I posted a team a couple weeks ago that I was trying out after getting back into UU, but I really wasn't satisfied with it, and I wasn't really getting vary good results. This team is a second attempt that I've been doing much better with, but still want a little advice on, since there's certain things that usually get me in battles with this team still. Thanks for commenting!
The Lead
Yanmega @ Focus Sash
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 104 Def, 252 SpA, 152 Speed
Nature: Modest
Protect
Bug Buzz
Air Slash
HP Ground
So after reviewing the various options of countering all the Crobat leads I was facing, I decided I needed to find a lead that not only countered it, but also aided my team in some way in the process. Yanmega does this pretty well since it first scouts with Protect to find out what TYPE of Crobat it is and also to get the speed boost (which makes me faster than Crobat on turn 2), then Air Slashes after that, hopefully flinching him. If I don't flinch him, Focus Sash activates should they use Brave Bird, and I finish the job after that, with Yanmega still barely alive.
If it's not a Crobat lead, I just attack if I'm faster, or Protect if I'm slower. He's a pretty good scouter, so he lets me know what to look out for. Bug Buzz and Air Slash are for obvious STAB and hax on Air Slash. HP Ground is in preference of Hypnosis since they dropped the accuracy to 60. HP Ground is basically the only thing that can even hope to hit Registeel and Steelix, and it also helps for fire types. Basically, Yanmega is something to be feared, and I've usually taken out at least one Pokemon every battle with it before they killed me. I usually suicide with it because after Stealth Rock is on the field, he's really kind of screwed without some spinning support.
The Core
Roserade @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP, 120 Speed, 136 SpD
Nature: Calm
Spikes
Leech Seed
Energy Ball
Sludge Bomb
I used to have a mixed Nidoking in this spot, since I wanted someone to absorb Toxic Spikes (some people are still running them for some reason), since they ruin Milotic, but I was reading the "UU Combinations" thread in Stark Mountain and came across the Roserade/Milotic combo. Since I was already using Milotic, I decided I'd try Roserade out in place of Nidoking, since they serve a similar purpose: come in, absorb Toxic Spikes, and absorb status.
Spikes/Leech Seed is for when the opponent switch out, I can get a free turn. Energy Ball and Sludge Bomb are for coverage. Roserade has relatively less coverage than Nidoking did, but he checks Shaymin a little better, since Sludge Bomb is a 2HKO, if I remember correctly, and Shaymin can't really do a lot against Roserade. Roserade has been okay, but I'm still wondering if I should have Roserade here, or replace with something else?
Milotic @ Life Orb
Ability: Marvel Scale
EVs: 80 HP, 252 SpA, 176 Speed
Nature: Modest
Recover
Hydro Pump
Ice Beam
HP Grass / Electric
Most people expect Milotic to be defensive, so this takes a lot of people buy surprise when they come in on Milotic and get hit super effective by HP Grass. The EVs are designed to make it marginally outspeed most Blaziken, which is fairly significant. Recover is for obvious longevity, since Milotic still functions fairly well at walling things. Hydro Pump is obvious STAB and is generally to be feared. Not much likes to switch into Milo's Hydro Pump. Covers fires well, as well as Steelix and the like. HP Grass hits Slowbro, Gastrodon, and all sorts of fun stuff. This set has functioned decently, but I have been contemplating making it more wall-oriented. In which case, I think I would replace Ice Beam with Toxic (since Ice Beam is so much less useful in UU than in OU). This would mainly leave me walled against Roserade and Shaymin, but Milotic doesn't really like to deal with those anyway.
I used to run HP Electric, but then had several unfortunate matches faced against Quagsire and Gastrodon, and couldn't really do much against them, so I switched to HP Grass. I figured this was hitting most of the same stuff. Flying types like Honchkrow would already be covered by Ice Beam, so I figured this switch was okay.
Blaziken @ Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 236 Atk, 252 SpA, 20 Speed
Nature: Rash
Fire Blast
Superpower
HP Electric
Vacuum Wave
Blaziken is pretty amazing, really, since he takes out basically all of the most used walls in the tier: Chansey, Clefable, Registeel, and Steelix. He also functions really well as a late game sweeper. This set has the potential to basically 2HKO everything in the UU metagame. Moves should be fairly self-explanitory. Fire Blast covers stuff like Shaymin and Roserade and also Steelix. Superpower is for Chansey and Clefable, among others. HP Electric helps take out Milotic, Slowbro, and Azumarill. Vacuum Wave is to make sure no one with a Scarf or is normally faster than me but low on HP come in to spoil my fun (SubSalac Reversal things come immediately to mind here). Yeah. Blaziken is pretty sweet. I try to keep him hidden until the end so I can sweep as easily as possible.
