ORAS UU rip Zam ;__; (peaked ~20)

[pom]

ok

this is the first UU team I made since a long hiatus from competitive pokemon. it's undergone a lot of changes along the way, most recently replacing a florges with sylveon once it became available. the initial idea of the team was that I wanted to play stall with encore alakazam for support. since the start, cress, alakazam, arcanine, and a fairy type have been constants. my hazard control unit was a revolving door for the first week or two, but I eventually settled on swampert and forretress and have not looked back. the team struggles against bulky waters and basically never wins unless i win the hazard war, mainly because it's just so passive. only sylveon, zam, and swampert can hit a large portion of the meta for even decent damage right off the bat. i regret that none of you will be able to test the team in its entirety (and I hope that doesn't mean I'm too late to post this).

The Team

ducc (Cresselia) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonlight
- Calm Mind
- Psyshock
- Moonblast

CM Cress is wonderful to clean up late game but also sees a fair amount of use midgame to sponge hits from and chase the likes of conkeldurr, mamoswine, and other mons relying on knock-off to damage psychics, as well as nidoking and queen. the speed EVs beat cheeky crawdaunts trying to switch in and catch a psyshock, and +1 moonblast should always OHKO. the only complaint i have about this set is that moonlight only has 8 pp, making it hard to set up when burned because of the frequent recovery required. it has turned so many should be losses into wins, especially as an unphaseable last mon.

ok (Alakazam) (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Encore
- Psyshock
- Shadow Ball
- Dazzling Gleam

alakazam holds the team together, helping me not get ruined by setup sweepers, and bringing much needed offensive pressure. the coverage is fairly arbitrary, i have tried running focus blast over dazz gleam but opted for this set instead. sash is my choice over LO because of how often alakazam is a last resort against a setup mon and needs the guarantee of a move. thanks to wish support, he can even switch in on a mispredicted crocune scald and later be healed back to 100%, reactivating the sash.

daddy (Swampert) (M) @ Swampertite
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 240 HP / 16 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Scald
- Roar

my rock setter and knock off eater. defensive EVs allow him to take hits like a champ, though there is no benchmark these reach as far as I know (i think i got them from the analysis). huge bulk + wish support allow him to hang around for a while if i need him to, though he is commonly the first mon down, especially if the opponent lacks a hazard remover (either through teambuilding or fainted mons). roar is excellent as a means of preventing setup, as well as predicting incoming celebis or shaymins and making them wear an extra 12.5. scald is evil and allows him to deal damage to forretress, arcanine and entei even while burned, and is a huge switchin deterrent for basically anything but shaymin, suicine, and celebi. EQ carries less utility but nails roserade switchins, and is a generally reliable STAB. if any move had to change, I think it would be EQ, mainly because of how often swamp finds itself burned from having to go toe to toe with an opposing bulky water or aforementioned fire type.

scary doggo (Arcanine) (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 68 Atk / 172 Def / 20 Spe
Impish Nature
- Morning Sun
- Will-O-Wisp
- Extreme Speed
- Flare Blitz

Arcanine is probably the most pivotal team member other than cress. the two combine to take on just about any physical attacker in the tier. morning sun has a regrettable 8 pp but is still invaluable healing, especially since it allows arc to run rocky helm. rocky helm allows arc to punish mbeedrill even if i don't have SR up, and makes doublade even more of a slam dunk. will o wisp further allows arc to handle physical threats, and is a safe option to click when i am facing something i believe i can force out (+1 doublade, entei choiced on fire move, -1 scarf krook, etc.). espeed is critical utility for helping end setup sweeps, and occasionally allows arc to nab a KO before taking an extra hit. flare blitz gives arc some teeth. EV's allow him to outspeed Crawdaunt and limit lead Azelf to one move (flare blitz + espeed has like 99.9% chance to kill) while maintaining bulk.

okay (Sylveon) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Hyper Voice
- Heal Bell

Sylveon's healing is what allows this team to work at all. if it goes down early im in trouble. wish helps keep swampert and forretress in serviceable condition so they may win the hazard war, and protect allows sylv to enjoy its own wishes undisturbed, or even scout moves from commonly choiced fairy resists that may switch in (entei). hvoice hits harder than it has any business hitting, and is a godsend to a team hurting for immediate offensive presence. florges was fine in this slot, but its moonblast is just pitiful in comparison. heal bell gives me a bigger margin for error when it comes to switching mons into scalds, or setting cress up in the face of a potential toxic user.

ok (Forretress) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Spikes
- Gyro Ball
- Rapid Spin
- Volt Switch

i enjoy my own rocks far too much to use defog, and spikes are invaluable to a passive team such as this one. that leaves just about no one other than forry for my 6th, but im not complaining. he does his job well, setting spikes and keeping my side clear. gyro ball is often disappointing, but allows forry to hit aero, sylv, mamo, and other steel weak mons for acceptable damage. volt switch allows me to catch crucial momentum and surprise incoming tentacruels who think they can pick up a free spin. defensive EVs allow play to forry's strengths, leftovers let it stay. with wish support i have considered rocky helm to discourage opposing spinners, but i enjoy lefties' ability to restore his sturdy and mitigate SR damage.

