fake Out
- Mach Punch
- Bullet Punch
- Pursuit/Rapid Spin

I originally had a Choice Band Drapion with Pursuit to clear Chansey and Roserade for Milotic to sweep (EVERYONE go use CB Drapion now it's amazing!). Hitmontop has a similar role and still counters Mismagius well. Traps Chansey and sometimes Psychics to allow the other sweepers to have their fun. Gets plenty of late game sweeps itself.

The main reason this was put in over Drapion is because weather teams of all things were ruining me. Fake Out wastes a turn of weather, and the powerful priority moves are the bane of those frail teams. And no one uses Aqua Jet Kabutops in Rain besides me :]

As I was saying in the opening paragraph, common OU tactics are used in this team a lot, and Hitmontop is one of the main players. Trapping is one thing. But one of strategies that is dominating OU are the sweepers with similar typing and counters. Those "Double Dragon" strategies and the ferocious Lucario and CB Scizor tag-teams are very common. The two Hitmons execute this strategy in UU. Usually one is breaking down flyers, Claydol, Venusaur, Slowbro, and other fighting resists little by little, where eventually the other fighter can punch them dead. I usually hide Hitmontop until later in the game, where I can capitalize on the weakened walls.
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milotic.png

Milotic (M) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Marvel Scale
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk (better spread: 80 HP/252 SpAtt/176 Speed)
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Recover

This set is too much fun. Everyone's expected Surf and Ice Beam, only to get stung by a strong grass move (and people still thinks it's Electric sometimes). No defensive investment whatsoever. Doesn't need it.

The fire/water/steel/grass you'll see in a minute offer an awesome defensive core that strikes hard as motherfuck with power and surprise. Synergy and resistances are very important on offensive teams.

There really is not much to say besides that it takes advantage of the lack of Chansey Hitmontop takes care of and takes opponents by surprise. Notice what you need to be successful? Surprises go a long way.
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venusaur.png

Venusaur (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 252 HP/252 Atk/4 Def
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Sleep Powder
- Seed Bomb
- Return

Okay, last pokemon that is primarily used defensively that I took an offensive twist on. I have to say though, I kind of stole the idea from Eo Ut Mortus' Swords Dance Shaymin (who's kicked my ass a couple of times).

Max HP and attack and no speed. This is a great way to take on slow, defensive teams who have no way of forcing out a Venusaur who can just sit their and boost its attack. Return over something like EQ is for taking on Shaymin one on one, as well as knocking down flying types. I would love to have EQ for Registeel though.

When I'm in doubt, Venusaur pulls me through like it always did through all those shitty gyms. Venusaur probably gets the most sweeps!
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Some quick notes:
- Luckily psychics are uncommon, but they give this team a bit of trouble without Drapion. They are usually pretty weak attackers though who usually get killed trying to take out Venusaur. On paper, they can give my team problems, and sometimes in practice.
- Ambipom is a motherfucker to offensive teams.

That's it. Surprise, OU tactics, and great synergy are keys to success. There are still some flaws to this team though, and I hope you guys can help.

Thanks in advance to everyone.
 
There certainly isnt much, seeing as I have played against this team (and got destroyed). I have but a few things.

One, about Moltres. You lack Rapid Spin, or even a Taunt lead, so I can't imagine you could stop Stealth Rock from entering the battlefield, so you can't abuse Moltres' great defenses AND decent offensive abilities to its full extent after the first switch in. For that reason, I would suggest SubPunch Magmortar in that slot. It is still weak to SR, but not as badly, and can force almost all Stealth Rock users out of play. You can Sub on the switch, and proceed to wreck the opponent's team. It is very hard to beat without sacrificing something, and that hole may be all your team needs to break through. The only downside I see with using Magmortar over Moltres is you lose the Ground immunity, but it isn't like Moltres should be switching in on stuff like RP Rhydon anyway.

Another thing I question is the use of SD Venusaur. Wouldn't SD Shaymin be the better choice? It has fewer weaknesses, can run the same set, except with Synthesis over Sleep Powder for in sweep or pre-sweep recovery. If you ran a large amount of HP/Sp. Def like EUM, you could counter opposing Shaymin with your own Shaymin, so you wouldn't lose that aspect either. The only advantage of using Venusaur is the ability to absorb Toxic Spikes, but TSpikes are a pretty dead strategy in UU with Venusaur, Drapion, Nidos, and Roserade running amuck. Natural Cure also allows you to "absorb" status, which you team can't handle at the moment (especially sleep).

