Shield and Sword - UU Balanced (peaked 2nd)

Legacy Raider

sharpening his claws, slowly
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I've enjoyed really good success with this team - it peaked at #2 on the leaderboard when I initially started using it and has kept me comfortably in upper reqs since then. But after a long time of using it without basically any changes at all, I've gotten quite bored of it. The Pokemon on the team themselves are nothing really all that special, and some people in the UU megathread were calling out for an RMT of a 'standard' UU team to be posted. Seeing as I'm planning on trying out some more offensively minded teams rather the balanced ones I'm comfortable with, I decided to finally retire this one.

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The team uses a combination of very bulky tanks (Milotic and Registeel), bulky sweepers (Torterra and Exeggutor), and faster frailer sweepers (Mismagius and Houndoom). It is a very comfortable team to use, with no obscure strategy beyond defending and counterattacking repeatedly until the opponent's defense breaks down and you can sweep, basically with any one of the six Pokemon on this team. Milotic+Registeel (the shield) provide an extremely reliable defensive core and are great pivots. The other four Pokemon (the sword) have handy resistances and immunities to the types of attack that threaten this pair, and can use opposing sweepers as free setup and a chance to retaliate.

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Torterra
@ Choice Scarf
Jolly - Overgrow
20 HP / 252 Atk / 236 Spe
- Wood Hammer
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Stealth Rock

With Froslass gone from the tier, any form of Torterra generally makes for a great lead. Immunity to paralysis, STAB Grass attacks to ward off lead Spikers, great natural bulk, and access to Stealth Rock all combine to make it very effective at the job. Scarf Torterra is unorthodox but it fits this team very well. The rest of the team is rather slow, and with a scarf and the given speed EVs, Torterra is able to make up for it by outspeeding everything up to and including +Speed base 105s such as Mismagius. This makes it a great revenge killer later on in the game for threatening Pokemon such as said Mismagius, Scyther, Manectric, Toxicroak, Houndoom, Blaziken, Rotom, etc, while still functioning very well in the lead position. Even with minimal HP investment, Torterra is still extremely bulky with those lovely 95/105/85 defenses, and so doesn't mind taking a hit when coming in. I play quite conservatively with Torterra, never sacrificing it early game and not forcing it to take hits it doesn't need to (Wood Hammer recoil builds up faster than I would like), because it is just so helpful later on in the game. It is also my only real 'physical sweeper', so I might need to call on it to weaken stall in many cases. I use Rock Slide over Stone Edge because missing against lead Moltres is hilariously annoying, and with the Scarf you can actually get quite good mileage out of the flinchax.

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Ambipom - don't take the Fake Out, simply switch to Registeel to see what it plans on doing, then react accordingly.

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Uxie - Set up Stealth Rock. Uxie can't do anything to Torterra outside of the very rare Toxic, so not much to fear.

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Moltres - Rock Slide for the OHKO. Scarf Moltres leads are quite rare.

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Mesprit - Set up Stealth Rock. Treat the same as Uxie but pray it doesn't have Ice Beam.

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Spiritomb - Switch to Houndoom on the predicted Will-o-Wisp / Shadow Ball.

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Kabutops - OHKO with Wood Hammer.

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Hariyama - Switch to Milotic on the predicted Ice Punch, then Exeggutor on the predicted Close Combat, then OHKO with Psychic.

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Omastar - OHKO with Wood Hammer.

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Cloyster - 2HKO with Wood Hammer and hope it isn't packing an Ice-type move. This is one of the situations where it is worth risking Torterra, as the rest of the team suffers greatly from Spikes and so everything should be done to prevent them going up.

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Qwilfish - OHKO with Earthquake.

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Alakazam - Switch to Registeel and see if Focus Blast plans on 2HKOing or not.


