Peaked #73--Venser's UU team

[Venser]

~At a Glance~

HariyamaaaaRegisteel HoundoomaMilotica aaVenusauraaaDrapion



~Team Building Process~
I started off this team knowing that I wanted a pretty bulky, offensive team that uses Toxic Spikes and Stealth Rock. So to start, I needed an offensive pokemon with decent bulk that could use Toxic Spikes. That job fell naturally to a custom Drapion set of mine.

So now I had my Toxic Spiker, I needed my Stealth Rock setter. Bulkiness was my main criteria, but I wanted it to deal consistent damage instead of pitiful damage. Uxie and Registeel were my main candidates, but even though Uxie was able to cover Drapion's Earthquake weakness very well, it couldn't touch anything besides tricking a scarf onto it. So the job of Stealth Rock setter and paralysis-spreader fell to Registeel.

Next up, I needed a lead that could start by giving me offensive momentum while retaining bulk and usefulness later-game. At first this slot fell to an Ambipom due to me never trying it before and thinking it was cool, but that was replaced later due to frailty and being completely crippled by any form of status, so I won't go into too much detail here.

So now I had my early-game/entry hazard core, as well as a wall and a set-up sweeper. The logical next step was putting together an offensive core of awesomeness. Venusaur can be considered the best Pokemon in UU easily (In Pokemon Online, which I use due to the fact that more people play non-OU formats there, Venusaur is above Milotic in usage stats.) I decided that since LO STAB Leaf Storm tears through the format like butter, Venusaur could be very useful on this team.

So I added Venusaur, which lead me to the natural conclusion that a Fire/Water/Grass core would make an excellent finish to the team. Feraligatr, which I've never used before, was described onsite as the "Gyarados of UU", seemed like it would be decent in this spot.

At this point, I knew I needed to find the "glue" that would hold this team together, but it had to be a fire-type. But before I could finish that, I realized that I had no reliable status absorber. A Pokemon that was immune to status like Breloom would be perfect, but sadly/fortunately, Breloom was OU. But the idea of a Toxic Orb/Flame Orb Pokemon intrigued me and I realized that Ambipom was just too frail for this team. Fake Out is awesome though, so I just went with a bulky Fake Out lead that also acted as a status absorber. Hariyama!

So now all I needed to do was find a fire type that fit my needs. I knew it had to be a special attacker, so Arcanine was out. Typhlosion, while nice and Eruptiony, didn't like starting at 75% HP, and I had no spinner, which also kinda killed Moltres. Blaziken was just too frail for my tastes and didn't pack enough power, so I went with Houndoom due to it's Choice set being awesome.

So now all that remained was testing! After a few battles, it was clear that this was an OK team, but some things weren't cutting it. At this point, I realized some revisions were in order. Feraligatr just wasn't bulky enough, so I switched it for a Milotic, and changed Houndoom to a NP variant.

After some suggestions from the raters, I changed Houndoom to a Hasty nature and moved 100 EVs into attack, removing HP Flying for Sucker Punch.

~In-Depth~
~Changes in Red~
​

@

Hariyama @ Toxic Orb
EVs: 252 Attack|200 Def|56 Speed
Nature: Adamant|Ability: Guts

|Fake Out

|Payback

|Close Combat

|Bullet Punch
​

Why Hariyama?
Hariyama plays an essential role in the early-game, OHKO and 2HKOing most of the common leads, often without taking any damage. However, its usefulness isn't limited to the early game. Due to the combo of Fake Out + Toxic Orb, Hariyama is guaranteed to be inflicted with a status condition and can protect the rest of the team from Uxie and Registeel's paralysis, as well as Venusaur's Sleep Powder. In addition to status absorbing, Toxic Orb+ Guts gives a larger boost than Life Orb does, and the recoil damage has the potential to be even less. The moveset and EVs are standard fare; Bullet Punch for Priority, Close Combat for STAB, and Payback to hit Uxies and stuff.
Potential Changes?
As of right now, the only thing I'm thinking of doing is changing Bullet Punch to Ice Punch so I can hit Venusaur hard. Opinions plx?

