RX Bandits Is An Awesome Band – UU Balanced RMT
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|Hello, this is my third UU RMT, and it is the most successful team I’ve made so far. It has gotten me the highest rating I’ve ever gotten before (currently 1450-ish). While it isn’t anything too impressive or worth bragging about, I’m still proud because of how much improvement I’m seeing in my own play and team building skills. And that’s what it’s all about, right? Learning and growing and becoming a better player as time goes on. That’s why I’m posting this. To see if it is either the team that needs work or if it’s the player that needs work.
So this is a Balanced Team that I have made, which happens to be incredibly similar to the last team I made, which focuses a lot on the synergy that my three main sweepers have with each other, whether it be through simply plowing through each other’s counters, abusing their great typing and immunites to get free switches, or crippling them to the point that they can’t even be considered counters anymore. I play this team very offensively, trying to put a lot of pressure whenever possible, but not getting too zealous and foolishly attacking when the momentum is obviously not in my favor. When the pressure is on me instead, I have two very solid defensive pivots to force out those threats and bring the momentum back into my favor. The team is kinda anti-metagame (but not gimmicky!), and uses a few underrated Pokes and sets. And to be honest, I’m actually quite proud I have made a fairly solid team without a Raikou, Moltres, Froslass or Dugtrio on it. :)
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THELEAD
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Ambipom (F) @ Life Orb *** And The Battle Begun
Technician | Jolly Nature
4 HP | 252 Atk | 252 Spe
~Fake Out
~Return
~Pursuit
~Taunt
Why Ambipom?
Ambipom is my lead of choice in this metagame because it puts on pressure, and the way I play the team greatly benefits from the early momentum this gal can cause. But she also acts as an excellent supporter for the team. Once she has caused a few early-game dents in the opposing team, she works as an excellent revenge killer thanks to her amazing Speed and Fake Out. Taunt is useful for switch-ins that try and T-wave her or set up Stealth Rock.
The EV’s are nothing new or spectacular. Max Attack and Max Speed with a Jolly Nature allow Ambi to hit everything she needs to for as hard as she needs to. Life Orb is absolutely necessary to guarantee the 2HKO on Froslass with Pursuit. It also makes it even easier for Ambi to revenge things with Fake Out or a fast Return.
A lot of Ambipom’s common switch-ins (ie, Registeel, Rotom, etc.) are easily switches for a lot of my team members. Hitmonlee absolutely loooooves coming in on Registeel, seeing as how he just lolz at T-wave, and if Regi is taunted, then Venusaur and Houndoom can easily come in. Houndoom has a field day against Rotom switch-ins, who often either Will-o-wisp or Thunderbolt first turn, giving Houndoom free reign to fire off powerful Fire Blasts or kill them off with an unexpected Sucker Punch. Stuff like Regirock, Aggron, and the like all get to meet with Slowking, who shrugs off pretty much everything in their arsenal (bar an Explosion, which sucks...)
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THESWEEPERS
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Venusaur (M) @ Choice Scarf *** Taking Chase (as the Serpent Slithers)
Overgrow | Mild Nature
72 Atk | 224 SpA | 212 Spe
~Leaf Storm
~Sludge Bomb
~Earthquake
~Sleep Powder
Why Venusaur?
Venusaur makes an excellent Choice Scarfer in this metagame, hitting pretty much everything incredibly hard with its awesome STAB attacks. It’s not difficult to just Sludge Bomb sweep with Venusaur thanks to its amazing bulk and typing, making it difficult to revenge kill without a powerful Super Effective move. It supports the team very well by being my premiere bulky Water killer and my sleep inducer, which greatly relieves the pressure from a lot of threats.
The EV’s are pretty basic and do exactly what I need them to. The 72 points in Attack allow Venusaur to pretty much guarantee at least a 2HKO on Raikou, making him one of my many checks to Raikou, should it set up. The 212 points in Speed allow her to outrun base 120s and below, making her a useful revenge killer for the likes of Alakazam, Sceptile and all of those speedy buggers. The remaining EVs were dumped into Special Attack with a Mild Nature to boost Leaf Storm and Sludge Bomb’s power.
Leaf Storm is the star move, as it hits pretty much anything that’s not Registeel or Chansey for a toooon of damage. Early game I’m either spamming Leaf Storms or Sleep Powder. Sludge Bomb is my main sweeping move. While its type coverage is not that good, it hits most of common threats in the metagame for at least neutral damage. And once its late game, most things are weak enough to just die outright to it anyway. Earthquake is used, as aforementioned, to hit Raikou. I rarely use it early game to prevent giving up a ton of momentum because a Flyer or Levitator switched in on an obvious Choiced Ground attack.