Blaziken tends to have issues if I'm forced to reveal him too early in the match. He's pretty easily taken down by things that have faster priority than him, or if he's low on HP and worn down by Life Orb, his faster priority tends not to matter since it can't KO. I figure this is more an issue with other things not covering for Blaziken like they should, since I'm fairly satisfied with this set, but it's a concern.
Steelix @ Leftovers
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 HP, 120 Atk, 136 SpD
Nature: Impish
Earthquake
Explosion
Roar
Stealth Rock
Steelix serves mainly as my Stealth Rock setup, along as a hazer to Roar away Mismagius when it tries to SubCalm Mind on me (which is REALLY important considering that that is just about the only thing on this team that can stop Missy). Switches in on something obvious, takes damage for my team with its impressive defenses, etc. Earthquake is mainly for STAB and coverage. He's also my main switch-in to Registeel since those all love to use Thunder Wave to try to cripple my sweepers.
I have Explosion over Gyro Ball mainly because I used to have Gyro Ball and never use it. I don't think many people expect Steelix to carry Explosion anymore, and it's proven a lot more useful to me because of this. It scores a lot of unexpected KOs, and then the other guy is out an important sweeper or something like this. I've been pretty pleased with the switch anyway.
Honchkrow @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Insomnia
EVs: 4 HP, 252 Atk, 252 Speed
Nature: Jolly
Drill Peck
Pursuit
Night Slash
Superpower
Honchkrow is there to give my team some extra protection from Earthquake (since if Yanmega needs to suicide, I'm kind of screwed) as well as serve as a sleep absorber, and another revenge killer. Scarf Krow throws a lot of people off, I think, since they're expecting a Life Orb version or something. This thing can outspeed Crobat even, so I'm pretty set on going first. Drill Peck covers Shaymin, Roserade, Yanmega, and so on. Pursuit does wonders on the Pixie twins and other Psychics, as well as Mismagius. Night Slash is a more powerful STAB move, and Superpower is a backup for Chansey and Clefable (as well as hitting Registeel and Steelix). I tried Heat Wave to hit Steelix for more, but. It needs a bit of EV investment to make it worth it, and it didn't seem to be working too well, so I replaced it with Night Slash. Who knows. Also, ironically, there have been times I wished I had Sucker Punch, since I KNEW someone was going to use priority and kill me, but I couldn't do anything to stop it.
I've been wondering if I should run a Life Orb version of Honchkrow or a Banded version instead of Scarf? I'd have Sucker Punch then, and these seem like they'd have the potential to do a lot more damage, so long as I wasn't killed because of speed issues or something.
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Stealth Rock is sometimes a problem, with Honchkrow and Yanmega being x2 and x4 weak to it. If Yanmega is alive with 1 HP left due to basically suiciding against Crobat, it makes it tough to come back and be of any use later. Honchkrow can deal, but it makes sweeping an entire team with them rather impractical. If I had any place to put a Rapid Spinner in, it would probably be to replace Roserade, but I don't know who I'd put in to replace him.
Porygon2 was actually formidable one time for whatever reason. He died when I throw Blaziken out on his ass, but without Blaziken to check him, it seems like he could cause some serious damage to this team.
Mismagius is a pretty huge issue for me. Pretty much all the times I've lost, it's been because Mismagius was there to setup and sweep me. Steelix can somewhat check her with Roar, but I seem to have a lot of trouble with her otherwise.
Spiritomb can be a pain too, especially combined with Chansey. It's tough to work around with no weaknesses and such. =/
Arcanine can undo my lead pretty well, I found out. HP Ground fails to OHKO, they use some form of a fire attack, and then Extremespeed, leaving me dead and them alive. I'd switch to Milotic, but they usually carry Thunder Fang too, I think. These haven't been the biggest issue (since I haven't really seen that many Arcanine leads), but if their usage grows, it could give me some issues.