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Milotic
@ Leftovers
Calm - Marvel Scale
252 HP / 184 Def / 16 SpD / 56 Spe
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Recover
- Toxic

Milotic is the first part of my Milo/Steel defensive core, and it is a brilliant defensive Pokemon... so much so that one person in particular plans on nominating it as a suspect under the Defensive Characteristic (which I personally don't agree with at all and will be voting against if I get the chance =]). Anyway, there isn't much explanation needed for Milotic's set here. The Speed EVs allow it to outspeed neutral base 50s and 55s, such as Adamant Aggron, Modest Exeggutor, Cacturne, etc, and Adamant Torterra with its base 56 Speed as well. I feel this is a very good benchmark to hit seeing as my Exeggutor takes full advantage of any Milotic lagging behind this threshold. A Calm nature with max HP and 16 SpD EVs allow Milotic to never be 2HKOed by Modest LO Moltres' HP Grass after Stealth Rock and Leftovers. The rest of the EVs I put into Defense to let Milotic take on physical threats such as Azumarill and Rock Polish Rhyperior better.

Surf and Ice Beam are a given, the latter letting me do some damage to predicted Venusaur switch ins and preventing Torterra from setting up on me. Recover provides reliable recovery and is another obvious choice. In the last slot I tried both Hidden Power Grass and Haze, both of which brought their own specific pros and cons to the team. However, overall I've found Toxic to be the most reliable move in that last slot. Registeel can basically stall out any Pokemon that can't hit it super effectively once it's been badly poisoned, and Toxic is also much more effective against opposing bulky Waters than Hidden Power Grass.

Milotic checks so many things- Moltres, Arcanine, Blaziken, Azumarill, Houndoom, Rhyperior, Aggron, and many rain sweepers to name just a few. The team couldn't function nearly as effectively without the defensive backbone provided by it and Registeel.

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Registeel
@ Leftovers
Careful - Clear Body
252 HP / 24 Atk / 216 SpD / 16 Spe
- Curse
- Iron Head
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Registeel checks the Grass-types that threaten Milotic, and the hard hitting Psychic- and Ghost-types that can overpower it. In particular, Venusaur and Alakazam would both cause major problems for the team without Registeel (Houndoom can deal with both of them quite well but it isn't too reliable). ResTalk Registeel makes a great answer to most Venusaur variants, and the few that threaten it, such as Leech Seed and SD w/ Earthquake, are dealt with by Mismagius and Exeggutor respectively. The heavy SpD investment means that Alakazam needs a Life Orb to have any hope of 2HKOing with Focus Blast; SubEncore with Leftovers isn't going to manage, and with Clear Body, Registeel's SpD isn't falling any time soon either.

With Curse, Registeel becomes a very real threat very quickly to any unprepared team. It means that Registeel can not only check offensive threats, it can also set up on any defensive Pokemon who think it is too passive to bother worrying about. Opposing Registeel without Rest of their own will quickly fall, as will any non-Haze Milotic or non-CM Slowbro. Against Sandstorm teams, their Regirock/Cradily will fall before Registeel will. Against Stall, once their Haze Milotic is taken care of (not too difficult seeing as every other one of my Pokemon can weaken it or take it out by themselves), Registeel can Curse up and slowly sweep.

252 HP and 216 SpD EVs give it incredible bulk on top of its great resistances, and the 16 Spe EVs let me outspeed other common base 50s such as Chansey if I haven't Cursed yet. It also means that after 6 Curses, I will still be faster than an opposing Regirock with 6 Curses, meaning I will be flinching it with Iron Head rather than the other way around with Rock Slide. If the opponent isn't packing strong Ground/Fighting/Fire attacks (note how these will give Exeggutor/Houndoom/Mismagius opportunities to switch in), CurseSteel will give them hell.

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Mismagius
@ Life Orb
Timid - Levitate
252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 SpD
- Taunt
- Nasty Plot
- Shadow Ball
- Destiny Bond

The immunities provided by Mismagius go a long way in securing its spot on my team. The fact that it can almost singlehandedly defeat stall and is among the most threatening setup sweepers in the tier are just bonuses :). It gets plenty of opportunities to switch in on Fighting/Ground attacks aimed at Registeel and Houndoom. Balanced teams need a way of reliably threatening stall otherwise they will get worn down by residual damage and easily defeated. Outside of Spiritomb, not much on the standard stall team can handle Taunt Mismagius. But what stall players often make the mistake of doing is sacrificing their Spiritomb to Exeggutor's Sleep Powder, and get it worn down by Leaf Storms when trying to come in on predicted Psychics. As soon as their Spiritomb is weakened, Mismagius is ready to come out and turn the tables against the stall team.

