Resource Simple Questions, Simple Answers UU Edition

[Hilomilo]

Looking at the early usage stats for UU Alpha, I wonder why these two (Inteleon and Duraludon) are being used THIS much and if they have a legitimate niche of some sort, or if they're just overhyped noobtraps.

| 13 | Inteleon | 8.872% |
| 19 | Duraludon | 7.420% |

Inteleon I can maybe see why beacuse of its good offenses and nice speed stat, but I'm curious about Duraludon.

Inteleon was a pretty underratedly nasty dynamax abuser before the mechanic was banned thanks to its ability to boost Speed with Max Airstream while also boosting the power of its STAB thanks to Max Geyser providing rain. Even now, Specs is a pretty solid breaker thanks to its high power, Speed, and ability to ease prediction with U-turn, while dual screens sets have also been used a fair amount. I think its usage might die down some as the meta adapts to its presence, but it should still do well in offensive matchups.

Duraludon's been getting used as both an offensive rocker and general wallbreaker. I've seen lots of people get decent mileage out of sash sets with Rocks + Steel Beam, while Specs and Scarf are also pretty cool and non-sash Rocks + 3 attacks sets are also an option. It's a solid Pokemon but runs into issues as a Steel-type that doesn't really check fairies. Regardless I think it could be a solid presence as the meta settles more.

 

[cha00s]

What are the main sets of Centiskorch? Could a set with Sub+Coil+Fire Lash+Leech Life/Power Whip paired with Tspikes be viable? Or even sub+coil+protect+attack?

 

[Moutemoute]

What are the main sets of Centiskorch? Could a set with Sub+Coil+Fire Lash+Leech Life/Power Whip paired with Tspikes be viable? Or even sub+coil+protect+attack?

I've been using on the ladder a specially defensive Coil Centiskorch and it works well to deal with a lot of common defensive cores. It also act as a nice check to a lot of special sweeper such as Frosmoth.

Centiskorch @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 Spe
Careful Nature
- Coil
- Fire Lash
- Leech Life
- Power Whip / Knock Off

 

[Raikaria]

Inteleon was a pretty underratedly nasty dynamax abuser before the mechanic was banned thanks to its ability to boost Speed with Max Airstream while also boosting the power of its STAB thanks to Max Geyser providing rain. Even now, Specs is a pretty solid breaker thanks to its high power, Speed, and ability to ease prediction with U-turn, while dual screens sets have also been used a fair amount. I think its usage might die down some as the meta adapts to its presence, but it should still do well in offensive matchups.

To add to this; the HP boost of Dynamax generally helped shore up Intellion's garbage defenses enough that instead of getting KO'ed by any solid hit; it would usually be knocked into Torrent range.

And Torrent; STAB; Rain boosted Max Geyser spam really hurt.

 

[GustavoR]

Salutations!

I wanted to ask two questions in this post:

1) Is there an estimated release date for the "Teambuilding Lab" thread? (Just asking out of curiosity, lol)
2) What are some good teammates for Obstruct 3 attacks Obstagoon? I'm aiming for a balanced team (don't really like any style of offense, lol)

 

[Rawbi]

I've seen some people on the ladder use Coil Sandaconda. I imagine the moveset is something like Coil / EQ / SE / Rest with Shed Skin. Been wanting to try this out myself, but I don't know what EVs and partners to use now that Dynamax got the boot and it's like playing a whole new meta again. Any ideas?

 

[Comfey Canto]

2) What are some good teammates for Obstruct 3 attacks Obstagoon? I'm aiming for a balanced team (don't really like any style of offense, lol)

A lot (if not all) teams appreciate Obstagoons raw power. To make the best use of it, try to look out for a pivot that brings in 'goon with little to no damage. Such pivots can be: Parting Shot-Silvally (Steel if you like), U-Turn-Tsarena (Spin baits in ghost types) or offensive Whimsicott (with U-Turn).

With his 2 immunities, Obstagoon can also stop opposing Choice-locked Gengar or Indeedee. Provide Protect to your physical walls to scout out such moves and you'll create iffy situations for your opponent. Although I'm no fan of Cursola, it also pressures Gengar to us his ghost move over Sludgewave - so this might be a sp.Def. protect user for you.

