Tournament Post UUPL VIII Team/Set Dump

[Freeroamer]

Hello all, now that UUPL VIII is over for 50% of teams, I thought I'd post this to give people a chance to share some of the cool things they thought of and/or used this UUPL and whore some likes.

tags

Star The Kyle teal6 robjr Killintime HarrisIsAwesome MrAldo atomicllamas Jaajgko EviGaro gorgie Feliburn explodingdaisies -okara Odd Della Robbia SOMALIA Sacri' Bebo Donphantastic vivalospride rozes Sinkyr Alkione Zwein Kreme amber lamps TSR Twilight Thisbemyalt Noitu FUMA HI-FI choolio BKC ZoroDark brewfasa Sabella HT Wanka Pak Eternally Ark alive MetaRiolu7 Lilburr Chill Shadow bugzinator SPACE FORCE meeps Hogg Shiba Sage Cynara GunGunJ kaori Moutemoute Juuno

I'll start us off with some sets I used in various weeks:

Week 1



Incineroar @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 200 HP / 108 Atk / 24 SpD / 176 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Close Combat
- U-turn
- Swords Dance

desc

I was really high on this dude in the early weeks, as Dark/Fighting coverage was unresisted among the common pokemon in the tier outside of Weezing which still didn't love Knock Off, and it provided a nice alternative to the fatter Incineroars that people were mostly using at the time as well as being able to combine the roles of breaker+pivot. The bulk drop is obviously noticeable, but not to the point where Incin can't check the stuff it usually does, you just need to be pragmatic in using it and realise it can't be recklessly thrown into stuff like Roserade. In the game I used this in it didn't end up needing to SD, but it was still able to check a Specs Chandelure and pivot when required. I obviously wouldn’t recommend this now as being walled by Sylveon is woat, as well as the rise of Pangoro meaning Jolly and more speed is optimal on this kind of set.

EVs allow you to OHKO Gigalith from full with +2 CC, while the Speed outruns Milo+creep. HP/SpDef split means you always live 2 Moonblasts from Scarf Gardevoir which was nice for the team I had it on, I think Lily also used this set early on but with more speed to outrun Adamant Machamp as +2 CC smacks that.

Week 2



Cobalion @ Choice Band
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Volt Switch

desc

The idea of this was to pair on a cb spam team with cb Haxorus, as the two most common Mold Breaker EQ resists at the time (Golisopod + Noivern) were both prone to catching a Stone Edge from Coba which would then let Haxorus do it's thing a lot more freely, eliminating the potential guessing game of Pod/Vern or Dragon resist coming in. Being a Coba set that could punish Noivern switches for a huge reward was also really nice at the time, as Twave wasn't huge on Coba then so the hard Vern into Coba play was a lot easier to justify. It also lets you fit volt which is nice for Doublade matchups. In the game this was used in it didn't really come into play too much apart from getting an opportune flinch, although the extra damage vs Necrozma meant it was able to muscle through thanks to the flinch and give me the mon advantage which really helped down the stretch. I'm convinced that this set is still very usable, even if it's not as consistent/easy to use as the more standard sets.

Week 3



Espeon @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Weather Ball
- Calm Mind

desc

This was a fun set paired with Gigalith that I thought of early on to try and smack around the common Bronzong/Incin style teams that were around at the time. A fair number of Bronzong at this point were running Psychic/Toxic/Stealth Rock/Protect, which meant they couldn't actually touch you thanks to Magic Bounce, while +1 Weather Ball in sand does respectably high damage to Incin, allowing it to be KOed after some chip. In the game the Incin is sacked early which means Weather Ball had no real use here, however it does take advantage of the fact that the only two common pokemon that are naturally faster than Espeon are special attackers, which meant it could clean lategame after CM boosts thanks to Zong being weakened by Gigalith. Hydro was doing 59.7 max so Noivern could have revenge killed, but Scarf Rotom spamming tbolt means I feel like I was still favoured at that point thanks to how much damage it does (40min) as well as it having higher PP than Roost and para/crit chances.

Week 5



Arcanine @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 196 Def / 60 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Teleport
- Roar
- Morning Sun

desc

This one probably doesn't look that exciting and it's not really, I just wanted to share it cos there seems to be a general mentality that Arcanine needs Toxic while I'm not really convinced that it does, or at least I find it dependent on it's teammates. My thinking here is that Toxic is usually thrown out on the switch against stuff like Gigalith/Rhyperior/bulky water types, so if I have it paired with a Pangoro and a Roserade, there's realistically very few situations in which predicting one of Arcanine's checks with Toxic is preferable to using Teleport and piling on the offensive pressure. Roar is super fun to fuck around with Sylveon, and also helps rack up damage with Spikes so I find it more useful than Toxic also. Unfortunately in the game I use this in, Viv plays well and I get a little greedy which means I end up wasting Arcanine to take a Scald from Jellicent as opposed to utilising it to relieve the pressure from Darm and Escavalier which ends up really biting lategame.

EVs outspeed Jolly Incin and Timid Sylv, I prefer physdef as Morning Sun isn't reliable and I want my Arcanine to check Coba and Darmanitan as well as possible.

Might post more stuff or analyses of games another time.

 

[Lily]

I've been waiting for the chance to post some interesting stuff, so here we go! I only played SS so I have nothing of note for other gens. Click on the pictures for each team if you want the pastes.

Week 1 - vs 100% GXE


GXE was coming off a pretty hot streak in Masters and with this being my tournament debut, I was a little anxious. For that reason, I brought a standard team, with the only notably unique Pokemon being a less-bulky version of Roamer's Incineroar, with enough speed to deal with Machamp bc I was super weak to it.

Week 2 - vs MetaRiolu7

cool sets

Hearts Alive (Rapidash-Galar) (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Pastel Veil
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Play Rough
- Zen Headbutt
- Low Kick
- Healing Wish

Blood and Thunder (Heliolisk) (F) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Dry Skin
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Grass Knot
- Protect

These two were a unique duo that I featured on a team that got a bit of attention for being kinda heat. My idea with Galarian Rapidash was basically, "it does the stuff specs gardevoir does, but it's fast", and Sage helped me come up with this team around it. The game went incredibly smoothly and both Rapidash and Heliolisk put in quite a bit of work with their unique sets - Protect was a really cool option on Lisk to punish the extremely prominent Golisopod (at the time), and also allowed me to scout stuff like scarf Garde. It was a really cool team and probably the most memorable for me this season.

Week 3 - vs TDK


Nothing super unique here either, I mainly wanted to take advantage of TDK's at-the-time very linear building patterns, which led me to Machamp and Incineroar. Dragon Tail Rhyperior was a decent option to annoy incoming Bronzongs and stuff, as well as punishing incoming Flygons. The spreads were a little unique - Incineroar's spread was really cool and allows it to always OHKO Cobalion while retaining insane bulk and getting a slow Parting Shot out on a bunch of things, while Mowtom's allowed it to underspeed opposing scarf Rotom, outspeed scarf Gardevoir and Chandelure and allowed it to live Ice Shard after two rounds of Stealth Rock damage. Really fun team that I'm glad I managed to get a win with.

Week 4 - vs Indigo Plateau


This was a cool concept based around Rest Roserade + Flygon, which caught on a lot after I used this team (probably not for that reason, though). Synthesis is normally a bit better but Rest worked on this team because I really wanted to fit a Gigalith. I used a Nasty Plot + Defog Rotom-W which was pretty unique imo, it really aided my matchup vs opposing Gigalith and Rhyperior as well as making sure I wasn't entirely fodder for Bronzong. I unfortunately received my first loss in this game, with some close final turns spelling my doom after losing a 50/50. Still, I think the team here was pretty good.