Those are all of the immediate threats I can think of. Any help people could give is greatly appreciated. Especially what to do about the slot that Roserade is currently filling. Thanks a bunch!
Sui
At a glance
The Lead
Yanmega @ Focus Sash
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 104 Def, 252 SpA, 152 Speed
Nature: Modest
Protect
Bug Buzz
Air Slash
HP Ground
So after reviewing the various options of countering all the Crobat leads I was facing, I decided I needed to find a lead that not only countered it, but also aided my team in some way in the process. Yanmega does this pretty well since it first scouts with Protect to find out what TYPE of Crobat it is and also to get the speed boost (which makes me faster than Crobat on turn 2), then Air Slashes after that, hopefully flinching him. If I don't flinch him, Focus Sash activates should they use Brave Bird, and I finish the job after that, with Yanmega still barely alive.
If it's not a Crobat lead, I just attack if I'm faster, or Protect if I'm slower. He's a pretty good scouter, so he lets me know what to look out for. Bug Buzz and Air Slash are for obvious STAB and hax on Air Slash. HP Ground is in preference of Hypnosis since they dropped the accuracy to 60. HP Ground is basically the only thing that can even hope to hit Registeel and Steelix, and it also helps for fire types. Basically, Yanmega is something to be feared, and I've usually taken out at least one Pokemon every battle with it before they killed me. I usually suicide with it because after Stealth Rock is on the field, he's really kind of screwed without some spinning support.
The Core
Roserade @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP, 120 Speed, 136 SpD
Nature: Calm
Spikes
Leech Seed
Energy Ball
Sludge Bomb
I used to have a mixed Nidoking in this spot, since I wanted someone to absorb Toxic Spikes (some people are still running them for some reason), since they ruin Milotic, but I was reading the "UU Combinations" thread in Stark Mountain and came across the Roserade/Milotic combo. Since I was already using Milotic, I decided I'd try Roserade out in place of Nidoking, since they serve a similar purpose: come in, absorb Toxic Spikes, and absorb status.
Spikes/Leech Seed is for when the opponent switch out, I can get a free turn. Energy Ball and Sludge Bomb are for coverage. Roserade has relatively less coverage than Nidoking did, but he checks Shaymin a little better, since Sludge Bomb is a 2HKO, if I remember correctly, and Shaymin can't really do a lot against Roserade. Roserade has been okay, but I'm still wondering if I should have Roserade here, or replace with something else?
Milotic @ Life Orb
Ability: Marvel Scale
EVs: 80 HP, 252 SpA, 176 Speed
Nature: Modest
Recover
Hydro Pump
Ice Beam
HP Grass / Electric
Most people expect Milotic to be defensive, so this takes a lot of people buy surprise when they come in on Milotic and get hit super effective by HP Grass. The EVs are designed to make it marginally outspeed most Blaziken, which is fairly significant. Recover is for obvious longevity, since Milotic still functions fairly well at walling things. Hydro Pump is obvious STAB and is generally to be feared. Not much likes to switch into Milo's Hydro Pump. Covers fires well, as well as Steelix and the like. HP Grass hits Slowbro, Gastrodon, and all sorts of fun stuff. This set has functioned decently, but I have been contemplating making it more wall-oriented. In which case, I think I would replace Ice Beam with Toxic (since Ice Beam is so much less useful in UU than in OU). This would mainly leave me walled against Roserade and Shaymin, but Milotic doesn't really like to deal with those anyway.
I used to run HP Electric, but then had several unfortunate matches faced against Quagsire and Gastrodon, and couldn't really do much against them, so I switched to HP Grass. I figured this was hitting most of the same stuff. Flying types like Honchkrow would already be covered by Ice Beam, so I figured this switch was okay.
Blaziken @ Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 236 Atk, 252 SpA, 20 Speed
Nature: Rash
Fire Blast
Superpower
HP Electric
Vacuum Wave
Blaziken is pretty amazing, really, since he takes out basically all of the most used walls in the tier: Chansey, Clefable, Registeel, and Steelix. He also functions really well as a late game sweeper. This set has the potential to basically 2HKO everything in the UU metagame. Moves should be fairly self-explanitory. Fire Blast covers stuff like Shaymin and Roserade and also Steelix. Superpower is for Chansey and Clefable, among others. HP Electric helps take out Milotic, Slowbro, and Azumarill. Vacuum Wave is to make sure no one with a Scarf or is normally faster than me but low on HP come in to spoil my fun (SubSalac Reversal things come immediately to mind here). Yeah. Blaziken is pretty sweet. I try to keep him hidden until the end so I can sweep as easily as possible.