Defense wise, all teams appreciate a check for offensive Fairy-Moves by Gengar/Gardevoir/Whimsicott - a sp.Def steel type (Silvally/Bronzong?) will do the trick. Scarf Close Combat by Passimian is best answered with a ghost type like Gengar (who also forces opposing Gengar to click on Shadow Ball).

 

[Twilight]

Salutations!

I wanted to ask two questions in this post:

1) Is there an estimated release date for the "Teambuilding Lab" thread? (Just asking out of curiosity, lol)
2) What are some good teammates for Obstruct 3 attacks Obstagoon? I'm aiming for a balanced team (don't really like any style of offense, lol)

• I wouldn't expect a teambuilder lab to kick off any time soon especially during the volatile stages of UU and then time will be needed for builders to figure the meta out once UU finally settles.
• The obvious thing is to have a Fighting-type check and some of the best partners are Fairy-types or other resists like Mantine. Doublade is a pretty good partner too as it appreciates Obstagoon checking the Ghost-types that threaten it as well as its wallbreaking capabilities for Doubade to clean up late-game. Voltturn partners are something you can also consider like Rotom-M or Silvally-Steel

I've seen some people on the ladder use Coil Sandaconda. I imagine the moveset is something like Coil / EQ / SE / Rest with Shed Skin. Been wanting to try this out myself, but I don't know what EVs and partners to use now that Dynamax got the boot and it's like playing a whole new meta again. Any ideas?

This response is going to be speculation based but you could do a similar thing Centiskorch does and run a SpD EV spread just to let it takes hit a little bit better on that side with it already boosting its decent Def stat further with Coil.

 

[Jediment]

How do sticky webs teams deal with flyers?

 

[Taptricity]

How do sticky webs teams deal with flyers?

Sticky Web teams have multiple ways of handling Flying-types.

1. Mamoswine is an offensive rocker and an amazing abuser of Webs thanks to its spectacular offensive typing and Speed that makes it a nightmare to face against under Webs. Mamoswine of course has that Ice-typing but it’s also one of the few Rockers that beats and prsssures the fuck out of Noivern which is arguably the best hazard remover in the tier atm.
2. When it comes to setters you have Galvantula. Its Electric-typing is what sets it apart from Araquanid and Ribombee. It outspeeds non Scarf Flying-types and has an accurate Thunder.

We also have Rhyperior and Coalossal (tho post dynamax I don’t think this mon is worth using) as alternatives.

 

[FriedPetunias]

what could be a good mammoswine set?

 

[Moutemoute]

FriedPetunias :

Mamoswine @ Focus Sash
Ability: Oblivious
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant / Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Icicle Crash
- Ice Shard
- Earthquake

Sash Lead Mamoswine is a staple in offensive team like Sticky Web HO or Screen HO.

Mamoswine @ Life Orb
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant / Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock / Stone Edge
- Icicle Crash
- Ice Shard
- Earthquake

This set of Mamoswine can be used in more common builds but also be used as a nice wallbreaker thanks to the sheer force of this Pokemon.

 

[chimp]

Is Confuse Ray not very good? It seems like it could create windows to set up various things, but it looks like it's not favored.

Confuse Ray generally is not considered over other, more consistent, disruption moves, such as Taunt, Encore, sleep-inducing moves, etc, because of that big 'C' word: consistency. Filling a moveslot on a move that is not guaranteed to be of any value to you is not a strategy many people prefer to rely on. There is some value in it (especially if you like to annoy your opponents) but it doesn't see high level due to the presence of just better strategies.

 

[Shiria]

Confuse Ray generally is not considered over other, more consistent, disruption moves, such as Taunt, Encore, sleep-inducing moves, etc, because of that big 'C' word: consistency. Filling a moveslot on a move that is not guaranteed to be of any value to you is not a strategy many people prefer to rely on. There is some value in it (especially if you like to annoy your opponents) but it doesn't see high level due to the presence of just better strategies.

Okay. And when I remembered it went down to 33% I deleted my post.