Week 5 - vs Twilight


I got a bit of flak for this team, with a bunch of people telling me it was pretty bad. I don't know how right they were, but I really enjoyed using it. It kind of embodied VoltTurn and it allowed me to debut what is currently my favourite set in all of SS UU.

cool set

Heartache (Heliolisk) (F) @ Silk Scarf
Ability: Dry Skin
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Hyper Voice
- Grass Knot

Most people who know me know that I really love Heliolisk, and this set was designed to take advantage of common Electric answers like Roserade and Celebi that were getting spammed at the time because of Rotom-W's rise. Silk Scarf Hyper Voice 2HKOs every Grass-type in the tier, save for some fatter Celebis. It also allows you to bluff Specs, which makes for some nice surprise KOs on stuff like Rhyperior. This game was unfortunately not great, with a lot of luck on my side leading to my win. I really enjoyed the team, though.

Week 6 - vs Luthier


At this point, we thought the Idols were out, so most of my team ended up bringing stuff that was a little less competitive. I still wanted to make my record as good as I possibly could, though, so I brought a team using an idea shamelessly stolen from the Ladies involving Sylveon + Copperajah.

cool set

Maximize Power! (Copperajah) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Heavy Metal
EVs: 144 HP / 56 Atk / 252 SpD / 56 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Heat Crash
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock

In hindsight, Power Whip is a ton better than Heat Crash is on this type of set. I really liked the idea of this bc it took on Sylveon a lot better than Escavalier could while also retaining a decent Roserade matchup and giving me rocks. Luthier ended up bringing stall in the game, which was thankfully handled by the combination of Pangoro, Copperajah, Roserade, Noivern and a shit ton of luck. Really big on Copperajah after this game and I think it's got a lot more of a niche now that Sylveon is in the tier.

Week 7 - vs Feliburn


This team gave rise to the infamous Barraskewda ditto. My original idea was an evil Kings Rock Cinccino + Spikes thing that Accelgor thought up, but I ended up changing it to Barraskewda bc my team was losing games.

cool set

world.execute(me); (Barraskewda) @ Mystic Water
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 96 HP / 252 Atk / 160 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Liquidation
- Close Combat
- Throat Chop
- Ice Fang

I ran a really cursed set because ODR told me to not bother with max speed. In his words, there was "no way I'd run into another Skewda." Guess what, Odd Della Robbia? I RAN INTO ANOTHER SKEWDA. This impacted how I played my endgame because I knew I couldn't risk a speed tie with it, so I ended up losing to a Doublade. Tragic.
I also learned later on that I actually would've won if I -had- gone for that tie because Feli's Skewda was Adamant and mine wasn't. Oh well.

I have some mons that I don't feel like writing up rn but I had teams built around them and all so I'll do it later. Expect things on Cinccino, Sneasel, Togedemaru, Vanilluxe and more. Hope to see some more cool stuff here :>

 

[The Kyle]

Kngaskhan @ Leftovers
Ability: Early Bird
252 Atk [redacted]
Adamant Nature
- Double-Edge
- Earthquake
- Shadow Ball
- Reat

The Kyle's special, just attack and remember you can't crit if you just switch mons

 

[Diophantine]

I was d0nut's sub, so I only played last week, but here's the team I used. I used it a lot in my Victory Road trial. I actually lost my one game LMAO. I misclicked with my Hypno which would have been super helpful in the remainder of the game, but those types of mistakes are very hard to recover from against good players.

I wanted to build around Pinsir because I was watching the Pokemon anime with my little sister and one of the episodes we saw was the one with Samurai in Viridian Forest. Blastoise, Ampharos and Nidoqueen are some of my personal favourite Pokemon and have served me well in my Kanto and Johto journeys, so it's always nice to find some sort of use for them in competitive battling. I figured that a viable strategy would be to use a Swords Dance set supported by Reflect and Light screen from teammates. The dual screens also allow me to pivot around offensive threats more easily.

Hypno @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Psychic
- Reflect

Hypno is the designated lead. It matches up well against Quilfish and Nidoqueen, and is neutral against the Psychic types where it can get a Reflect up if I want. It works as a necessary Psychic resist and a check to Nidoqueen, arguably the tier's most threatening Pokemon. Setting a Reflect up as an opponent tries to take advantage and go into their Scyther or Granbull can help me play around them. Rest Talk is for longevity and to be able to function as a Nidoqueen check, as I'm guaranteed to get a good Sleep Talk move with it.

Ampharos @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Sleep Talk
- Thunder
- Light Screen
- Rest

Amphy is the Light Screen half of the core and helps me check several things that Hypno can't. Ampharos can check Scyther, Haunter, the Water types and the Electric types. It can also work as a secondary check to the Psychic types thanks to Sleep Talk and Light Screen. The threat of a powerful Thunder is useful to generate a lot of "free" turns to set up a Light Screen. This thing is OP in a Gold/Silver playthrough, and definitely pulls its weight in GSC UU.

Blastoise @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Sleep Talk
- Rest
- Rapid Spin
- Surf
The most reliable starter Pokemon! Pokemon Blue's poster boy makes an appearance here providing Rapid Spin support for the team while also helping to check many notable threats such as Nidoqueen, Sandslash and Gyarados (it can at least pivot in to the latter). Rapid Spin helps Ampharos and Hypno out a lot. Sleep Talk is to help it remove Spikes more reliably against Qwilfish, and help it check Nidoqueen and Sandslash more consistently. You could argue that 3 Rest Talk users is a bit much, but I figured they're the best moves to help each other. I considered Haze or Roar to help against Baton Pass teams, but settled on Sleep Talk Rapid Spin. Haunter can block Spin, but is 3HKOd by Surf, so can't do it consistently.

Nidoqueen (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Ice Beam
- Earthquake
- Moonlight
- Thunder
Every balanced team needs a Nidoqueen. It provides many useful resistances, has great coverage, an immunity to Thunder Wave and Toxic, great utility options, the lot. Unfortunately, Moonlight and Lovely Kiss are incompatible with each other, as I'd definitely love to have Kiss on here to help against BP teams. I went with Moonlight because this team is quite bulky, meaning games would usually last longer, so longevity on Nidoqueen was good. However, in hindsight, perhaps Kiss might be better here as the other team members' bulk and screens support can give Nidoqueen a safety net without recovery. Moonlight does allow me to be a bit more reckless with my Queen though.Ice Beam is used to nail Gligar and Jumpluff mainly, as they can really block off Pinsir. Thunder is for the Water types, most notably Gyarados who is quite annoying. Slowbro on the switch is a nice catch too.

Kabutops @ Leftovers
Ability: none
IVs: 14 HP / 24 Atk
- Swords Dance
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Ancient Power
- Hydro Pump
Kabutops here functions as a second sweeper and necessary Normal resist to check Granbull. I've not yet pulled an Ancient Power boost yet, but when I do, I'll be ecstatic. Hidden Power Ground is to hit Qwilfish to help Pinsir. It can also hit Electric types in a pinch. Hydro Pump is best against Granbull and (of course) things that are weak to it like Nidoqueen, Piloswine and Gligar.

Pinsir @ Leftovers
Ability: none
IVs: 26 Atk / 26 Def
- Swords Dance
- Submission
- Hidden Power [Bug]
- Return
Big Samurai Pinsir is here to muscle through foes. Bug isn't the greatest STAB, but it does hit the Psychic types very hard, which Kabutops can't really do too much against. Submission is for the likes of Magneton, Kabutops, Piloswine and Omastar. I had Return as the last move because otherwise we're completely walled by Nidoqueen, but Body Slam (for paralysis) or Double Edge (Return is a roll to 2HKO at +2) are also possible options.

GSC UU is lit. My team made playoffs so I might get another chance to play, but it's unlikely since d0nut is probably gonna kill it lol. Either way, building with him has been fun. Hopefully we win the whole thing.​

 

[vivalospride]

Hello I no-lifed this tour pretty fuckin hard and I ended up with like a large folder of builds/drafts/concept ideas. Some shit is better than others and some shit might just straight up be lazy but I do believe at least most of the shit my team used this tour was solid in some way shape or form. Building SM was fun in later weeks of this tour even if my sm slots kept being divas and SM sucks ass, but regardless of all that I am proud of the work I did this UUPL and slaving for Sacri' every week specifically was a blast.