I think Milotic's speed can be dropped significantly. HeYsUp's 20 speed Wall Breaking Blaziken is I think the benchmark you want to hit. So that is 16 speed evs, I think. Most everything above that mark will be an offensive pokemon that is probably investing heavily in speed, so you probably won't be outspeeding much anyway, only neutral 90's, and that is if you go for a Timid nature. Neutral 90's don't apply much to Milotic in UU, as Roserades are ALWAYS Timid, and Moltres won't switch in anytime soon. The new ev's can now be dumped into HP, which lets it function as a formidable wall in the early game, before turning into a sweeper late game. This also helps the surprise factor, I think, because if your opponent notices that Milotic took respectable damage from say, Blaziken's Fire Blast, they will know something is up.

The dual Fighting combo is really cool, and I am going to steal that Hitmontop, whether you object or not :)

Lastly, Steelix. I would say use Gyro Ball over Earthquake, but you may like to catch incoming Fire types, although you can still do that indirectly with Roar if Stealth Rock is up, because then they take 50% damage. It will also help against Yanmega, who is a new threat every UU team needs to be ready for. I think Steelix will be able to hold its own against Yanmega, especially with all that Sp. Def., but in the Yanmega UU metagame, I bet Registeel will be an even better choice. He can run essentially the same set, even being able to explode, but Registeel can use both Iron Head and Earthquake on the same set, seeing as Registeel has no mouth, and therefore can't Roar :P So, Registeel will be able to directly threaten both frail physical sweepers like Swellow with STAB Iron Head, and directly hit incoming Fire Types (minus Moltres) with Earthquake.

So my few things turned into quite a lot of words, but I hope I helped anyway.

EDIT @ ToF, I said Gyro Ball would be an insurance blanket against Yanmega, who you can only roar out at the moment, but you may take a SE HP Ground or Tinted Lens Specs Attacks before you roar, which really maims you. Gyro Ball ay least allows you to kill it off immediately, but that goes to show that Registeel may be the better choice, especially with the Espeon weak. Also, he has nothing for status, and SD Shaymin at least has Natural Cure to deal with that.
 
Quickly, the only thing I can see:

Your team loses to Blaziken once it breaks Moltres (not long, KO'd with Fire Blast+Vacuum Wave after SR, OHKOed with Hidden Power and SR, etc) without a spinner, it can OHKO your whole team (even Milotic lol). Your only defense are revenge killers, which are walled easily by Slowbro. (Fortunately for you I rarely ladder anymore :P lol, because those are both on my team.)

Solutions:

-Bulk up Milotic so it isnt OHKOed by Superpower......
-Use SD Shaymin w/ Zen Headbutt.


Oh, Especial also runs through this team if you arent careful, keep subs broken and revenge kill it with Hitmontop or Lee...heh. I guess we havent battled before :P.

Other than those couple things, Good team! Maybe i'll ladder again....


EDIT: @ ToF, well he might as well go for 227 than, to outspeed Min Speed Uxie and Drapion.
 
Yeah you are sort of demolished by a decent Blaziken user, with nothing that can take successive hits from it. For one thing, right off the bat I noticed you're using Moltres without a Spinner. That is an obvious no-no, and I dunno why you'd run Hitmontop without even having Rapid Spin as a moveslot. If you wanted offensive power, Drapion fit this team ten times better. Anyway, the first suggestion is obviously put Rapid Spin on Hitmontop over Pursuit probably. Bullet Punch hits Mismagius hard enough anyway (sub varients), and you will really enjoy Moltres not taking 50% upon every switch-in.

I also agree with the above poster in making Milotic more bulky to take on some more UU threats. You can max out special attack no problem, but put some of that speed into HP so that you take random fighting attacks a bit better. I think 225 speed is a good benchmark to beat, so consider running a point above that, and the rest in HP. 225 is the common benchmark for Agility Blaziken, so its nice to prevent it from even setting up on you =).

Everything else looks fine, I disagree with Shaymin over Venusaur because of the toxic spikes removal that Venusaur possesses, as well as the Toxic immunity, meaning Chansey becomes easy set-up bait. As for Steelix, you can simply roar out stuff like Swellow anyway, no need to dedicate Gyro Ball over Earthquake just to hit Swellow and other flyers lol.
 