I choose to run Taunt over Substitute because while it doesn't help against Sucker Punch users, it means Encore users such as Clefable can't have their way with it, and also stops Haze Milotic from stopping your fun and avoiding the 2HKO from a NP Shadow Ball. Life Orb is also a lot easier to run when you're not taking residual damage from another source as well, and I like having that damage boost for when I don't have time to NP.

The only subtlety on this Mismagius set is the addition of Destiny Bond over another attacking move. I played with Thunderbolt for quite a long time, but I've found that Life Orb and residual damage wears Mismagius down very quickly, and so being able to guarantee to take out at least one of the opponent's Pokemon is extremely handy. There are many instances when Destiny Bond has saved me the game - against a CMed HP Fighting Mismagius behind a Substitute, against a CM or Curse Pokemon who has been able to get in one too many boosts for Registeel to deal with it comfortably, or simply against something that I can't OHKO with an unboosted move and is threatening my team. It does mean that I can't actually hurt Chansey, but if it stays in I will force it to waste all its Seismic Toss pp with Taunt until it isn't at all a threat any more to anything else. Stall players almost never expect you to not have a secondary coverage move, and so they will panic when you boost up to +6 on their Taunted Chansey and will throw away their Pokemon heedlessly. I've not lost to a stall team by not having a secondary coverage move yet. Destiny Bond is also great for taking out Registeel and letting Exeggutor sweep.

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Houndoom
@ Life Orb
Hasty - Flash Fire
96 Atk / 188 SpA / 224 Spe
- Nasty Plot
- Fire Blast
- Dark Pulse
- Sucker Punch / Beat Up

Houndoom's two lovely immunities make it a great partner for Mismagius, Exeggutor, Torterra and Registeel. It hits extremely hard with LO Fire Blast even without max SpA investment and just a +Spe nature, being able to OHKO max HP Donphan with SR half the time without even having to NP. It makes a good answer for the Ghost-types that threaten Exeggutor, with enough Speed to outspeed +Speed Rotom. It also has the invaluable Psychic immunity which no other Fire-type can boast, meaning LO Alakazam doesn't just dismantle my team.

Sucker Punch with the 96 Atk EVs and LO is brilliant - it's stronger than Adamant Arcanine's LO ExtremeSpeed and is a great tool for taking out fast, frail threats that try to revenge Houndoom. 96 EVs guarantee the OHKO on Dugtrio after SR. Never leave home without it. It's the only priority move on an otherwise rather slow team, and is invaluable. I run a -Def nature because Houndoom's defense is so bad that it won't really be able to take any physical priority moves as it is, while having intact Special Defense means it's easier to take out Mismagius (who doesn't have a guaranteed OHKO even with a LO HP Fighting, while Leftovers Thunderbolt may not even 2HKO).

I use Beat Up over Sucker Punch if I'm going to be playing a known stall player. Houndoom is another Pokemon on my team that can sweep stall by its lonesome once a certain Pokemon is weakened or removed - in this case it's Milotic. Chansey is a bit of trouble if I don't have Beat Up, but a +2 Fire Blast can do up to 55%, so can be handled in a pinch. Overall it is an extremely threatening sweeper that works against all kinds of teams, and doesn't even need to boost to dish out serious pain.

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Exeggutor
@ Leftovers
Modest - Chlorophyll
4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
- Sleep Powder
- Leaf Storm
- Psychic
- Synthesis

Exeggutor is an extremely underrated threat in the current metagame. It has a great set of resistances and boasts the single strongest special attack in the UU metagame in the form of its Leaf Storm (tied with Moltres' Overheat). The number of Pokemon it can come in on is great - azumarill, blastoise, claydol, donphan, hariyama, hitmonlee, hitmontop, leafeon, milotic, omastar, poliwrath, regirock, rhyperior, slowbro, slowking, steelix, tangrowth, torterra, SD venusaur/sceptile, and quite a few others. Good physical bulk, decent special bulk, a massive SpA stat, good dual STAB, and access to Sleep Powder make it a massive threat. It's Speed is low but workable, and with max investment it comfortably outspeeds any Milotic who doesn't invest as many Speed EVs as I do on mine.