GIF that proves I have no life :(

Obviously will not go over every one of these but I will highlight a few of my favorites that were used whether they won or not, but winning is obviously a +, and if you see anything you like you can dm me or something and I'd probably give it to you. A lot of these descriptions will not be super thorough and will prolly be rushed bc I'm tired and don't wanna spend too much time on this but it's inevitable that I do. I will go over some of my favs.

Sacri w1

Sacri used this w1 vs Pak, I really liked this team bc when I made it, it felt like something I could see Sacri using and doing well with and from then on I knew Sacri would have a good record as long as I put effort into his slot every week and as long as he played up to his own standard (which was a given). Basically I thought AOA Starmie would be rlly good vs some of the mane builds pak rlly likes, rips through teams so easily with the right button clicks. Sacri is an aggressive player and I was confident with this in his hands. Basically the idea was Starmie + pivot, pivot being u-turn Scizor which also serves as what's prolly gonna be the wincon in a lot of endgames. The oven forms a voltturn core with sciz and solidifies the sciz mu while giving all the other role compression jazz that oven usually does, malt comes next to serve as the hazard removal, on team preview it's really easy to bluff spin mie + dd alt or something like that as well which is nice. Body Slam spam supports mie very well as well, giving it more opportunities to stay in and click buttons, scarf krook is self explanatory, coba helps the sciz mu and takes pressure off malt's back due to being able to switch into dark moves while malt maybe hasn't megad yet, i went with chople bc coba mu is relying too heavily on aoa mie.

Sacri w2, viv w2/3

My team used this team like 3 times I think in the span of 2 weeks, Sacri once, me twice, it went 2-1 I believe. I just wanted to do mamo + rose for spikes and the fact that it comes in on stuff like waters and weezing which can kinda come in on mamo. Gig was just the best option for a rocker in terms of role compression, the team has no psychic resist and it kinda relies on gig to soak up the special hits when it rlly needs to and offensive pressure with shard/coba/rose/whatever. Gig is also one of like 3 viable rockers in the tier so I don't have to try too hard to explain myself there, Milotic is cool bc it can pivot into mamo when it clicks anything other than EQ the turn it comes in but not only that, it checks some stuff like CM Reuni with haze which would be a huge threat otherwise, and especially at the time of this team being made the tier rlly struggled to switch into scald + ice beam and pressure milo at the same time so it balanced the team out rlly well. Coba is the main mamo pivot w/ shuca and the wincon in most end games, also serves as a pivot to get mamo in w/ volt. Noiv is fuckin noiv, speed, glue, etc.

Sacri w3

This 6 is fuckin nasty, Pak made this same 6 in ltpl and I ended up recreating it for Sacri vs rob in w3 of this tour. The whole idea was honestly just fight z kiss but with a reliable rocker, especially vs stuff like defog oven bc I knew rob liked that and was a big fan of bulky steels. Voltturn in general can overwhelm rob's fatter stuff p easily with the right breakers and especially if we ran into one of his mlix builds, mane would have a great time. Tentacruel fit naturally and was the best glue to just smack on there for a team consisting of kiss + rhyp, checking sciz/coba to some extent and providing hazard removal support for a rocks weak mon. Mane thrusted this team into the direction of voltturn BO and helped solidify the sciz mu, so naturally I coupled it with a Scizor to give fight z Togekiss pursuit support and keep the momentum on our side at all times with pivot spamming until it's time for something to break, which leads to the last slot being Hydreigon. Hydreigon and kiss indirectly help each other a lot as drei can break vs some of the stuff that forces kiss out, mainly the oven, but regardless of that both of them can get free turns vs krook and it puts krook in a rlly awkward position of what move to click when it's in vs mane. I went w/ scarf sciz bc w/ mane speed control isn't an issue and it more reliably lures shit like Lati by pursuit/uturn 50/50s barely being a thing as you can kinda just spam uturn, which is rlly helpful w/ kiss being the wincon, and it also allows drei to run a breaker set (specs) to abuse the voltturn core keeping momentum up. I went with uturn on specs drei which is kinda meh most of the time because I can bluff scarf pretty easily this way which is very doable on this team, gives scarf sciz more room to be a surprise factor, etc.

viv w5

I remember this week I scouted roamer and saw like 7 teams in a row with zong + rose so I was like, alright ig I'm using escav. The idea was just escav coming in on zong/rose and knocking whatever comes in, which is likely to be a fat water or incin (stuff that darm appreciates being knocked), I think gig is usually very appreciated for non-incin teams as the rocker bc it might as well be a dark type as a rock type in sand. Flygon is the speed control and forms a nice pivot core with darm, getting it in on stuff like Sylveon and all dat. Jelli I thought worked rlly nice here bc due to a distinct lack of Noivern I had no coba answer and Jelli is about as good as it'll get in terms of answering coba but it also annoys tf out of milo/vaporeon/etc teams with taunt toxic and it helps cripple shit like incin for darm. Whimsicott in hindsight I feel like isn't the best here but fsr I was convinced on it while building, why wouldn't this just be a Sylveon nahmean, LOL. The main thing with whimsi here > sylv ig is being able to keep pressure up to some extent with u-turn and being a nice blanket answer to setup mons with encore, the Doublade mu is pretty bad so stuff like that can be helpful. OH yeah it pivots into washtom which Sylveon doesnt rlly do too well, that's why, badabing.

Bebo w6

Bebo brought this vs suapah for w6 in SM, we were just kinda expecting some Blissey shit and he said he wanted fpunch nidok so I said sure. This is the first solid draft and I came up with out of like 7 and it's prolly my fav. It's got 3 steel types and a drei + coba which heavily punishes anything like krook/drei locking into a dark type move, bro can potentially use drei as fodder in the right situations as well and empo by itself is a drei check, so basically drei is no issue despite no fairy type. The idea was obviously drei uturning on fairies into king for opps to break tho, empo was smacked on to annoying stuff like Blissey and tenta with knock and be the primary lati answer, coba + empo is a great core if you're not gonna be able to fit a fairy, coba is also the rocker and primary sciz answer with fight z, bro is the wincon and works great here being able to answer stuff like nape/coba which is otherwise extremely annoying for the team... it also pivots into Krookodile to scout at the very least with regen being broken which can be extremely helpful for this team. Scizor rounds the last slot out as Pursuit support but primarily being a steel type that actualyl answers malt, unlike the others on the team. It's speedy to help sciz mu as well and forms a great pivot core with drei.

Alkione w7

Alkioat basically just asked for a rak team so I just started making rak drafts and I really liked this one. I built around rak + Scarf Lati which I had to convince myself on bc I'm a huge scarf lati hater, but it's main purpose is to serve as suit fodder to give rak setup reliable setup opportunities, lati is also equipped with hp fire to potentially lure Scizors for rak and chip stuff like Doublade and in bad mus with fat mons you can just trick, I think this is like the perfect team for something like scarf lati. I went with CB Scizor next to get rak/lati/krook onto the field vs stuff like the oven, but mainly to be pursuit support to aid rak bc rak is usually pretty easily revenged by the some of the big boys of the tier, lati being the main one I'm thinking of with suit sciz, but aside from that, annoying doub as sciz is rlly helpful for rak as well. SR Krook is the next slot bc it just keeps rocks up reliably and annoys fatter teams w/ knock + taunt which is rlly nice here, elec immunity, etc etc etc. Tenta is rlly the only hazard removal that works here, helps pivoting into prima and helps sciz mu which is a big one at this current point in the process, helps fighting mu as well. Babiri kiss rounds this team out as soemthing that can lure sciz primarily and solidifies the sciz mu as not being trash, also does all the stuff a fairy normally does for a team (checking krook/drei). I went with tect rak bc of how easily doub is overwhelmed with this team and so you can get opportunities to break more w/ scouting choice locked mons like krook and sciz.