Lead Matchups

Aipom

: Take the Fake out, let Guts activate, and respond with a Close Combat (sometimes followed up by a Bullet Punch).
Uxie

: Fake Out, then let it trick me while I Payback. I then switch to Venusar and Sleep Powder-->Leaf Storm.
Mespirit

: Same as above. Fake Out, Payback, switch to Venusaur.
Omastar

: Fake Out to break the sash, then Close Combat.
Qwilfish

: Fake Out, switch to Venusar to Sleep Powder. It gets two layers up, but doesn't explode.
Spiritomb

: Payback hoping it'll try to Will-o-Wisp me, considering that LO anti-lead Hariyamas are more common, then Switch to Venusar and Sleep Powder-->Leaf Storm. It doesn't really do much besides burning me instead of me being Toxic'd.
Alakazam

: Switch to Drapion, then Crunch. And Crunch.
Scyther

: Fake Out, then switch to Registeel/Milotic to deal with it appropriately.
Hippopotas

: Fake Out + Close Combat, then seal the deal with Bullet Punch.
Cloyster

: Fake Out + Close Combat OHKOs. He gets one layer of spikes up :P

​

@

Venusaur @ Life Orb
Evs: 252 Special Attack|252 Speed|4 Defense
Nature:Timid|Ability|Overgrow

|Leaf Storm

|Sludge Bomb

|Sleep Powder

|Synthesis
​

Why Venusaur?
Venusaur, is, to put it simply, the most powerful Pokemon in UU. Even with two non-attacking moves, this Pokemon literally tears through the entire tier. This is the standard special LO set on the analysis page, and there isn't really that much to say. Leaf storm is just an awesome attack, putting a huge hole even in things that resist it, and Sludge Bomb is for secondary STAB and to round off the type coverage a bit. Sleep Powder basically incapacitates one Pokemon on the foe's team, and leaves it open to killing. Synthesis is to keep Venusaur's health in the green zone, but isn't that useful. I don't get many chances to heal up in this metagame, especially with Heracrosses (Heracrosi?) running around.

Potential Changes?
Umm, maybe run a Hidden Power over Synthesis. Ground or Rock both seem like good ideas, but I'm not sure if it's really worth it.

@

Houndoom @ Life Orb
EVs: 100 Attack|184 Special Attack|252 Speed
Nature:Timid|Ability:Flash Fire

|Nasty Plot

|Dark Pulse

|Fire Blast

|Sucker Punch
​

Why Houndoom?
Because after one Nasty Plot, this outpaces and OHKOs much of the metagame. I'm serious. Base 90 speed may not seem like a lot to you fellows in OU, but in UU, most of the most prominent threats have a base speed around roughly 80. Houndoom complements Venusuar's sweeping potential, taking out many of the things it can't do jack against, such as Registeel. The 3 non-setup moves provide the best coverage possible without losing priority, given Houndoom's movepool. Fire Blast and Dark Pulse offer STAB attacks off a base 110 special attack stat, and Sucker Punch adds priority and a guaranteed kill on Dugtrio. The Stealth Rock support from my Registeel is greatly appreciated by Houndoom, turning 2HKOs into OHKOs. Milotic and Venusaur further complement Houndoom, being able to switch into the water and ground attacks commonly pointed at the devil dog.

Potential Changes?
I'm considering making this a Moltres to ease my weakness to ground-type mons, but Spin support then becomes necessary, and I don't see how I could fit that it. Additionally, this could become a mixed Houndoom, trapping ghosts and easing my issues with lead Alakazam.

@

Registeel @ Leftovers
EVs: 252 HP|4 Def|252 Special Defense
Nature: Careful|Ability: Clear Body

|Stealth Rock

|Thunder Wave

|Iron Head

|Seismic Toss
​

Why Registeel?
Registeel is, to put it simply, the best supporter available for this team right now. It fills in all the gaps, that is: a lack of Stealth Rock, a way to shut down sweepers and flinchhax (okay, maybe it's not mandatory, but it's always fun seeing a Registeel take down some fearsome 'mon like Spiritomb or Mismagius). It can take super-effective hits with roughly 30% left, paralyze back, and ram its head into them until they faint. They only have a 52.5 percent chance of being able to attack, which means that 4HKOs can often occur without the opposing Pokemon even hitting Registeel again. Seismic Toss hits many of the Pokemon that resist Iron Head for a reliable 100 damage, which is almost always a 3-4HKO, save the odd Chansey.