On my team, Exeggutor sponges Water, Ground and Fighting attacks aimed at Registeel/Houndoom, and Grass and Electric attacks aimed at Milotic. Exeggutor is able to Sleep, Attack, Heal, and rinse and repeat. With Synthesis, it can continue to check Water/Ground/Grass/Fighting sweepers throughout the game. Think of it as an UU Celebi, but with Sleep Powder and a heck of a lot more firepower. I almost always use Psychic as my primary attacking option as it catches so many Venusaur trying to come in to sponge a Leaf Storm / hit me with a Sludge Bomb, as well as Moltres and Arcanine who think they can take his hits.

I considered replacing Exeggutor with Venusaur to help with my extreme weakness to Toxic Spikes, but the team does worse against basically every other kind of team. Venusaur's physical bulk isn't nearly as good as Exeggutor's, and it can't check Torterra nearly as well as he can. And 2 attack Alakazam (such as Sub/Encore or Sub/CM), once again the bane of my life, is checked by Exeggutor, while Venusuar would get blasted apart by Psychic.
 
Threatlist

(ask for a c+p version for your RMT - it really helps raters give focused rates)

Offensive

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Absol - can cause a lot of damage to my team if it SDs, but Torterra can usually outspeed and take it out, Houndoom won't die to an unboosted Sucker Punch, and if I need to take it out, Mismagius can Destiny Bond.

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Aggron - CB Aggron can be taken by Registeel if it's using Head Smash. Torterra provides a good check for all versions, and Milotic can take on RP versions if it's at high health.

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Alakazam - this thing can be a pain later on in the game, but Registeel can take on less offensive versions, and Houndoom is handy in revenge killing. Exeggutor resists both Psychic and Focus Blast from 2 attack versions, and Torterra will live any attack at full health and take it out with any of its physical attacks.

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Altaria - DD Altaria loses 1 on 1 to Curse Registeel, Milotic Ice Beams.

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Ambipom - Registeel is primary port of call. Hopefully if it has Low Kick it won't also have Pursuit. A well played one can cause a bit of trouble, but mostly it's too weak to get past Milo/Steel.

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Arcanine - Milotic can take almost anything it can throw out. CB Thunder Fangs get redirected to Torterra.

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Azumarill - Exeggutor is a great check. CB Double-Edge has a chance to OHKO with SR, and Sub+Ice Punch is annoying but won't OHKO without a boosting item.

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Blaziken - a combination of Milotic and Mismagius takes it out. The only version that really threatens Milotic is SD with Low Kick, which is a free switch-in and KO for Mismagius. Torterra can revenge as a last means.

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Drapion - Torterra can take it out with Earthquake, Mismagius can D Bond if Torterra is down. I hate Toxic Spikes.

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Dugtrio - it won't be able to take out Registeel if it comes in as it Curses, but otherwise it can cause problems when used in tandem with things like Swellow and Alakazam. It's not nearly common enough to warrant Shed Shell though.

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Feraligatr - Milotic can Toxic it and then it will die as I switch around. Without LO, it can't OHKO Exeggutor with +1 Ice Punch. Can be slightly troublesome but hasn't yet swept me.

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Hariyama - Exeggutor.

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Hitmonlee - Exeggutor.

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Hitmontop - Exeggutor.

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Houndoom - Milotic.

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Kabutops - Torterra can revenge kill it outside of rain.

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Leafeon - Exeggutor takes on most versions well, although a +2 LO Return can take it out. Mismagius is faster, immune to Quick Attack, and can prey on its weak SpD with a LO Shadow Ball.

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Ludicolo - Registeel can waste rain turns, until Houndoom/Torterra/Mismagius get a chance to revenge it.

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Magmortar - Milotic eats Fire Blasts, and Torterra can come in on a predicted Thunderbolt and take it out with Earthquake.

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Mesprit - Registeel takes on most versions well.

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Milotic - bring Torterra in on a predicted HP Grass and remove with Wood Hammer.

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Mismagius - Registeel beats it almost every time, and can Rest off Will-o-Wisp. If that fails, Houndoom provides a good secondary check, and Torterra outspeeds and OHKoes with Wood Hammer.