I'd like to ask another question: Is a team based primarily around resistance/immunity/offensive Type coverage and predictively and frequently swapping into enemy moves, as a way to create new windows to throw out your own moves, a good team concept? No need to go too in depth, if it's worthwhile then I may ask in the teambuilding lab thread.

 

[chimp]

Okay. And when I remembered it went down to 33% I deleted my post.

I'd like to ask another question: Is a team based primarily around resistance/immunity/offensive Type coverage and predictively and frequently swapping into enemy moves, as a way to create new windows to throw out your own moves, a good team concept? No need to go too in depth, if it's worthwhile then I may ask in the teambuilding lab thread.

Well, thats sort of the basic concept of the game. So, yes I would imagine its a fairly good team concept.

 

[Shiria]

Is Focus Sash + Counter/Mirror Coat any good?

 

[Twilight]

Is Focus Sash + Counter/Mirror Coat any good?

This is something that isn't unheard of but it isn't reliable enough to be viable on a majority of Pokemon. A Pokemon that comes to mind that was able to pull off such a set was Magic Guard Alakazam because it could keep its Sash intact reliably. Overall this is a very vague question so if you do wish to have input on specific tactics like this I recommend you at least share the Pokemon you have in mind, so that people can give you a better/accurate response. I hope this answers your question well enough.

 

[Shiria]

This is something that isn't unheard of but it isn't reliable enough to be viable on a majority of Pokemon. A Pokemon that comes to mind that was able to pull off such a set was Magic Guard Alakazam because it could keep its Sash intact reliably. Overall this is a very vague question so if you do wish to have input on specific tactics like this I recommend you at least share the Pokemon you have in mind, so that people can give you a better/accurate response. I hope this answers your question well enough.

I don't know enough about the game to give too many specifics, but it seemed reliable enough to me because I think most Pokemon focus on either physical or special attacks, and I couldn't see much disadvantage in such a one-on-one matchup for the Counter/Mirror Coat user. And I imagined it countered sweepers pretty hard. Like if you swap into one that does a boost in that turn, then it seems like it's in a pretty bad position. Also the moves do their function regardless of the user's speed (or power). In my mind they just seems generally advantageous, but that must be off the mark because I've seen at least enough to know they're not commonly used. But I just think how often I see a Pokemon getting hit for ~1/2 hp, or 1-shot by a booster, plus the fact that a) non-passive Pokemon usually focus on either physical or special, b) Counter/Mirror guard ignore resistances and immunities, and c) if you use it and they don't attack that turn, you don't necessarily even lose that much for guessing wrong (combine with Encore?) -- and I can't help but imagine that Counter/Mirror Guard must be, honestly kind of overpowered. But apparently they're not. I'm welcoming more input on my understanding here, clearly I'm missing some things.

 

[Estarossa]

I don't know enough about the game to give too many specifics, but it seemed reliable enough to me because I think most Pokemon focus on either physical or special attacks, and I couldn't see much disadvantage in such a one-on-one matchup for the Counter/Mirror Coat user. And I imagined it countered sweepers pretty hard. Like if you swap into one that does its first or second boost in that turn, then it seems like it's in a pretty bad position. Also it does its function regardless of the user's speed. In my mind it just seems generally advantageous, but that must be off the mark because I've seen at least enough to know it's not commonly used. But I just think how often I see a Pokemon getting hit for ~1/2 hp, or 1-shot by a booster, plus the fact that Pokemon usually focus on either physical or special, and I can't help but imagine Counter/Mirror Guard would be, honestly kind of overpowered. But apparently it's not. I'm welcoming more input on my understanding here.

The issue is that you need to keep the focus sash intact, which hazards such as stealth rock will prevent, which is more difficult to prevent rn than usual because of reduction in hazard control options. Magic guard alakazam for instance was able to prevent hazards hitting it for damage though to guarantee focus sash would always be usable even with rocks up.

Sturdy + Heavy Duty Boots Sawk for instance though can do this reliably too right now with counter, but can't use mirror coat, if you wanted to use a more reliable version of this. Pyukumuu can also run both counter an/or mirror coat in conjunction with unaware to deal with boosters, but is obviously only really for fat teams.