Bebo w5, Sacri w7

I originally built this dragmag to play pdt with in ltpl 2, and then in w5 when bebo was slotted into SM he said he wanted some hippo malt shit or something and after fiddling with drafts that I didn't like I just told him to use this and he liked it, and then w7 when we played CBU bc this was originally made for pdt and if this beats pdt it can prolly beat CBU. This team pretty much loses to stall unless your opponent sucks dick if I'm being honest, the lone out is refresh dd alt which is barely an out considering quag usually outstalls, you have to cripple quag in some way shape or form and then maybe you have a chance but all the weeks we used this it was pretty much like "there's 0 chance we see stall anyways". Premise of the team is just the fact that hippo is rlly good vs pdt/cbus like.. mane builds and is about as consistent as it'll get in blanket checking the slew of cbu/pdt-like mons such as mabsol/av bish/etc. I remember just completely randomly going into a dragmag route with this when I didn't originally intend to and it working out well, I went with bug z sciz + dd refresh alt which is a core i've spammed throughout gen7, the core overworks steels together really well while malt can check stuff like nape and oven for sciz and sciz can kinda lure shit like guss for malt. Guss pretty much just pivots into waters in general, grounds in general, and prim which is rlly helpful for this build and takes a ton of pressure off malt's back to need to do defensive shit for the team. At this point I was kinda like ehhh idk what to do I need to check sciz and speed control and removal and every route I went felt awkward w/o just replacing guss for tenta which I didn't wanna settle for bc I lost a lot of consistency that way. So I went with scarf mag as the "speed control" which was completely fine here bc there's bullet punch + hippo + guss to blanket a lot of the rlly fast threats that scarf mag loses out on, but in general this ties the team together very nicely as it traps steels which lets sciz+malt go nuts, also forms a nice voltturn core to keep momentum up. The last slot I did defog drei, bebo changed it to specs drei which was fine I think as the defensive utility drei brings isnt that important nor is removal really that important. I just wanted a floaty mon that could remove hazards and all that jazz, takes pressure off malt as a dragon type, meaning it can switch into the water breakers like daunt/volcanion w/o making malt do everything, as well as krook and all that. Also I went w/ +spdef nature on hippo for gengar which is nbd bc its usually pretty interchangeable.

viv w4

This was rlly fun, I used it vs lily in cpl 2 d1 and gxe in uupl w4 and it felt very smooth. There's no fairy resist, smd, as if Sylveon gets any free turns vs this smh, araq is a fairy resist... Just wanted to abuse mamo one last time with the new drops at the time, offensive washing machine is pretty cool on webs I think, can slow pivot on noiv to get mamo in or pivot on rose and stuff like that for mamo which is all rlly nice. Coba's coverage with sd edge stabs rlly bothers any teams that don't have a doublade and hitting noiv is a BIG deal on webs. Araq is self explanatory, mamo is too, sd incin is rlly nice here as it abuses webs extremely well in this tier and abuses anything locking into psychic or anything like that, also something that can hard abuse the passive sylv zong incin cores which were rlly poppin. Necro sets rocks reliably, the end.

Now I will go over a few others just briefly in a few sentences, but my favs are p much out of the way other than one that I wanna save for laddering/potential RMT/whatever.

badabing

I made this for rozes in w2 bc lax and him agreed on no mamo. I've used this team several times in random things like cpl/just handing it to people to ladder with or use in cpl and stuff like that. I think it's p good and sirfetchd shits in the mouth of all haters, especially Adaam


It's hilarious how loosely strung together this team is, the steel type is FUCKING MAGNETON. I legit almost gave this to sacri in w7 bc while the steel is magneton, it's toxic Sylveon + maero in sand so lati mu is fine, malt mu on the other hand is wayyy looser. I tested vs it and won, it's doable depending on how you define doable, but it's uncomfortable as all fuck LOL. Tenta + phys def helm hippo are ur "checks", Sylveon living one at +1 is an out and maero outpacing at +1 is an out, mag maybe living one if it's at full is another out, on paper it's doable but it's jsut uncomfortable as all fuck LOL.


p sure I made this for Twilight and he used cofag instead :weary:. This team is p good I think, not too much I can complain about, coba mu is shaky at best but otherwise it's ok. I think reuni is rlly fuckin good in this tier and should be explored more, but the elephant is the standout superstar.


This team is rlly cool even tho it's pretty flimsy. LO BB Scizor + fat prim on paper sounded incredible, prim burning and chipping steels, tenta, amoonguss, etc. All helps sciz act as a breaker/wincon super well and lo ada bb is a p nice out vs stall as well. Sacri used this w5 vs sage iirc and it won, sciz mu is scariest thing but it's super doable with intim + doub + elec z lawnmower, no dragon is uncomfortable too but psh volc sucks.


We were set on this w1 until like... 2 days prior to game being played LOL. I tested vs adaam and the mole trio did rlly well, but then I played against a bronzong and hard lost and Sacri tested and was meh on it so we used something else.

This is a portion of the blood, sweat, and tears I put into this season where we didn't make the playoffs ;_;, I hope I lived up to my team's standards as a manager and I hope to do it all over again next year. Thank you to my team for putting up with my nitpicks across recent gens and stubbornness in gen7 specifically, s/o partner in crime FUMA HI-FI I will always love building with you my brother.

I hope the remainder of the teams in uupl have fun and compete at a high level :japanese_goblin:

 

[Pak]

ORAS

Heracross (M) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
- Facade
- Knock Off

Heracross (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
- Knock Off
- Stone Edge

Heracross (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Guts
EVs: 100 HP / 252 Atk / 156 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
- Knock Off
- Stone Edge

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen6uu-492888 HT vs Rob
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen6uu-492767 me vs killintime
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen6uu-495590 TSR vs garay

At a glance Heracross is a worse Conk, and it probably is under a usual circumstances, but more went into it than it may appear at face value. Heracross has seen a bit of an uptick this UUPL, primarily because of its versatility and immediate power, as shown in its various sets like Toxic Orb, Scarf, Band, and ofc AV, seeing usage. The main Fighting-checks being Florges and Crobat has weirdly worked in Heracross's favor, since it can more feasibly muscle past them easier than Conk ordinarily can, even with its Choice Band set. Realistically, Conk has to choose between hitting one or the other, but any Heracross set generally has an easier time getting through them between its speed, coverage, and aforementioned immediate power. If there's any knock on Conkeldurr, it's that it is slow, and that limits its opportunities versus things like Florges. Another general thing is that Heracross is weirdly natural offensive check to opposing Conkeldurr, not to any crazy extent but it resists its usual moves and is strong enough to do some decent damage in return so that's good enough to provide a nb middle ground in certain scenarios.

Toxic Orb is pretty self-explanatory. You get in, click buttons, especially considering you nuke Florges with 2 faster Facades, and hopefully claim a few before Heracross chips itself down too much. I had Scarf HWish Celebi alongside it when it was used, easing the pressure on both to handle bulky Waters, getting Hera into good spots against Steels, and essentially giving you 2 Heracrosses (!!!). Literally nothing straight walls it but longevity is definitely an issue. I put Scarf Heracross on my Jellicent team because of how easily it can get out of hand with hazards on their side, primarily in conjunction with Steel coverage Hydreigon alongside it. It unfortunately had the worst Scarf Heracross matchup of all time but ay it made for a good sack. Assault Vest is the one you could most easily argue is outclassed by Conk, which is fair, but the main appeal of it there is also to act as a soft check to opposing Fightings, and the fact that it put more pressure on Florges with Hail up than a Bulk Up Conkeldurr would in that setting. Kinda whack but I liked the fit there.