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Moltres - Despite the intimidating size of its PMD sprite, Moltres is not a threat to this team. Milotic is tailored to beat it. Torterra can revenge with Rock Slide, and Houndoom with Dark Pulse.

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Nidoking - Torterra revenges with Earthquake, Houndoom can take it out with Fire Blast, it can't OHKO Milotic and dies in return.

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Omastar - Milotic.

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Poliwrath - Exeggutor.

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Rhyperior - Milotic and Torterra are both good checks. RP can be trouble if Milotic is down, but that rarely happens.

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Rotom - can be annoying with its dual STAB, but Thunderbolt is like a 4HKO on Registeel, while I can Curse and Rest off WoW. Houndoom outspeeds and OHKOes, Torterra hits hard with Wood Hammer and is immune to Thunderbolt.

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Sceptile - Registeel is a good answer to most versions apart from SD w/ Earthquake, which Exeggutor can deal with well.

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Scyther - Torterra outspeeds and OHKOes with Rock Slide, Registeel isn't thretened by unboosted Brick Break.

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Swellow - Registeel, but if paired with Dugtrio I have to stall out by intelligent switching to Mismagius.

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Torterra - Exeggutor is a good check.

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Toxicroak - Torterra and Houndoom can revenge.

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Venusaur - Registeel is a good answer to most versions apart from SD w/ Earthquake, which Exeggutor can deal with well.


Defensive

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Altaria - Milotic Ice Beams, Exeggutor outspeeds and can sleep + wear down, Torterra outspeeds and can 2HKO with Rock Slide after SR.

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Blastoise - Exeggutor.

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Chansey - has to be played around and worn down, unless I have Beat Up on Houndoom, in which case I just have to lure it in and OHKO. Exeggutor can sleep + wear down, while Mismagius can set up on its face and stall it out of S Toss PP.

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Claydol - Torterra/Houndoom/Mismagius/Milotic/Exeggutor.

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Clefable - Mismagius can Taunt and set up, Houndoom destroys with boosted attacks. Torterra 2HKOes with Wood Hammer.

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Cloyster - Torterra 2HKOes with Wood Hammer, Houndoom takes out with Dark Pulse, Mismagius with Shadow Ball, Exeggutor with Psychic.

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Donphan - can't stand up to my special sweepers, Milotic, or Torterra. It's a free switch in for Exeggutor.

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Hitmontop - Exeggutor.

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Lanturn - Registeel can set up on it and doesn't fear status, Milotic can Toxic, Torterra destroys with its STAB and Exeggutor OHKOes with Leaf Storm.

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Milotic - Exeggutor.

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Miltank - hit hard with Special Attackers until it goes down. Exeggutor in particular fears little from her attacks and does massive damage back with Leaf Storm.

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Omastar - Torterra and Exeggutor can OHKO with STAB attacks, while it can't stand up to boosted attacks from the other two sweepers. It will try to come in on Registeel so its switchins need to be predicted so that it doesn't get chances to set up Spikes.

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Regirock - Torterra and Exeggutor both hurt it, and Milotic beats it.

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Registeel - Torterra takes it out with Earthquake, CurseSteel can set up on it, Houndoom dents with Fire Blast. Mismagius can use Destiny Bond to remove it for Exeggutor, and Exeggutor can sleep it and give Houndoom a free switch in. Milotic will beat it if it doesn't have Rest or Toxic.

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Rotom - Houndoom.

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Slowbro - scout the status move with Registeel, and then Exeggutor can deal with it.

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Slowking - same as Slowbro, but Torterra hits it harder than Exeggutor.

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Spiritomb - Houndoom can take the Will-o-Wisp and Torterra can receive a Tricked Choice Band very well. Registeel can set up on it.

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Steelix - Milotic beats it and Mismagius can take Explosions. Exeggutor and Houndoom don't fear anything from it.

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Tangrowth - Registeel can take the Sleep and set up on it, while Exeggutor can set up on it too.

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Torterra - Exeggutor can come in on it with little fear.

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Uxie - Milotic can Toxic it, and Houndoom OHKOes with boosted Dark Pulse. Registeel sets up.

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Venusaur - Registeel sets up if it doesn't have Roar, if it only has Sludge Bomb Mismagius threatens it, if it has only Energy Ball then Exeggutor threatens it.