 

[chimp]

I don't know enough about the game to give too many specifics, but it seemed reliable enough to me because I think most Pokemon focus on either physical or special attacks, and I couldn't see much disadvantage in such a one-on-one matchup for the Counter/Mirror Coat user. And I imagined it countered sweepers pretty hard. Like if you swap into one that does its first or second boost, then it seems like it's in a pretty bad position. Also it does its function regardless of the user's speed. In my mind it just seems generally advantageous, but that must be off the mark because I've seen at least enough to know it's not commonly used. But I just think how often I see a Pokemon getting hit for ~1/2 hp, or 1-shot by a booster, plus the fact that Pokemon usually focus on either physical or special, and I can't help but imagine Counter/Mirror Guard would be, honestly kind of overpowered. But apparently it's not. I'm welcoming more input on my understanding here.

I think its only purpose would be if you really, really want to trap and KO a specific threat. Going off of Twilight's Magic Guard Alakazam example, you could use Alakazam to bait in, lets say a Tyranitar, so that you can effectively remove it from play, so that maybe a teammate who otherwise needs Tyranitar gone, like Heatran, for example, can function without its main check.

Due to the nature of this strategy, its really is only useful in tournament if you can really predict that your opponent is going to be bringing a certain Pokemon. You wouldn't want to bring it to ladder matches, because you're effectively going into the match with a Pokemon you can't switch in at all for a purpose that is not even guaranteed to be worth it. There are also ways to play around it relatively easily and other roles that other Pokemon can fill that accomplish what its trying to do in the first place.

 

[Shiria]

Okay, thanks all for the explanations!

Is investing less into it and just throwing Counter or Mirror Coat on a Pokemon in your team a generally useful thing, or still too situational?

 

[Xanax_Crimea]

Best set for Marvel scale Milotic in gen 8 UU? Trying to make a fire/grass/water core, but unsure what spread to run on Milotic.

 

[Twilight]

Best set for Marvel scale Milotic in gen 8 UU? Trying to make a fire/grass/water core, but unsure what spread to run on Milotic.

I use this spread below to avoid the 2HKO from Banded Weavile, but using something as simple as full SpD is recommended if you need it to deal with Pokemon like Gengar and Clangorous Kommo-o better. Ice Beam is the best coverage for it to hit Grass and Dragon-types like Roserade, Noivern, Kommo-o etc. Then Haze lets it deal with the previously mentioned set up users. Hope this helps.

Milotic

Milotic @ Leftovers
Ability: Marvel Scale
EVs: 252 HP / 132 Def / 124 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Haze
- Recover

 

[Kurona]

What does Silvally tend to do in this meta; any of its forms? And does it do any Special sets?

 

[Estarossa]

What does Silvally tend to do in this meta; any of its forms? And does it do any Special sets?

Silvally in general on ladder didn't have that high of usage stats as shown below, but in the UU alpha tour especially in the first round the following Silvally-Steel set was fairly popular due to a team Sage posted on the NP thread,

3230 (Silvally-Steel) @ Steel Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Multi-Attack
- Crunch
- Explosion

The set is good for teams that want a Steel-type that can keep up offensive pressure, with a very usable speed tier, allowing it to revenge kill Pokemon like Mamoswine and Choice locked Weavile, while being able to lure fat waters like Milotic/Mantine for teammates with SD + Explosion, in order to aid teammates that dislike them. Crunch allows it to break through Pokemon like Doublade / Bronzong / Jellicent that might otherwise give it trouble.

I personally also mucked around with a Silvally-Dragon set very early into the start of the tier, using SD + Iron Head + Multi Attack + Parting Shot/Crunch, however obviously it doesn't offer the sort of mild defensive utility that Steelvally could offer.

When Silvally gets defog back, it's quite posisble some sets will start using that. Whether any will run special is questionable though, as Silvally-Water ran special attacking sets in lower tiers last gen, but won't see any real use in UU due to Mantine also getting Defog back at the same time.

Usage stats from first 12 days of UU alpha, dno if there's more accurate ones now -

| 113 | Silvally-Steel | 0.917% |
| 124 | Silvally-Fairy | 0.627% |
| 139 | Silvally-Ghost | 0.432% |