Blastoise @ Blastoisinite
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Rapid Spin
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen6uu-490825 me vs garay

This was originally an Ark/Killintime idea iirc, but it was something I put to use against the pearls, who had been spamming Mega Steelix a ridiculous amount. Given the lack of immediate offensive presence on those types of Mega Steelix/Florg/Tenta/scarfdreigon + 2 teams, I realized early on that winning the hazard war would play a big part in winning the long game. This Mega Blastoise set can sit on those teams all day long and not care about Mega Steelix in the slightest, as seen in the game itself. Despite it having Scald as its only attacking move, this thing is weirdly frustrating to play around in most other matchups too, as well as possessing a lot of other defensive utility, beating things like Mega Aerodactyl, Mega Swampert, and Entei among others. Also ORAS Scald is broken. The main knock on this set is that passivity that it natural brings about, but if there's a sturdy defensive core around it that shores up its weaknesses, it has the potential to just never die. The team linked is the best I could come up with, fearing pretty much nothing from the tier's prominent Grasses and having enough direction as a team to make me feel confident in this set carrying me to a win.

Virizion @ Lum Berry
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Leaf Blade
- Swords Dance
- Synthesis

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen6uu-490825 me vs Garay

I'm not going to pretend that Virizion is some hidden gem that will turn the metagame on its head, but it has its uses from time to time. As we all know, ORAS Scald is broken, and Viriz is one of the better switch-ins we have available. Beyond that, it gives a half decent win condition to play towards (Florges becoming the primary bulky Fairy helps in that regard) and its faster than most of the relatively slow ORAS metagame. The small spin I've been putting on it lately is Synthesis as its last move as opposed to the usual option of Stone Edge. Truth be told, I think Stone Edge is pretty bad, even taking into account how bad Grass + Fighting coverage is alone. Haze Bat still sits on it and it doesn't hit much else so like..yeah. Synthesis provides some extra longevity and the two STABs are enough on their own with some decent support around them. Keeping rocks is super crucial to outlast Crobat long-term, as it has to keep clicking Roost and eventually get overwhelmed. I theorized Roar a bit to shuffle around Bat and weaken it with Rocks even more, but Synthesis has seemed like the most consistent option.

Durant @ Assault Vest
Ability: Hustle
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- X-Scissor
- Superpower
- Thunder Fang / Crunch

This one had me starting to feel like Blame Truth a bit, but I was pretty sad my team with it didn't end up getting used. It was originally for Sacri' vs TDK, and I was a big fan of how the team turned out for the most part. Durant in ORAS is super weird, mainly because it doesn't do much of anything that you'd want a Steel-type to do, similar to Cobalion in that it ordinarily can't come into Celebi Psychics, or Florges Moonblasts, or Crobat Flying moves. The difference however, is that Durant is wayyy more immediately threatening than Coba and can actually threaten bulky Psychic-types like Cresselia and Reuniclus. I really really wanted to use Hone Claws Durant, but AV ended up being a band-aid pick to help out vs some of those aforementioned special moves, which it actually does resist. Durant doesn't get a huge boost to its Special Defense obviously, but the difference is meaningful enough to feel safer switching into a Celebi or Florges when needed. Its coverage is very good as per usual and the only thing it really misses is First Impression (f). Thunder Fang chunks Tentacruel and Bat, while Crunch hits Doublade, but neither one is too crucial since STABs + Superpower hit everything anyway. Well, ideally hit everything anyway, since you are using Durant after all.

0 SpA Florges Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Durant: 100-118 (38.9 - 45.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
0 SpA Florges Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Assault Vest Durant: 67-79 (26 - 30.7%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252 SpA Celebi Psychic vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Durant: 108-128 (42 - 49.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Celebi Psychic vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Assault Vest Durant: 72-86 (28 - 33.4%) -- 0% chance to 3HKO

 

[MrAldo]

Damn, AV on Durant really made quite a difference. Neat discovery, ty.

Mmm, I did way more than I expected this UUPL so I am glad for the chances given and that most that I try ended up working well so yeah, lets post what I think was notable.

SS has been quite a mixed bag of emotions considering the whole package but learning it has been quite enjoyable, certainly much more than the whole mess that was SM, but given that I was learning the tier I went with safe stuff to get the hang of it (baby steps) and from there tried some other stuff, dont have much to say other than the Feliburn used on week 7 was mine, altho pretty straightforward since barraskewda kind of sends in a very straightforward direction when it comes to the builder (like roserade, ghost, steel, rocker, etc) so yeah. I did learn quite a bit so for that I am thankful, and just have a couple of builds that I did that feel somewhat different so let me post these real quick.

Team

https://pokepast.es/9e8b06ea7a1ff1bf

Attempt to have something to help CM Chandelure. Really cool set that really advantage of sylveon reliant builds, only obstacle was stuff like gigalith and incineroar so toxic noivern was like the best middle ground move if a bulky incineroar tried to get in this way. Very threatened by opposing noiverns so it got side tracked somewhat quick, but haxorus is broken so it can be cool with some touchups, gotta post the learning experience without any filters to see if I did any good!

Team

https://pokepast.es/ce079ee138d1d6f0

One of the team ideas we had for Feliburn at week 7. Silvally-Water feels like a rather competent offensive water since it has the option to u-turn out to bait its counters and checks which generally are food for 3 attacks celebi with LO and specs sylveon. Multi-Attack hurts a shitton if stuff like roserade comes in and celebi can get bopped by an u-turn so it has good tools to make use in this meta tbh. LO Celebi and Specs Sylveon are just extremely pressuring so clicking buttons with those is satisfying. Was tired of the bulky roar so went with SD here (credits to the owner of the set ofc, I just used it here cause why not), Rajah for the rocks cause rajah is super cool (dont take from RU tho) and Scarf Flygon cause Haxorus is broken and I want to be able to revenge kill scarf, also can bait food for specs sylveon/LO Celebi so the idea is momentum and clicking buttons, cant go too wrong here.

BW

I wasnt expecting to play BW at all (was looking forward into playing some ORAS once at least) but tbh ended up feeling very comfortable on this tier with all the options and general really pleasing feeling and aesthetic looks on the tier, it just feels great to play and build on it imo. I can see why it is the favorite lower tier for many veterans, the builds for week 5 and week 7 were somewhat standard in their goals (whats innovative about sharpedo spikes tbh, also I made the sharpedo play) so wouldnt make a callout for those. The build vs r0ady tho, I think that one was cool cause I played with that idea the whole time and just worked wonders. A very satisfying result in 2 takes, the dream of every pokemon player.

Team

https://pokepast.es/fc67b6656592da24

The main idea behind the team was essentially have some sort of water spam offense to overwhelm common water checks. It started with a rain core to make the best use possible of prankster rain dance alongside powerful hurricanes from tornadus. Kabutops made the most sense as a partner since swift swim, nice speed on neutral, strong priority outside of rain to pick off targets so isnt just something to be used under rain, and it provided me hazard control in a pinch. Cobalion felt like an meh slot but it applied the necessary pressure to rockers and hazard control to justify itself, steel types are somewhat weird in this tier honestly but it ended up doing well, and having a dragon resist in case of powerful outrages is always nice.

We all know suicune and how dominant it is. I like Sub CM here to capitalize on some defensive stuff and setup on their face. Boosted scalds on rain isnt anything that makes a big difference but an extra damage bonus is always welcome. Solid mon that doesnt require the rain at all, but doesnt hate it. This Zapdos set is weird but tbh Zapdos can do anything it wants. STAB Move is mandatory and thunderbolt still gives offensive pressure, toxic to punish switchins to the bolt beam coverage like rhyperior and the rare seismitoad, and so opposing cm cunes didnt get out of control too badly alongside opposing zapdos and so raikou doesnt switch freely. Speed for Guts Hera. Last Scarf Krookodile to keep raikou on check and good cleaner with Moxie, Aerial Ace to revenge kill opposing Scarf Hera.

Great experience, would repeat again if possible. Cheers!

 

[choolio]

Gonna share some sets that are cool
Nothing for noobs who were looking forward to steal some teams

Golurk @ Custap Berry
Ability: No Guard
EVs: Whatever you want / 84 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Gravity
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Dynamic Punch

I used this Golurk set week 1. He does a nice job at getting SR up, worn down and then later in the game setting up Gravity for one of the threats lurking in the back to click their inaccurate move or Earthquake. Unfortunately I couldn't get to show it off because Specs Raikous Hidden Power is piss weak so I was sligthly out of Custap range. It for sure works on regular squads too with the likes of Heracross, Mienshao, Special Sharpedo and whatever else may rely on hitting something inaccurate to secure the win. Speed EV's ensure to outspeed Umbreon.