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Weezing - Houndoom takes a WoW and Fire Blasts it apart, Exeggutor OHKOes with Psychic. Mismagius doesn't fear Explosion and takes little from its unSTABbed special attacks, and can set up on it.


Team Styles

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Rain - rain isn't that difficult to play against, but chances are I'll lose half my team against it. The way to beat it is to use Milotic, Registeel, and Exeggutor to waste rain turns by switching around with resistances, and by using Rest / Recover with Registeel/Milotic. Once the initial rain has run out, I try to get Mismagius in on the restarter and Taunt it. Then Mismagius can NP up and sweep the rest of the team. I will not give Kabutops a free turn to SD up because then it becomes very difficult to stall and take out once rain runs out - if that thing comes out I will hit it with whatever I can to bring it down.

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Sun - there are two main things to worry about when playing against a Sun team - strong Fire-types with boosted STAB, and Chlorophyll sweepers. Registeel can deal with all the Chlorophyll-ers, including those that try to deal with it by putting it to Sleep such as Victreebel. Houndoom and his Flash Fire can easily waste the Sun turns as well as being able to launch his own obscenely boosted Fire Blasts. And the fact that I have my own very threatening Exeggutor to boot is just a plus, as it can take out all the Fire-types that could threaten Milotic with SolarBeam.

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Sandstorm - ultimately this comes down to chipping away at each other's team until we both have a Curser left, and Registeel will win almost every time. This is where Exeggutor's Leftovers come in really handy, as it can cause a lot of trouble for the standard Sandstorm team and won't be worn down by the sand.

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Hail - if the Hail team employs Toxic Spikes then I could be in a bit of trouble. However, otherwise I have a lot of resists for Ice, and with Froslass out of the tier, this team type isn't all that threatening. Registeel once again is MVP, immune to Toxic Spikes and being able to outstall Stallrein quite easily.

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Trick Room - once again, Curse Registeel saves the day. After a Curse, it will be slower than Marowak while not dying to its Earthquake. Registeel can easily set up several Curses on common Trick Room users such as Uxie, Slowking and Porygon2, meaning Trick Room teams will hardly ever be a concern.
 
Oh my. This team is actually extremely good (no wonder you took so long to post it) and I really can't find any flaws with it. The fact that only 2 pokemon trouble this team is a testament to how good it is.


PS: what do the EV's for Milotic do?
 
Hello LR,

This is an incredible team -- I knew Eggy would have some potential this round as I predicted. Its has its own niche and great uses obviously, especially with that Fighting resist and single Grass-typing. There isn't much to change but you can simply revert back to Thunderbolt on Mismagius. This to me was the only thing that bothered me. Thunderbolt is a hundred times more benefical than Destiny Bond. Thunderbolt will allow you to hit Milotic for super effective damage -- defensive and especially offensive ones (timid/252) will trouble this team somewhat. The extra coverage is always great. Additionally, this will give you something to hit Registeel with instead of being forced out easily. Torterra -- unfortunately, is not reliable enough to come in if Choice Scarf is exposed to your opponent. Its better to have something hitting Registeel. Thunderbolt also lets you smack Drapion for neutral damage, ultimately preventing it from having an easy Swords Dance set up. With Torterra gone, an SD variant with Taunt can trouble you and its better to have something to hit it. Lastly, Thunderbolt just makes Mismagius a reliable lategame sweeper with two coverage moves instead of one, so it is something to look for.

As for other options, Life Orb is something you can look for in Eggy. The expense of losing Leftovers for Life Orb is having the ability to potentially OHKO Moltres and Arcanine with Psychic. This makes your job easier against those spike-stacking offensive teams, which usually has Moltres and Arcanine. This will take the load of your main glue: Milotic. The power is something to look for, I am a fan of LO Eggy so I guess you can say you saw this suggestion coming. overall gl! 5 stars.
 