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif']A better EV Spread for venasaur is: 210 hp / [/FONT][FONT='Times New Roman','serif']180 attack /[/FONT][FONT='Times New Roman','serif']120 speed[/FONT]
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif']I think the attack guarantees a 2HKO on steelix after an SD, I think the speed outruns 95s that don't invest in speed, uxie, drapion etc. and the rest is thrown into HP for survivability. I'm not sure if this is exactly right, but feel free to tinker around with it.[/FONT]

[FONT='Times New Roman','serif']Yeah, definitely give hitmontop rapid spin > pursuit, also drop fireblast on moltres for flamethrower. I would also drop blaze kick for mach punch or sucker punch (probably mach punch as Choice sucker punch isn't that good (unless its dugtrio because they can't switch). Blaze kick is only really for venasaur, and I believe the priority will save you more times then blaze kick will.[/FONT]

[FONT='Times New Roman','serif']I'd use steelix as a lead, saving hitmonlee as a suprise for late game would be in your best interests anyway.[/FONT]
 
Moltres definitely needs spin support to be successful. Without that support, he can't reliably check Shaymin or Blaziken (I use the toxic version with full HP / full speed, I don't know how bulky yours will be even with support). I think the others are right about bulking up Milotic - he really isn't that bulky without EV's, and his base SpAtk is good enough to not be setup fodder without EV's, meaning he will still do well on your offensive team. Special attackers will definitely be a problem for your team, since the only specially bulky pokemon don't have bulky EV's. Choice Specs Espeon can 1-2HKO this whole team, so you may want to keep that pursuit on Hitmontop (most choice Espeon switch out since Fake Out takes a lot out of them.) It will also help with Mismagius, who seems to be the most common spin blocker these days, and another special threat to your team.
 
Thanks a ton to everyone!

Thanks everyone for the advice on Milotic. I'm dropping its speed to 242 for max speed neutral nature Honchkrow, who presents a lot of problems for my team once it gets in on Venusaur. 80 HP/252 Special Attack/176 Speed Modest.

Venusaur is needed because Toxic Spikes are still pretty common and the Hitmons and Milotic need to be free of status. Sleep Powder is so useful too.

Vs. Blaziken
- Pressure pressure pressure. It's not coming in easily on any of my pokes really. Venusaur SDs and sometimes Steelix is all it gets.
- Hitmontop is cool for this too. And Lee.
I guess I've never really ran into any decent ones, or Moltres has always been able to kill it even after Rocks. Moltres can take fire moves even after SR and Roost. What is the HeYsuP Blaziken wall breaker set and EVs?

I'll consider Rapid Spin on Hitmontop over Pursuit. Mismagius usually suicides trying to take down Hitmontop, and Chansey was never really a problem. May need an item change though. I don't want to waste 10% for a 30 base power normal move and entry hazard clearing. Suggestions?

EDIT: Although I'll probably just make a new team once Crobat and Yanmega come down, I would like suggestions on handling them. As of right now I feel pretty secure with Yanmega with Steelix/Moltres/Milotic, but they don't seem all that reliable. And Crobat is going to be a huge bitch to the fighters and Venusaur.
 
Wow. I don't have many recommendations to make, because this team is excellent. I'm mainly posting so I can say that I think your team is great. However, I do have one suggestion--I would recommend leading with Steelix over Hitmonlee. Ambipom is a very popular lead right now, and Hitmonlee with his rock-bottom physical defenses is pretty much forced to switch in order to avoid Fake Out. Steelix can atleast play prediction games with Ambipom, using his STAB attack if Ambipom Taunts or Stealth Rock if Ambipom U-Turns without Taunting.
 
Peachfuzz said:
What is the HeYsuP Blaziken wall breaker set and EVs?
Click to expand...

Blaziken @ Life Orb
Rash / Mild
-Fire Blast
-Superpower
-HP Electric / Grass
-Vacuum Wave / Stone Edge

236 Atk / 20 Spe / 252 SpA

The one I used against you (quite effectively I may add) was a Choice Banded variant with Superpower, Flare Blitz, Thunder Punch and Stone Edge. It outspeeds and OHKOs your whole team, Milotic can switch in once lol.
 
WJC3688 said:
Wow. I don't have many recommendations to make, because this team is excellent. I'm mainly posting so I can say that I think your team is great. However, I do have one suggestion--I would recommend leading with Steelix over Hitmonlee. Ambipom is a very popular lead right now, and Hitmonlee with his rock-bottom physical defenses is pretty much forced to switch in order to avoid Fake Out. Steelix can atleast play prediction games with Ambipom, using his STAB attack if Ambipom Taunts or Stealth Rock if Ambipom U-Turns without Taunting.
Click to expand...
Vs. Ambipom a switch to Steelix is pretty obvious, and Ambipom doesn't accomplish much. Hitmonlee is very useful for getting the jump on a lot of the more offensive leads. However I may change to Steelix for a bit because Yanmega and Crobat are coming.

HeYsuP, that match was brutal. Made me realize a lot of the problems this team had. I may just retire this team (only like 10 days old too :[).
 
Sub Whirlwind Crobat gives this team major problems I've tried it myself and like it but the Venasaur just doesn't do anything for me personally I'm not sure what to switch around though.
 
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