Conclusion

I am sure this team could top the ladder in the hands of a more capable player. I regret that I will never get to find out. in lieu of Alakazam, I ran trick scarf metagross, which performed alakazam's role as an anti-stall mon acceptably, though mostly due to its unexpectedness. I am providing an importable with this version of the team.

Hide

ducc (Cresselia) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonlight
- Calm Mind
- Psyshock
- Moonblast

it was a graveyard smash (Metagross) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Trick
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Zen Headbutt

daddy (Swampert) (M) @ Swampertite
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 240 HP / 16 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Scald
- Roar

okay (Sylveon) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 244 SpD / 8 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Hyper Voice
- Heal Bell

scary doggo (Arcanine) (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 68 Atk / 172 Def / 20 Spe
Impish Nature
- Morning Sun
- Will-O-Wisp
- Extreme Speed
- Flare Blitz

ok (Forretress) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Spikes
- Gyro Ball
- Rapid Spin
- Volt Switch

 

[nv]

Hey there pom the team you got looks really solid! Sadly, Alakazam did get banned so I thought it would be nice to offer up some changes that allows this team to still be effective despite it losing one of its Pokemon.

• My first suggestion is to obviously get rid of Alakazam, the banned Pokemon. Toxicroak > Alakazam patches up the team's major weakness to the bulky Water-types in the tier as Toxicroak takes on the most common ones with ease. Swords Dance Toxicroak allows it to have power and recovery as well, giving it reliability and sustainability throughout the match. It also serves as a secondary win condition against more offensive teams that can challenge Cresselia while also beating up more defensive teams with its decent STAB combination and Toxic / Scald immunity. With Sucker Punch, Toxicroak can also circumvent its average Speed stat to nail fast, frail threats such as Mega Beedrill, Azelf, and Espeon.

Toxicroak @ Life Orb
Ability: Dry Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Gunk Shot
- Drain Punch
- Sucker Punch

• Next up, I don't really see the need for Arcanine on the team as you have a bulky Fire check in Swampert currently and the team I feel is in need of more offensive presence that also can provide the team with the Speed that Alakazam provided before the ban and subsequent removal from the team. For this reason, I suggest running Hydreigon > Arcanine as the Choice Scarf set can give this team a much needed revenge killer for a lot of faster threats that can beat up and power through this team. Hydreigon also takes advantage of Toxicroak's ability to power through Fairy-types with its Poison STAB moves and a lot of bulkier defensive teams which allows Hydreigon to just clean up. Hydreigon can also grab momentum early-game for the team.

Hydreigon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Dark Pulse
- Draco Meteor
- Dragon Pulse
- U-turn

• Lastly, I am going to suggest some slight nitpicks to Pokemon in terms of their moves, abilities, and EV spreads to make them efficient as possible. First off, Sylveon's EVs should be 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 SpD with a Calm nature as it can take advantage of its typing's resistances better while also giving you a Pokemon that can tank some special hits. Next up, with the switch to Toxicroak and Hydreigon, you no longer need to worry about cheeky Crawdaunts as you have two reliable checks to it. For this reason, I suggest running 240 HP / 212 Def / 56 Spe to outspeed Modest Sylveon and below as well as running Thunder Wave > Moonblast to slow down the faster threats such as Mega Aerodactyl, Choice Scarf Hydreigon, Choice Scarf Salamence, and so on. The lack of Moonblast doesn't hurt Cresselia too much as you have Sylveon with a powerful Hyper Voice to threaten most Dark- and Dragon-types that you would with Moonblast. Thunder Wave can also cripple Dark-types not named Krookodile that try to switch into Cresselia's Psyshock, making them easier to deal with. Last little nitpick is to run Overcoat > Sturdy on Forretress as well as Max Special Defense EVs > Defense with a Sassy nature to allow Forretress a better time pivoting into and around Fairies while Overcoat provides more utility on a team like this as Sturdy isn't too ideal in a situation that this team may find itself in since Forretress is meant to pivot and spin away hazards. Heavy Slam > Gyro Ball allows Forretress to not only pivot into Fairy-types, but also have a way of threatening them as it can OHKO Sylveon and cripple Florges, outdamaging Synthesis + Leftovers recovery in the latter's case.

EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD --> 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 SpD

EVs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 Spe --> 240 HP / 212 Def / 56 Spe
Moonblast --> Thunder Wave

EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD --> 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD Sassy
Sturdy --> Overcoat
Gyro Ball --> Heavy Slam


Hopefully I helped you and good luck with the team post-Alakazam ban! n_n