Potential Changes?
Not really. If you can find me a ground-immune Pokemon that does everything Registeel does, I'd be willing to give it a shot.

@

Drapion @ Life Orb
EVs: 252 HP|120 Attack|136 Spe
Nature: Jolly|Ability: Sniper

|Toxic Spikes

|Swords Dance

|Night Slash

|Earthquake
​

Why Drapion?
When I was building this team I realized what would be awesome. Jetpacks. But besides that, a sweeper that could also lay down entry hazards would be pretty cool as well, similar to Roserade in OU. I started fooling around on Veekun, looking for Pokemon that learned Toxic Spikes. I saw Drapion, and rushed to the Smogon Strategydex page to see if there was any set like the one I wanted. There wasn't, so I threw one together myself! Crunch and EQ offer almost-perfect coverage in UU, and Swords Dance lets me set up. Toxic Spikes are there to wreak havoc on the opponent's team. I often try to kill Venusaurs before I send this in, to ensure that my two turns of setup are not wasted. The EV spread allows him to outspeed all base 80s, and the HP Evs are for general bulkiness to ensure that you get either Toxic Spikes or a Swords Dance up before you start sweeping. Lastly, the Attack EVs and Life Orb over Leftovers differentiate this from the Bulky SD set on-site, allowing it to hit bulky 'mons much harder.

Potential Changes?
Well, the EV spread definitely needs a bit of work, but as-is it's not too shabby.

@

Milotic @ Leftovers
EVs:244 HP|252 Def|12 Spe
Nature: Bold|Ability: Marvel Scale

|Hidden Power

|Haze

|Surf

|Recover
​

Why Milotic?
A typical bulky water. This thing finds its way onto at least one out of every five (that's 20-odd percent) teams in UU, and this one is no exception. Hidden Power (grass) and Surf allow me to take down things like the omnipresent Houndoom, Blaziken, and Donphan, as well as water-types like Blastoise, Feraligatr, and Azumarill, which can't really touch me behind her. Haze provides utility against Dragon Dancers and NP Mismagius, which I can then proceed to kill with the appropriate attack. Recover finishes off the moveset, giving Milotic staying power, which is essential for a wall. Milotic is a great Pokemon to switch into the first layer of Toxic Spikes before I send Venusar or Drapion in to suck them up, essentially trading leftovers recovery for a 1.5x boost to her defense stat.

Potential Changes?
None spring to mind, but if you have any improvements on the EV spread or moveset, let me know.

~Last Look~

And that's it! Rate/Hate/Steal! If someone could find me an animated Drapion sprite, you would have my eternal gratitude :P
​

​

 

[peadawg14]

Toxic Spikes are a no-no in UU b/c of how many poison types there are(mainly Venusaur and Toxicroak). Change Toxic Spikes to (maybe) Aerial Ace for fighters and grass pokemon who resist your other 2 moves.

Just one nit-pick...doesn't Fake Out + Close Combat KO Omastar like it does Cloyster?

You may want a Rotom or Mismagius for Levitate and rapid spin blocker. Giving them HP Grass for Donphan is a great surprise.

Other than that, pretty solid team.

 

[Darkamber8828]

NO GROUND RESISTANCE BEEP BEEP BEEP

That means Torterra and Rhyperior switch in and kill things.

Solution: Gligar?

Defensive pokemon with Ground immune with Knock Off and Toxic. It's got Roost, which Registeel doesn't have. It beats Rhyp and beats Torterra with Aerial Ace (and Heracross too?) And there's SR.

 

[Venser]

First off, thanks for the replies!

Toxic Spikes are a no-no in UU b/c of how many poison types there are(mainly Venusaur and Toxicroak). Change Toxic Spikes to (maybe) Aerial Ace for fighters and grass pokemon who resist your other 2 moves.

Just one nit-pick...doesn't Fake Out + Close Combat KO Omastar like it does Cloyster?