I have to admit, this team is very well balanced. It can take on many threats effectively, and I can definitely see why it peaked second on the leaderboard. To be honest, my team would have been destroyed if I had faced you. However, I do see two problems, one of which you won't encounter often. Entry hazards can be devastating to your team, especially Toxic Spikes. The best choice for a Spinner on your team is Claydol, since it resists Rocks and is immune to Spikes and Toxic Spikes. Unfortunately, I'm not sure which Pokemon Claydol should replace. The second potential problem is Beat Up. While it does provide a good move against Chansey, I believe it also reveals the rest of your team to the opponent, because it shows on the text "(Insert Pokemon Here)'s attack!" Therefore, the opponent can prepare a strategy to lure in other members so they can be KOed. Still, this is an excellent team, and I'm sad that it's being retired. Good luck with your other teams!
 
Hi, and congratulations on your climb to number 2! There really isn't much to change on your team considering how well made and thought out it is. I run a very similar Torterra + Mismagius + Houndoom core and I've noticed in my own laddering that the standard SD + 3 attack Sceptile is going to be really annoying. Leaf blade, Return, Earthquake is a huge problem for you because it manages to run through your team. Yes, I understand Torterra outspeeds, but I dont find him 100% reliable because he's not going to hit for the KO unless your have let it widdle down from LO or if you've sacrificed your houndoom to sucker punch it. There's not much to remedy this other than investing more defensive EVs in registeel and milotic, since torterra can't switch in reliably especially since it may have already switched in a few times being your scarfer.

calcs for your reference with you current spreads:
252 Jolly Life Orb Sceptile +2 Earthquake
vs. 252/0 Careful Leftovers Registeel : 81.9% - 96.7%
252 Jolly Life Orb Sceptile +2 Leaf Blade
vs. 252/184 Calm Leftovers Milotic : 143.5% - 169.5%
Jolly Sceptile +2 Leaf Blade
vs. Jolly Torterra : 82.1% - 96.4%
Jolly Sceptile +2 Return
vs. Exeggutor : 74.7% - 88%


So as you can see nothing reliable switches in, so you have to rely on residual LO damage as to get in priority sucker punch or a free switch in. Basically you're going lose a pokemon once Sceptile sets up.

The only real option i can see for you to fix this is to possibly invest a lot of defense into registeel or exeggutor, which both seem more unconventional to the team.

The only remedy I see fit to fix this problem is running a scarfed mix set on houndoom. If you take out 28 evs from its attack stat and put it into speed, throw on a scarf, and run pursuit over nasty plot you've got yourself a good all around in Houndoom. He may not always be able to switch into Sceptile, but he leaves you with a more reliable way to at least revenge it. He can also help you with your slight Alakzam weakness and can come in on Dugtrio to revenge if nessecary. Albeit i'm not positive this will work perfectly for your team I think its worth testing.

Good team, Cheers!
 
truly amazing team, no wonder it peaked so high. Only nitbit is that i don't really see the need for destiny bond on missy. Perhaps try thunderbolt for practically perfect coverage and to be able to deal with milotic better?
 
This is a fantastic team, LR - congratulations on your success with it. One thing, however, that I'm slightly concerned about is the waste of Exeggutor's natural bulk. You don't really need 252 Speed on it, as that doesn't really outrun anything significant - I wonder if more bulk would serve you better. However, I guess outrunning defensive Milotic is important... 201-ish Speed would probably be a better range to aim for - 220 EVs saves eight points for HP while still allowing you to outpace the 8 EV variants.
 
I'd just reccomend trying mixed LO Venusaur to help you against t.spikes, I been able to find anything that your Exeggutor does any better and you have enough support on the team to take EQs in Torterra,Mismagius and Milotic if needed.

The set is: (Flamewheeler's as far as I know)
Venusaur (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 160 Atk/252 Spd/96 SAtk
Hasty nature (+Spd, -Def)
- Synthesis
- Sludge Bomb
- Sleep Powder
- Power Whip


2hkos Chansey,woop.

Helps up the speed of your team a bit too.

Anyway,at least give it a try, it hasen't let me down yet. It beats Milotic more reliably than your Exeggutor (LO Milotic looks like it could leave some serious dents in your team even though you havn't said so on your threat list). You can also possibly sleep an Absol midsweep if it gets the chance to SD, whereas having Exeggutor only increases your Absol weakness.
 