Zapdos @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 Def / 30 SpA
- Tailwind
- Thunder
- Hidden Power [Water]
- Heat Wave

This threat was used by me week 1 too. Unfortunately I couldn't show off it's set either. Anyway I run three odd moves on it. Tailwind is a cool move to slap on Zapdos, since it gives it a way to support the squad by granting whatever threats in the back a nice speed boost for at least two turns. Thunder is just there to hit stuff as hard as possible and on top of that you have the nice chance of getting a para on something off. Now let's get to the real deal breaker.
I remember an old acquaintance of mine Metric having told me about the merits of Hidden Power Water, back then I was nothing but a fool and didn't see it's potential and impact it has. It is incredible what you are capable of hitting with HP Water, which HP Ice or Grass don't let you hit. You are now capable of hitting Rhyperior, Gligar, both Nidos, Krookodile (he sucks if you ask me), Rotom-Heat and fire types in general (in case you ever run into a Camerupt it's gonna blast it away).
The only downside is you miss out on hitting Swampert, Druddigon, Flygon and a bunch of other Pokemon that aren't so big in BWUU like Lanturn, Seismitoad and whatever else there is but these shouldn't be a problem anyway since you've got 5 other teammates on the squad to take care of them and the move isn't exclusive to LO Zapdos either, so it should do wonder on different sets too.

Gonna show some set's of the rain squad I've used here. It's quite amusing rain increased in usage (in UUPL as well as CPL 2 where people used it too after I've rain'd somebody). It's such a strong strat in BWUU which was forgotten, mostly because back then during BW days Hail was still allowed and was pretty annoying for rain squads but this changed after Hail got banned post BW by a vote of specific people.

Raikou @ Damp Rock
Ability: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Rash Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rain Dance
- Weather Ball
- Thunder
- Filler

Week 4 I used a rain squad with some nice threats on it. This guy is a great rain setter, mostly because he can set up on opposing Zapdos compared to other setters that exist in the tier. The next big thing is it's access to Weather Ball. It means if a Rhyperior is switching in thinking it can get off an Earthquake for free it's gonna get blown away by the 100 BP Water move which is a clean OHKO. The last move can be whatever, Hidden Power Grass/Ice, Extrasensory, Aura Sphere, Volt Switch and really whatever may suit the squad the most on it.

Ludicolo @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Waterfall
- Seed Bomb
- Ice Punch

This threat has seen the daylight last UUPL already when I believe ict used my squad for some BO3 slot featuring BWUU. If you manage to position it well enough to get to +2 attack it should be able to nuke whatever is in front of it with the help of SR and rain.

Omastar @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 3 Atk / 30 SpA
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power [Electric]
- Ice Beam
- Shell Smash

Theres not much to explain with this guy. If rain's up and you get to Shell Smash it should be looking very grim for your opponent. Could run Hidden Power Grass > Electric but then you miss out on hitting Empoleon, unless you are capable of wearing it constantly down which isn't a difficult task for a rain squad since it may probably be the primary switch in to other attacks of it's teammates.

Since our noob squad went out of the play off race by week 5 I'm calling it here for good now. No point in showing stuff that hasn't seen the daylight on the battlefield yet.

 

[yeezyknows]

i did most of my (competent) building this tour largely in dpp uu and oras uu, so i'd like to share some of what i made in these tiers and my thoughts on the builds themselves.

i'd played a ton of dpp uu with donny p but i'd never formally built in the tier prior to uupl. i entertained the possibility of using donny p teams every week at the beginning of the tour, and thiago used a tweaked donny p offense w1, but i didn't want people with the pastes to be able to know the builds and/or cteam as the tour progressed.

with oras uu, i laddered during its heyday but i quit near its end so i didn't have too strong of a recollection of building.

big shoutouts to Bouff Highways Thiago Nunes xJoelituh and Haru for building help in ORAS and DPP.

DPP:

i'm not going to drop our w1 team largely because it's not my team, just a donny p rip with one mon switched out for another.


Week 2 (Donny P.) (L)

https://pokepast.es/fae3bbe31b5bac8d (dont use it lol)

Yeah, this team is honestly not too great. It was my first real attempt and building and the team itself isn't amazing, milo doesn't have enough spdef to actively stand up to moltres, so it got flinched down in the game and moltres essentially picked from there. in hindsight, nidoqueen is pretty bad as well. it doesn't have enough defensive utility to stand up to a large majority of UU's heavy hitters and its only real viability lies in checking toxicroak. I do think that this variant of clefable is unexplored, as it's a solid wallbreaker, but it just doesn't fit here. lead spiritomb is also neat on paper as you can do some damage to mesprit/uxie leads, but it's better to not reveal it so early. overall, this team isn't great and I wouldn't recommend using it in any capacity.


Week 3 (brewfasa) (W)

https://pokepast.es/387a321757fa9999

Ok, this team is honestly pretty fucking solid. CM clef and CM entei are two of the nastiest setup mons in the tier and when they're used in conjunction you're probably going to be getting a respectable matchup out of one or the other. scarf lead scyther is also cool, as you can do damage to and/or lure typical scarf leads like venusaur and houndoom off the rip. donphan is still donphan, great means of both power and hazard control. slowking is also obscenely underrated, soft checks moltres and is one of the few mons to actively counter SD blaziken. great glue pick and should definitely be used more.

Week 4 (atomicllamas) (W)

https://pokepast.es/69299802a4662ddf

this team is also pretty swaggy, i'm a huge fan of lead houndoom, as you essentially have t1 momentum versus the VAST majority of other leads. this game was no exception, with houndoom landing favorably versus a mismagius lead. CB azu is also pretty cool, as it's a great breaker with solid defensive utility as well. tangrowth is largely underrated as well. i talked to donny p about which mons can sponge hits from torterra and he essentially said "leafeon and tangrowth, end of list". I wanted tangrowth here for more overall defensive utility, and it works great as a glue mon on this build. this mesprit set also goes brazy, +1 hp ground does enough to registeel to where a good amount of chip can ensure a lategame sweep. its bulk also prevents direct revenge killing in the vast majority of cases. really nice wincon.


Week 5 (Heysup) (W due to hax) Week 7 (jacob) (L)

https://pokepast.es/5bcbf2bbc8933014

ok this team should essentially be 0-2 but it's my personal favorite. i absolutely adore how this team functions together, with silk scarf lead kanga denting opposing teams early, spikes from oma in conjunction w bulky wisp mismag to spinblock (set optimized to 2hko houndoom w hp fighting), torterra to bust more holes, and then zam to clean lategame with arc serving as the necessary glue mon/venu+molt counterplay. Kanga is super nice in the meta, as its coverage will likely go crazy early game, beating opposing leads and allowing you to scout the bulky mon on the opposing team, which is typically what zam will have to muscle through. super cool build, definitely my favorite.

Week 6 (Chill Shadow) (L)

https://pokepast.es/09ddf759ca34510c

this team's decent but not amazing. i largely soured on it after it largely got mono 6-0ed by sub aggron while subtox entei cleaned. it's essentially a melange of all of my builds and i'm not super huge on it as a whole. tangrowth would be a good fit over leafeon for more defensive utility, but the team does become pretty passive if you make that change, so it's a catch-22 wherein you're going to be pressed in both situations. it wasn't tested as thoroughly as well, so again i can't say for sure how good it is. try it if you want but i can't promise that it's super nice.