You may want a Rotom or Mismagius for Levitate and rapid spin blocker. Giving them HP Grass for Donphan is a great surprise.

Other than that, pretty solid team.

Thank you for the compliment! You're right, FO+CC is a guaranteed KO on both Omastar and Cloyster, I will fix that shortly. After I made this RMT, I spent a lot of time testing a Force Palm Hariyama (to spread paralysis) on an OU, which apparently confused me.

Toxic Spikes are very useful for my team, as I can lure and kill most poison-types with the Milotic and Houndoom duo before I try to lay down TSpikes. Venusaur and Toxicroak are both more than happy to switch into a Milotic, especially if they predict a surf. If necessary, I can just forgo Toxic Spikes and treat Drapion as just a regular SDer without Aqua Tail or Aerial Ace. Does that make sense?

I've considered Mismagius over Houndoom in a similar role, but losing fire-type coverage isn't worth the spinblocking. What do you think it would be best to replace?

NO GROUND RESISTANCE BEEP BEEP BEEP

That means Torterra and Rhyperior switch in and kill things.

Solution: Gligar?

Defensive pokemon with Ground immune with Knock Off and Toxic. It's got Roost, which Registeel doesn't have. It beats Rhyp and beats Torterra with Aerial Ace (and Heracross too?) And there's SR.

I've noticed the ground weakness, but my FWG core does a great job of countering those two. I'll test out a Gligar, but I wish it learned Thunderwave. You're right though, it does have many similarities, which may be good.

 

[The Grand Babido]

Hi Venser.

There are a few issues that I see. Firstly, to get things started, replace HP Flying on Houndoom for Sucker Punch. HP Flying only hits Blaziken and Hariyama. Blaziken falls to a +2 Fire Blast usually and most Hariyama are seen in the lead position like yours and so take higher damage from Fire Blast. Changing your nature to Hasty and running 100 Atk EVs allows you to always OHKO 4 HP Dugtrio.

The next problem I see is Drapion. Drapion provides absolutely nothing to your team other than as an offensive Swords Dancer. Toxic Spikes increase your already huge Heracross weakness and are easily removed by many of the most common UU Pokemon [Venusaur, Toxicroak, etc etc]. Drapion needs to be replaced by something that can actually threaten Heracross and something that provides a nice switch-in for other fighters and Rock Polish Torterra [who 6-0es you if Venusaur has taken the slightest prior damage]. This Pokemon is Scarf Rotom:

Rotom @ Choice Scarf
Levitate | Timid
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpAtk / 252 Spe
Thunderbolt / Shadow Ball / Trick / HP Ice

While Rotom cannot switch into the likes of 4atk Hera Stone Edge or Night Slash, it resists both its STABs and can revenge kill it quite comfortably [seeing as most Hera lose health extremely quickly, getting it down into Thunderbolt range should not be too difficult]. Rotom revenges standard Torterra with HP Ice and can Trick incoming Chansey easing Houndoom's sweep.

Additionally, on Registeel, you want to replace Iron Head with Shadow Claw. Shadow Claw is a much more reliable way to beat Nasty Plot / Calm Mind Mismagius and allows you to break Rotom's Substitutes comfortably. Another idea is to use HP Psychic on Milotic so you are not completely defense-less vs. opposing Toxicroak.

Good luck!

 

[shrang]

Just a quick rate, 2 Fighting weaks and 2 Ground weaks without any Ground resists is not a good example of synergy. Once Registeel falls below desired health (Which is around 50%), Swellow completely annihilates your team. I'm going to second Heist's suggestion for Choice Scarf Rotom, but give HP Flying a consideration, since you can nail Heracross with it (Otherwise Rotom won't have an easy time killing it). If Torterra gives you trouble if you run HP Flying, you can try replacing Venusaur with Tangrowth:

Tangrowth @ Leftovers
Ability: Either is fine
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/4 SpD
Nature: Relaxed
-Leaf Storm/Power Whip
-Synthesis
-Hidden Power Ice/Sleep Powder
-Earthquake/Sleep Powder

Tangrowth will be able to defend against opponents like Rhyperior and Torterra with no trouble at all, just watch out for Heracross.