Venusaur is a necessary tool on my team to take out bulky Waters, because none of my other team members can really break through them. Because of this, and the fact that most teams have a bulky Water right now, I try to play really conservatively with Venusaur. Early game I put something to Sleep or just smack it around, and once something threatening comes in, I get the hell outta there. Fire types aren’t too threatening because Slowking easily walls most of them (except for something like SD/CB Blaziken or Arcanine). Along with that, stuff like Swellow just get met with Steelix, and he easily forces them out.
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Houndoom (M) @ Life Orb *** Only For The Night
Flash Fire | Naïve Nature
4 Atk | 252 SpA | 252 Spe
~Nasty Plot / Will-O-Wisp / HP Grass
~Sucker Punch
~Dark Pulse
~Fire Blast
Why Houndoom?
Houndoom is an overshadowed Fire type in the UU metagame, thanks to his big brother/sister/bird thing Moltres. But I really love the kind of synergy Houndoom provides to the rest of the team. He makes a great check to Registeel, Rotom, Slowbro, and Slowking, all of which are very common in this metagame to deal with the likes of Moltres and Raikou. His Flash Fire ability also acts a really fun tool to abuse in the early game to allow him to fire off ridiculously powerful Fire Blasts. I use the mixed set to compensate for his above average speed to allow him to deal with stuff like Alakazam and Swellow.
Mixed Houndoom is one of my new favorite toys and is such a huge asset to the team. Currently, I’m using a Nasty Plot sweeper set with a Naïve nature and Sucker Punch. So far, this set has been doing spectacularly. Dark Pulse and Fire Blast hit everything for crap-tons of damage and nearly OHKO everything after a Nasty Plot boost. I’m considering dropping Nasty Plot though, because Houndoom has a lot of checks that don’t allow him to really even utilize the boost. Azumarills and Hitmontops love switching in to him and forcing him out, making me regret even boosting at all instead of just smacking them around with a powerful Fire Blast. I’m considering both HP Grass and Will-O-Wisp over Nasty Plot; HP Grass gives me something to hit Milotic and other bulky Waters on the switch-in, which allows a fairly safe switch-in to Venusaur if they try to recover; But Houndoom could also burn the aforementioned Azumarill and such with WoW, making them a lot less troublesome for my other team members who have to deal with them once Houndoom switches out.
Houndoom makes it much easier for Venusaur and Hitmonlee to sweep, as he easily takes out or severely dents the likes of Registeel, Mismagius, Moltres, Rotom, Uxie, and many of their other counters. I tend to just plow throw stuff with Houndoom mid to late game and sacrifice him as necessary to allow Venusaur or Hitmonlee a safe, damage free switch. But early game, Houndoom gets to easily come in on the Fire attacks that fly at Steelix and the Psychic attacks that are thrown at Hitmonlee, allowing him to start laying down the hurt.
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Hitmonlee (M) @ Life Orb *** Mientras La Veo Sonar
Limber | Jolly Nature
4 HP | 252 Atk | 252 Spe
~Close Combat
~Substitute
~Sucker Punch
~Stone Edge
Why Hitmonlee?
Here is the first new member to the team, Hitmonlee! Originally, this spot was taken by Hariyama and was then changed to Gallade. I much preferred Gallade, as the raw power of a STAB Close Combat coupled with a Super Effective priority against its counters was incredibly useful. Hitmonlee does an excellent job in Gallade’s place, only losing out on the boosting power that Swords Dance provided to his Psychic hybrid brethren. His amazing ability Limber is something Gallade wishes it had, though. This makes Hitmonlee really easy to switch in on stuff like Chansey, Registeel and Clefable.
Again, a very basic EV spread of Max Attack, Max Speed and a Jolly Nature. I probably don’t need Max Speed, because 87 base Speed is a weird benchmark to meet, but the bulk from something like 20 or 16 HP EVs is probably just as negligible. Close Combat is Hitmonlee’s move of choice, hitting a ton of important stuff for Super Effective. Substitute is a great move to use once the aforementioned walls have been scared off. It allows Hitmonlee to beat many of the things that would just outspeed and kill him off flat out like Swellow, Moltres and more. Sucker Punch allows him to revenge the likes of Mismagius and Rotom, and lots of other fast, frail attackers like Sceptile or Swellow (if I don’t have a Sub up). Stone Edge rounds off the set, allowing Hitmonlee to kill stuff off like the aforementioned Moltres.
Hitmonlee is great at killing off the counters of Venusaur and Houndoom, acting as another means of dealing with Registeel, as well as Umbreon. Having a second Sucker Puncher also makes any attempt to sweep from the likes of Mismagius and Rotom very unlikely. Spiritomb gives Hitmonlee a lot of trouble though. Luckily, Houndoom and Venusaur really put the pain on Spiritomb, as many sets are physically defensive, as opposed to specially defensive. And any sort of Calm Mind set gets Roared out by Steelix before it can cause too much trouble.
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TheWalls
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Steelix (F) @ Leftovers *** Bury It Down Low
Rock Head | Careful Nature
252 HP | 4 Atk | 252 SpD
~Stealth Rock
~Earthquake
~Stone Edge
~Roar
Why Steelix?