Semifinals (Pietro) (W)

https://pokepast.es/69473d4b6ed75957

one of the better teams i think we made, was thoroughly tested and tweaked and it worked well vs pietro+heysup support. the goal of this team is essentially to trap the ghost with SD suit drap, then bust holes with CC from primeape, 2hkoing the meta aside from like slowking and slowbro. rhyperior busts holes in opposing teams and has phenomenal defensive utility. i learned my lesson from w2 as well, as milotic has a ton of spdef to better check moltres. overall, one of the better teams we made.

ORAS:


only gonna share like 2 cuz im getting tired+most of mine weren't amazing/bouff+highways built some as well.

here are my good ones:

bo3 vs HT (w) vs bugzi (L)

https://pokepast.es/d3a69925f3702a12

love this team. lure pert/seis with gk meta. click HC with maero. win.

gama vs KT (w4) (W)

https://pokepast.es/6d4f80d9bc2ba78e

this team goes crazy. i love it a lot, less reliant on the gk fish like the other one is. it's slightly passive but it's also pretty damn hard to break. you'll be safe in the vast majority of MUs and esca itself is HELLA underrated. def a cool squad.

i made more but i'm tired g_g

 

[Eo Ut Mortus]

All the "fun" things I used:


Tangrowth @ Leftovers
Ability: Leaf Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Earthquake
- Synthesis

Not really a gimmick, but it counts because nobody uses this anymore. Check all the physical grassers + Drapion, rain, Fighters.


Rampardos @ Custap Berry
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Endure
- Endeavor
- Earthquake
- Head Smash

A silly anti-lead I theorycrafted. Against most hazard leads, kill them for a layer and Endeavor the next switch-in, or let them trade with you and trap with Dugtrio. Unfortunately, did not match up well vs. the lead I faced (Cloyster).


Charizard @ Leftovers
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Belly Drum
- Fire Punch
- Thunder Punch
- Roost

I've used this on multiple teams; it's a fun anti-RegiMilo / stall tech.


Xatu @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Psychic
- Toxic / Baton Pass
- Roost

Calm Mind Psychic with recovery; has a cool speed tier and can win one-on-one against defensive Spiritomb.


Medicham @ Leftovers
Ability: Pure Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Toxic
- Protect
- High Jump Kick
- Recover

Fighting type with better sustain; good for a long-lasting Clefable check. Toxic Spiritomb and Psychics.


Magcargo @ Leftovers
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Lava Plume
- Toxic
- Recover

Moltres / flyer counter that allows me to drop Milotic and diversify my balance builds a bit more.

Actual sets:


Mismagius @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 212 Def / 116 SpA / 176 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Power Gem
- Will-O-Wisp
- Destiny Bond

This has been floating around for a while, but it's worth reposting. Barring a crit, the EVs + Power Gem guarantee winning the Scyther lead matchup.


Dugtrio @ Salac Berry / Custap Berry
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 8 HP / 212 Atk / 120 Def / 168 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Reversal
- Substitute
- Endure

I used this in three matches. Anti-offense Dugtrio; if you're trying to trap Registeel or Clefable, stick to CB. Sub for winning Sucker Punch mindgames vs. Houndoom / Toxicroak. Endure gives a more reliable way to trigger your berry, enabling you to trap Leafeon, RP Torterra, and Sceptile. Granted, you need a lot of residual damage and if this set is known, it becomes a mindgame vs. Sceptile. Still convenient. EVs live +2 Adamant LO Blaziken QA after SR, and I could've trapped one this tournament but I thought I needed to save it for a potential Sceptile :(


Hitmontop @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Toxic
- Protect
- Close Combat
- Rapid Spin

I've recently become less convinced in Foresight's efficacy; Toxic / Protect has more utility and will allow you to keep your Hitmontop for around longer, and trapping Ghosts with Spiritomb tends to be more reliable than playing Foresight mindgames.


tunnel vision cow (Miltank) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 HP / 40 SpD / 216 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Return / Seismic Toss / Body Slam
- Heal Bell / Toxic
- Milk Drink

Another Moltres counter to diversify my Milo-centric builds, with some additional utility against threats like Houndoom and Torterra. Seismic Toss is the better choice overall, especially since it means you can absorb burns, but I was paranoid of VinTei, and Return breaks its substitute.


Mesprit @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 80 HP / 252 SpA / 176 Spe
Timid Nature
- Copycat
- Psychic
- Ice Beam
- Protect / Healing Wish

The main idea was just to Copycat hazards, but if you play it right, there's a lot more you can grab, including Rapid Spin, recovery, Trick, U-turn, etc. Ended up doing way more work than I expected. Copycat's really easy to fit on lead Mesprit, even if you still need rocks, so I hope more people try it.

 

[SOMALIA]

BW UU:

D (Heracross) (M) @ Salac Berry
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
- Substitute
- Swords Dance

BW UU features choice scarf (sometimes band) Heracross. This set bluffs choice and allows you to get a free sub while a switch occurs or the opposing Pokemon protects (think Umbreon, Snorlax, Alomalola). Lethal with Toxic Spikes support, don't want to commit murder so haven't used Toxic Spikes with this.

E (Flygon) (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Sleep Talk
- U-turn

Probably the MVP of my team. Nukes Cofagirus, Blastoise attempting to spin and just cleans up lategame. Appreciates para support and/or tailwind support. Sleep Talk for double pivot spam with the bro, Victini on Sash sleeper leads.

Can't wait till next UUPL, peace​

 

[Bouff]

not gonna write too much here, but i wanted to post two sets i really liked that i used this season, won't put in ev spreads though because a) i dont feel like dealing with speed creep shit next year if i play adv, because it matters way way more than other tiers and b) i think anyone who wants to get into the tier should try eving on their own because it's a great exercise and you can make a custom spread for just about anything (i will say that there are obvious exceptions, i.e. fast things like scyther manec electabuzz are almost always max spe+, things like that).

Meganium @ Leftovers
Ability: Overgrow
Shiny: Yes
- Substitute
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Rock]

fun set, subs up on things like ibless omastar, blastoise, cradily, and other stuff like sludge bomb less vileplume (i think running plume without sludge bomb is horrible on defensive sets but i digress) - basically useful against fatter teams. edgequake so to speak coverage is good mainly because you really get to punish altarias this way, they tank a +2 hp rock but it leaves them unable to take anything else really, which is great for things like scyther gligar and the fightings. eq also makes things annoying for the electrics, oma, and tenta, while hp rock dicks scyther. matchup specific obviously but its a fun thing to use. tried to make regular defensive sets work out but in practice its just worse than vileplume so this is its best set imo

DISCIPLINE .. (Nidoqueen) @ Leftovers
Ability: Poison Point
- Earthquake
- Protect
- Toxic
- Ice Beam

most nidoqueens generally tend to go with an offensive set, standing out from her husband in that it's more tankier in exchange for less power and a lot less speed. this set takes advantage of its defensive capabilities fully, as it's really easy to spread toxics and eq + ib is great coverage. protect is good to help rack up said toxic damage and scouts for choice shenanigans. pair it with a wish passer like hypno to keep it healthy, this mon serves as a great answer to fightings and scyther, and can serve as an emergency check to other things depending on your evs. protect helps with this as well as the leftovers recovery can make a big difference in the rolls. i will say that this spread had evs in all 6 stats...this brings me back to my earlier point, please try messing with stuff if u wanna get into the tier!!

 

[Adaam]

sunday chandy (Chandelure) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Flash Fire
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Hex
- Toxic
- Protect

With Incineroar's presence, Chandelure's viability took a hit. The Wisp/CM set is near unviable, so I sought out to find a way to ensure it isn't deadweight in the cat matchup. I ended up with this set, and paired it with Acid Armor Reuniclus in my games vs lax. The idea is simple: Toxic the Dark type not named Umbreon, win with Reuniclus as you boost to +6 Defense and they die to Toxic. Protect > CM is a neat tech that lets you stay in longer against said Dark-types and force them to think twice about clicking Knock Off on turn 3 of Toxic damage. Ironically, Indigo Plateau ended up using this exact set against my team to eliminate us so I feel worse than the inventor of the Brazen Bull.

veon rainbow (Sylveon) @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 200 HP / 252 SpA / 56 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Hyper Voice
- Mystical Fire
- Rest

Chesto Resto Sylveon is an effective breaker that takes advantage of Sylveon's great Fairy/Fire coverage while also still being able to serve as a long-term Noivern check (on an offensive team at least). This owns teams relying on Roserade to check Sylveon and does a surprising amount of damage to slower Steel-types like Bronzong and Jah. Bronzong MUs in particular are great because you just boost to +4 as they Toxic/Tect you and Rest off all damage.