Just curious, which ladder did you end up #73 on?? Smogon's one only goes up to 50 o_0.

Anyway, hope I helped, good luck.

 

[Venser]

Thanks for the rates!

Hi Venser.

There are a few issues that I see. Firstly, to get things started, replace HP Flying on Houndoom for Sucker Punch. HP Flying only hits Blaziken and Hariyama. Blaziken falls to a +2 Fire Blast usually and most Hariyama are seen in the lead position like yours and so take higher damage from Fire Blast. Changing your nature to Hasty and running 100 Atk EVs allows you to always OHKO 4 HP Dugtrio.

The next problem I see is Drapion. Drapion provides absolutely nothing to your team other than as an offensive Swords Dancer. Toxic Spikes increase your already huge Heracross weakness and are easily removed by many of the most common UU Pokemon [Venusaur, Toxicroak, etc etc]. Drapion needs to be replaced by something that can actually threaten Heracross and something that provides a nice switch-in for other fighters and Rock Polish Torterra [who 6-0es you if Venusaur has taken the slightest prior damage]. This Pokemon is Scarf Rotom:

Rotom @ Choice Scarf
Levitate | Timid
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpAtk / 252 Spe
Thunderbolt / Shadow Ball / Trick / HP Ice

While Rotom cannot switch into the likes of 4atk Hera Stone Edge or Night Slash, it resists both its STABs and can revenge kill it quite comfortably [seeing as most Hera lose health extremely quickly, getting it down into Thunderbolt range should not be too difficult]. Rotom revenges standard Torterra with HP Ice and can Trick incoming Chansey easing Houndoom's sweep.

Additionally, on Registeel, you want to replace Iron Head with Shadow Claw. Shadow Claw is a much more reliable way to beat Nasty Plot / Calm Mind Mismagius and allows you to break Rotom's Substitutes comfortably. Another idea is to use HP Psychic on Milotic so you are not completely defense-less vs. opposing Toxicroak.

Good luck!

Thank you for the suggestion, I'll definitely that out! On Milotic I'd rather not use HP Psychic, as that reduces the threats that I can actually deal with by using HP Grass like Azumarill and Feraligatr. I'd prefer to keep Registeel with Iron Head, but I'll give Shadow Claw a try as well. Iron Head beats set-up Mismagiuses really well, especially if they forgo substitute for a coverage move.

Everybody is saying the same things about Drapion, so I suppose I'll drop him for a Rotom after I make sure it fits on this team. Trick support will most likely prove to be very useful, considering Chansey is a bitch to deal with sometimes.

I tested Sucker Punch over HP Flying and it's been great. The only issue is that I lose neutral coverage on Sharpedo, but I can deal with that.

Just a quick rate, 2 Fighting weaks and 2 Ground weaks without any Ground resists is not a good example of synergy. Once Registeel falls below desired health (Which is around 50%), Swellow completely annihilates your team. I'm going to second Heist's suggestion for Choice Scarf Rotom, but give HP Flying a consideration, since you can nail Heracross with it (Otherwise Rotom won't have an easy time killing it). If Torterra gives you trouble if you run HP Flying, you can try replacing Venusaur with Tangrowth:

Tangrowth @ Leftovers
Ability: Either is fine
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/4 SpD
Nature: Relaxed
-Leaf Storm/Power Whip
-Synthesis
-Hidden Power Ice/Sleep Powder
-Earthquake/Sleep Powder

Tangrowth will be able to defend against opponents like Rhyperior and Torterra with no trouble at all, just watch out for Heracross.

Just curious, which ladder did you end up #73 on?? Smogon's one only goes up to 50 o_0.

Anyway, hope I helped, good luck.

Thanks for the suggestion! Choice Scarf Rotom will definitely be given a trial run, and I'll test out HP Flying. But it looks like HP Ice will be more useful overall.

The Tangrowth I'll test, but this is mainly an offensive team, and I fear that Tangrowth's bulkiness and lack of speed will slow the team down. I will try it however.

Testing: Gligar, CS Rotom, Shadow Claw over Iron Head, CS Rotom with HP Flying, Sucker Punch on Houndoom, Tangrowth.