Steelix is the first of my defensive duo, and he does his job exceptionally well. There are a lot of reasons I chose Steelix. His Steel typing brings a lot of much needed resistances to the table, making it much more difficult, if not impossible, for things like Swellow, Scyther, and Rotom to simply sweep me. But his Ground typing is the real seller, giving the team a needed check to the powerful Raikou, as well as giving me a second solid switch-in to Thunder Waves, which is not something any of my sweepers want to be stricken with, regardless of the huge amount of priority on this team.
The EVs are your basic Max HP and Max Special Defense with a Careful Nature, because I really need to make sure Steelix takes as little damage from Raikou as possible (especially ones with HP Water). It also makes him a decent check to the likes of Mismagius, especially those that forgo HP Fighting for Thunderbolt. Stealth Rock is the most important move on the set, giving Moltres and the like a reason to stay in their Pokeballs. Earthquake is just a useful and powerful STAB, allowing me to hit a lot of things that Steelix needs to counter. Stone Edge is a new favorite move of mine on Steelix, because Flying types love to switch in the first turn Steelix comes in, assuming I will put rocks down, but many times they are dented with a powerful Rock attack. Roar is also a life saver, as set up sweepers like Curse Umbreon would absolutely wreck me without it; it is the absolute reason I refuse to switch Steelix for Registeel, because I really cannot fit a PHazing move anywhere else on the team, and Steelix just does that job so well.
Steelix provides great type synergy with the rest of the team, luring in a lot of attacks that my sweepers like to come in on and abuse. Fire moves are absorbed by Houndoom, and common Fire attackers are easily outsped by him. Fighting and Water moves can be abused by either Venusaur or Slowking, allowing me to either put something to Sleep or possibly set up on something. Unfortunately I don’t really have a reliable Ground type switch in…like, at all. So things like Dugtrio tend to screw Steelix over. But Dugtrio is easily revenged by my other members, as well as the things that Dugtrio commonly supports, such as Raikou.
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Slowking (M) @ Leftovers *** It’s Only Another Parsec
Own Tempo | Calm Nature
252 HP | 144 Def | 112 SpD
~Surf
~Psychic
~Slack Off
~Toxic / Calm Mind
Why Slowking?
Slowking is probably the most anti-metagame Pokemon in UU right now, as he makes an incredibly reliable Moltres check, especially in the early game, where it is unlikely he will have much prior damage. Originally I used Slowbro, but his paltry SpD really made it easy for Moltres and Blaziken to pummel him with HP Grass. While Slowking has much lower Defense than his shell wearing brethren, he still makes a great check to physical Water attackers as well. Slowking makes it much more difficult for things like DD Feraligatr and Azumarill to walk all over me. He also makes a great check to Fighting types, especially Blaziken (unless its like, CB ThunderPunch or something ridiculous), Hitmontop, and Hariyama.
The EV spread was stolen from Twist of Fate’s Slowking revamp, and I gotta say it works very, very well. The extra points in Defense really help Slowking take on the aforementioned physical Water attackers in UU; they allow Slowking to survive stuff like +4 Feraligatr’s Return or CB Azumarill’s Double-Edge. The rest is dumped into Special Defensive stuff, because that’s what he’s here for. The moveset is fairly simple. Surf is STAB and is the only water move I have on the team, making Slowking one of my few checks to Donphan and Aggron and the like. Psychic is also a powerful STAB, and hits Venusaur switch-ins for tons of damage before I’m forced to switch out. Slack Off is obviously useful, allowing me to recover off any damage. Toxic is great for dealing with bulky Waters, especially since Venusaur is my only real answer to them. I’m considering Calm Mind, though, because Registeel walls this set so bad and I hate having to switch out if my Thunder Wave absorbers are dead or too weak to take an Iron Head / Earthquake. It could also help me beat Haze-less Milotics more easily than Toxic would, because Toxic both boosts its Defense and can easily be Aromatherapy’d away by something like Chansey. Toxic has proven useful, but I honestly just plooooooow through bulky Waters most of the time with Hitmonlee’s powerful Close Combats or Houndoom’s Dark Pulses if they decide to switch in to them. Sure, it’s not Super Effective, but stuff like Blastoise and Azumarill aren’t likely to be getting that health back anytime soon. I haven’t tested it, but it seems like a legit option.
As stated before, Slowking is my main man to check the Special sweeping threats in this metagame. But he does have a little trouble taking hits from stuff like Mismagius and Alakazam, who can both hit him pretty hard, especially if they got a Nasty Plot or Calm Mind in. Steelix makes a decent check to those, but Focus Blasts and boosted HP Fightings still hurt. That’s why I pack two Sucker Punchers, because it really helps to deal with those threats. Venusaur also has a fun time revenging those two, as both are quite frail and won’t like taking a powerful Leaf Storm.
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Alright, well there’s my team! Please rate! :D