Thanks for all the rates guys. I actually just wrote a massive reply to each of you but VBulletin screwed me over >_>. I'm going to look into all of your suggestions and play around with them a bit. Here's a very summarized version:

Thunderbolt > D Bond: it makes very good sense to be able to deal with Drapion better (i.e. being able to take it out with NP LO Tbolt), but I'm afraid that if I lose D Bond on Mismagius then Absol is going to be even more of a threat than it currently is (much preferable to lose 1 Pokemon to it, than 6, which is very possible).

Venusaur > Exeggutor: thanks for the suggestion but I'm looking for a much more bulky (read: not Hasty :P) Venusaur set that can sort of emulate Exeggutor's ability to switch into Azumarill and Fighting-types in general. I don't really need the ability to 2HKO Chansey, the rest of my team deals with it quite well. But the ability to outspeed and Sleep Absol would make me a lot more comfortable running Tbolt Missy. Is there perhaps a Venusaur spread with decent bulk, enough Speed to outrun Absol, and strong Special firepower that someone could suggest? It would definitely help out with my Toxic Spikes weakness. I guess Venusaur's versatility shows it is no1 for a reason, although Exeggutor has been awesome in almost all my games.

Once again thanks for all the rates, and it'd be great if they keep coming :).
 
Regarding the Venusaur spread you mentioned, I guess that would be 200 Atk/216 Spe/92 SpAtk with a Rash nature. Those speed EVs are enough for you to outspeed adamant Absol by one point, with enough attack to get an OHKO on neutral nature 252 HP/200 Def Milotic after SR (netting you 2HKOes on Clefable and Chansey as well), while the extra SpAtk gives Venusaur an extra oomph when using Sludge Bomb. If you want some extra bulk you could sacrifice the SpAtk EVs for HP, but that would certainly lower this guy's sweeping capability (you could give it enough SpAtk to OHKO 0 HP/4 SpDef Moltres after SR I suppose).

Outside of that I don't think there's much to be said though, I'd probably go with Thunderbolt on Missy as that's the only change I can think of, although it depends on your team's needs. Really nice team and best of luck =)
 
@ Bluewind: Since he said he has no issues with chansey or the like, why not run modest with leaf storm? He's obviously not too worried about the drops because he uses it on eggy now. Just my two cents, =)

And yes, SushiOnToast, that set is mine. =) I've never felt so good. I made a set! =D Kinda...
 
I see a problem actually with lead Torterra, and that's the matchup against Uxie. So Uxie can't do much to Torterra, but Uxie's myriad possibilities still leave Torterra at a disadvantage.

So here's what I see. On turn 1, you both set up Stealth Rock (most common thing for Uxie to do). Uxie notices you're faster, which necessarily means you're Scarfed and locked into Stealth Rock. Now it can 1) U-turn, which gets its team momentum as you switch out, or 2) Thunder Wave, getting your switch in. Both options are bad, especially since trying to set up with Registeel (the only Pokemon you have that doesn't mind Paralysis) this early in the game isn't likely to work and will in all likelihood let your opponent set up instead. Of course lead Uxie can also do a variety of stuff like set up screens with its versatility.

Unfortunately I have no idea how to fix this issue; so just pointing it out.
 
Hi,

This is a great team, congrats on your success. Strong physical attackers like Azumarill and Aggron pose huge threats to this team, for the sole reason that your Milotic simply does not have the bulk to deal with them effectively. I suggest making Milotic much more Physically Defensive, going for the normal 252/248 Bold EV spread, which easily tanks hits from even the most offensive physical attackers. Almost every single Moltres out there is in the lead position, and Choice Scarf Torterra easily disposes of it.

Thunderbolt over D-Bond is a viable choice, for getting easy KOs on Bulky Waters as well as hits on Registeel and Chansey.

Excellent team, well done.
 
Hey LR

The one issue that I see with your team is the ability to handle DD Feralgatr. It can set up on your Milotic (especially with Sub), Houndoom, Registeel, and Torterra (locked into Rock Slide). It handily 2HKOes Exeggutor with a Substitute up or OHKOes it with +2. Really the only thing you'd need to fix this is using HP Grass or Haze on Milotic.

Also Mixed Blaziken can do a number, but it's mainly based around prediction and no one uses it so I wouldn't worry too much.

Great team!
 
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