Darmanitan @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Trick

I gave this to Pietro in a no-Haxorus game and think Darm has potential to be a strong Scarf user when Haxorus is gone. The biggest drawback is being unable to revenge +1 Haxorus, but without it, Darm revenge kills a ton of stuff like Cobalion and nearly 2HKOs Noivern with Flare Blitz. Trick is just broken in SS and cripples Rhyperior, Water-types, and most importantly, Incineroar.

SM Stuff:

(in a black dreiss) (Hydreigon) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Flash Cannon
- Sleep Talk

One of my favorite things to do when building SM is find ways to punish Amoonguss. Specs Hydreigon is something I brought against yeezy, who both loves Amoonguss and often runs no Fairy-types. The pick worked like a charm as he brought Roserade + Dragon resist Stakataka. Sleep Talk Specs breakers also taught me all the probabilities on which move to click on x turns of sleep.so yeah I am basically the John von Neumann of mons now.

Hydreigon @ Poisonium Z
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Fire Blast
- Belch

Another Hydreigon tech. This was made for CBU who loves bulky Primarina, but also has the benefit of nuking every Fairy-type ever. It might be telegraphed, but it is insanely difficult to play around a Hydreigon who can OHKO your Fairy-type.

che quivara (Venomoth) @ Buginium Z
Ability: Tinted Lens
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Quiver Dance
- Bug Buzz
- Roost

Quivara the terror, scary bug sweeper from the SM era. The biggest problem with Moth is being revenged by Krook and Scizor after a boost. Sub circumvents this, and people still have to respect Sleep Powder, so they often switch to something that can't break it to fodder it. It also owns Amoonguss if you sub on the Spore. I hate Amoonguss.

I enjoyed finding ways to innovate in SS and also building again in SM. I know SM has a bad reputation, but I really enjoy the metagame and find there are many options to build with. While SS has nothing as powerful as Scizor or Latias, building is far more linear and static. There is a lot of potential though with the new moves + DLC coming up, so we'll see how UU shapes up then

 

[Indigo Plateau]

I had a lot of fun building and playing SS UU throughout this tour & in the grand scheme of things, I'm pretty happy with my performance, so I figured I'd make a brief post on all the teams I used. I'll only explain the post progress pig meta teams since the others are a bit outdated. I tried to be as diverse as possible, which can be hard to do sometimes, but I'm actually pleased with how the meta has developed since the beginning of UUPL and I can't wait to see what it looks like after a potential Haxorus ban / DLC drops. Special shoutouts to my boy Accelgor for always bouncing ideas with me not only in the team disc but in PMs too, you're the man & you make me enjoy building even more than I normally do.

Week 1 vs. ggggd
Mantine to check the Clowns love for Goli early on, Specs Garde was broken at the time, :progresspig: needs no explanation.

Week 2 vs. teal
Expected teal to use some cheese so Goli + Lith covered that pretty well. Encore + Memento Whims --> SG Toxt or even Hax was demonic in tests. Not the greatest team but really fun and fast-paced.

Week 3 vs. GXE
This week taught me two things: 1) Never drop Spikes on Roserade, 2) GXE is a genius. Curse you fully physdef Escav Outside of that, I actually enjoyed using this team a lot.

Week 4 vs. Lily
The main idea was that MixLuc seemed to do wonders vs her past teams and I saw someone use this set once before so I figured I'd try it out. I wanted a hard-hitter to take advantage of the VoltTurn core formed by Noivern + Rotom-W, and so I went with Specs Sylveon since its damage output is absurd and it really hadn't seen any usage yet. This mon basically 2hkoes the entire tier if you click the right move, but a lot of the time you can just get away by clicking Hyper Voice and seeing resists take 40 anyway. I wanted some type of setup sweeper last that could take advantage of Lucario + Sylveon take advantage of and Necrozma was really unexplored at this point, so I figured it'd be cool to try out. DD + Photon + EQ + Knock has awesome late-game cleaning capabilities, especially if you get to weaken a potential Escav / Doub / Incin. Overall, this is probably one of my favorite teams ever, despite its struggles with things like Rose and a +1 Hax (ban btw).

Week 5 vs. Kush
Not much to say about this one, I just saw that up to this point the Monsters had been using some pretty straightforward/repetitive teams and I thought this matched up well vs 90% of their stuff. I ran into a more annoying matchup than I would've wanted, but I got bailed by a Draco miss after accidentally calcing the wrong Noivern spread. This team was pretty annoying at the time for what a lot of people were using but I do think the meta has adapted slightly more to it, with things like Celebi, Water-types, bulky Steel-types, and even Pangoro being pretty annoying to face.

Week 6 vs. MetaRiolu7
Without even trying or noticing until a week after playing, I made almost a carbon-copy of my Week 4 team vs Lily LOL. I was honestly just wanting to use Escavalier since it looked good against Riolu's teams + matched up nicely vs what I expected to be brought against me (Rose + Fairy), and it worked out wonderfully. This time I opted for SR + 3 Atks special Necro since it hits almost the entire meta super-effectively, and even things it doesn't I thought I could pressure nicely with the rest of the team. SD Luc rounded out the team as my wincon as opposed to MixLuc from last time. Again, probably one of my favorite teams this entire gen.

Semifinals vs. Kush
After cheesing Kush the first time around, I was really paranoid of getting cheesed back, so I wanted to make sure I had my outs vs it. I tried a lot of different ideas here but the one I ended up liking the most + was destroying in tests was Barraskewda. I had built a team in Week 7 for Dave to use but he ended up going with something different, and I slightly modified the team to make it more sound vs what I expected. Psychic Fangs was there on Cuda solely to break screens from Xatu Turn 2, and the rest of the team fit in pretty easily. I went with AV Future Sight + Knock Reuni since the compression it provided in one slot was fantastic; it let me Knock bulky Steels/Darks, and getting guaranteed damage on something 2 turns later made pivoting really hard. I was a bit scared of Panda being spammed so SD Jolly Incin fit wonderfully to CC it if they didn't scout (which came into play during the game), and I opted for FBlitz > U-turn to hit Sylveon harder. Sucks that I ran into Rotom + Sylv + Ditto with Cuda but this thing is a monster and you should definitely try it out if you haven't.

Finals vs. H.M.N.I.P
First seen in Accel's tiebreak vs. Ajna in semis, I built this team around ToxSpam + Hex Chandy and passed it to him with Necro > Celebi. He changed some sets to his liking, but I had been wanting to build around ToxSpam for a while now, and after Adam showed me the light that is ToxTect Boots Chandy in a test the prior week, I found that it was the missing piece to that idea all along. This team is pretty straightforward: Toxic everything that tries to come in on Zong/Gastro bar Escav/Jah, and then follow up with Hex Chandy to punch holes for SD 3 Atks Cobal / LO 3 Atks Celebi to win. Hikari & I agreed to no Haxorus & Adam was kind enough to stick to those words even with the sub, making this team even more lethal as Haxorus can be extremely annoying for it (as seen in the semis tb game). SD SEdge Occa Cobal is amazing with most teams relying on Noivern as their speed control and people expecting Shuca anyway, and unless you miss ( or get burned ;] ), this set has the potential to outright end games by itself. I opted for LO Celebi > Necro this time because otherwise Panda was too annoying for this team, and it also helped the struggles it had against Rose / bulky Water-types. This also has to be one of my favorite teams this entire gen, and besides some Ghosts, Psychics, and Jah, this team is extremely fun to use. Sorry I stole your idea Adaam