Blaziken tends to have issues if I'm forced to reveal him too early in the match. He's pretty easily taken down by things that have faster priority than him, or if he's low on HP and worn down by Life Orb, his faster priority tends not to matter since it can't KO. I figure this is more an issue with other things not covering for Blaziken like they should, since I'm fairly satisfied with this set, but it's a concern.
Steelix @ Leftovers
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 HP, 120 Atk, 136 SpD
Nature: Impish
Earthquake
Explosion
Roar
Stealth Rock
Steelix serves mainly as my Stealth Rock setup, along as a hazer to Roar away Mismagius when it tries to SubCalm Mind on me (which is REALLY important considering that that is just about the only thing on this team that can stop Missy). Switches in on something obvious, takes damage for my team with its impressive defenses, etc. Earthquake is mainly for STAB and coverage. He's also my main switch-in to Registeel since those all love to use Thunder Wave to try to cripple my sweepers.
I have Explosion over Gyro Ball mainly because I used to have Gyro Ball and never use it. I don't think many people expect Steelix to carry Explosion anymore, and it's proven a lot more useful to me because of this. It scores a lot of unexpected KOs, and then the other guy is out an important sweeper or something like this. I've been pretty pleased with the switch anyway.
Honchkrow @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Insomnia
EVs: 4 HP, 252 Atk, 252 Speed
Nature: Jolly
Drill Peck
Pursuit
Night Slash
Superpower
Honchkrow is there to give my team some extra protection from Earthquake (since if Yanmega needs to suicide, I'm kind of screwed) as well as serve as a sleep absorber, and another revenge killer. Scarf Krow throws a lot of people off, I think, since they're expecting a Life Orb version or something. This thing can outspeed Crobat even, so I'm pretty set on going first. Drill Peck covers Shaymin, Roserade, Yanmega, and so on. Pursuit does wonders on the Pixie twins and other Psychics, as well as Mismagius. Night Slash is a more powerful STAB move, and Superpower is a backup for Chansey and Clefable (as well as hitting Registeel and Steelix). I tried Heat Wave to hit Steelix for more, but. It needs a bit of EV investment to make it worth it, and it didn't seem to be working too well, so I replaced it with Night Slash. Who knows. Also, ironically, there have been times I wished I had Sucker Punch, since I KNEW someone was going to use priority and kill me, but I couldn't do anything to stop it.
I've been wondering if I should run a Life Orb version of Honchkrow or a Banded version instead of Scarf? I'd have Sucker Punch then, and these seem like they'd have the potential to do a lot more damage, so long as I wasn't killed because of speed issues or something.
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Concerns
Stealth Rock is sometimes a problem, with Honchkrow and Yanmega being x2 and x4 weak to it. If Yanmega is alive with 1 HP left due to basically suiciding against Crobat, it makes it tough to come back and be of any use later. Honchkrow can deal, but it makes sweeping an entire team with them rather impractical. If I had any place to put a Rapid Spinner in, it would probably be to replace Roserade, but I don't know who I'd put in to replace him.
Porygon2 was actually formidable one time for whatever reason. He died when I throw Blaziken out on his ass, but without Blaziken to check him, it seems like he could cause some serious damage to this team.
Mismagius is a pretty huge issue for me. Pretty much all the times I've lost, it's been because Mismagius was there to setup and sweep me. Steelix can somewhat check her with Roar, but I seem to have a lot of trouble with her otherwise.
Spiritomb can be a pain too, especially combined with Chansey. It's tough to work around with no weaknesses and such. =/
Arcanine can undo my lead pretty well, I found out. HP Ground fails to OHKO, they use some form of a fire attack, and then Extremespeed, leaving me dead and them alive. I'd switch to Milotic, but they usually carry Thunder Fang too, I think. These haven't been the biggest issue (since I haven't really seen that many Arcanine leads), but if their usage grows, it could give me some issues.
Those are all of the immediate threats I can think of. Any help people could give is greatly appreciated. Especially what to do about the slot that Roserade is currently filling. Thanks a bunch!
Sui
