SS UU SS UU - Borderline (Peaked #1 - 1781 Elo)

[Moutemoute]

B O R D E R L I N E

(click sprites for importable)

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INTRODUCTION

Hello there !

It's been a while since a didn't make a RMT (almost 9 months) so I guess it's time to adress this by sharing with you one of my most recent and effective team I made in Underused. Before people come joking, this team was made from scratch by me, myself and I. It's been a while that I'm improving it to fit changes of the metagame and I trully think this current version of the team is the best and the most effective I made so far.

I also would like to use this RMT as a way of redemption in response to the many events that took place a few weeks ago and all the "ahah react drama" which occured but we'll talk about this in the conclusion of the RMT ! Without further ado, let's dive into it !

TEAMBUILDING PROCESS

This was the original version of the team I used to get my reqs for the Blaziken Suspect Test about one month ago. The team was using Regieleki because it was at that time the best Screens Setter by far thanks to its marvelous speed tier but also access to Rapid Spin/Volt Switch + Explosion. The team was also using Blaziken because it was a great setup sweeper under Screens (and even without them tho). However Blaziken was banned so I had to modify the team..

This was basically the 2.0 version of the team with Nasty Plot Thundurus instead of Blaziken. The team was doing pretty good too even tho Thundurus wasn't as good and threatening as Blaziken. Unfortunately, at the beginning of January 2021, Regieleki rose to OU so I had to change the team, once again..

Heres the 3.0 version of the team I made about 2 weeks ago with this time Grimmsnarl instead of Regieleki. This was my best option to replace Regieleki and even tho it's not as good as the electric golem, it's still better in my opinion than any other Screens Setter, mainly Ninetales-Alola. However, there was an issue in the team : Thundurs, which wasn't that great and a bit useless most of the time so I had to replace it..

I decided to opt for Gyarados because it's a good setup sweeper which can snowball effectively under Screens. I trully think it's better than Salamence on Screens due to its nasty coverage and the fact that it can nuke the most common Unaware user on the Ladder : Quagsire ! Dual STAB + Power Whip allows it to dent the vast majority of the tier without too much issue. But there was still an issue (yeah I know, looks like a running gag isn't it ?) and Mew wasn't as good as before. Demon Mew (Rest + Cosmic Power + Body Press + Stored Power) was doing really great less than one month ago but now, it was kinda wack and struggled and lot to be able to sweep. Metagame adapts to it with stuff like Darkest Lariat Krookodile, more Zarude and overall more stuff to pressure it and prevent it to setup, even with Screens support. So yeah, I had to change this pinky boy.

With that in mind, I tried a lot of stuff.. from SubCM Zeraora, to SD Bisharp, including QCQD Glowbro, BD Azumarill or Autotomize Celesteela but none of his options pleased me until I decided to tried an old friend which is NUBL at the moment : BD Linoone.. and it was good, pretty good and actually better than anything I tested before so I decided to opt for it !

TEAM IN-DEPTH

Grimmsnarl

Grimmsnarl (M) @ Light Clay
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 40 HP / 252 Atk / 216 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Taunt
- Spirit Break

Grimmsnarl is obviously one of the most important Pokemon in the team since it provides Screens Support but also prevent the opponent to try some shitty shenanigans thanks to Taunt. I decided to run an offensive Grimmsnarl in order to be able to outspeed some slow things and hit them with a nice Spirit Break, it's also useful in order to set Screens or use Taunt vs stuff like Aqua Jet Azumarill or slow Scizor since you're able to use Screens / Taunt before they're using their own priority.

Krookodile

Krookodile @ Focus Sash
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Earthquake
- Knock Off

Krookodile is another important Pokemon on the team since it provides support thanks to Stealth Rock and Taunt but also brings to the team a pretty solid answer to Zeraora. The only presence of Krookodile can prevent Zeraora to click Plasma Fist / Volt Switch which is always good in order to not lose to much momentum. It's also important to note that Krookodile should be your lead almost every time and not Grimmsnarl. Krookodile is indeed pretty nice to cover Pokemon which would like to counter a Grimmsnarl Lead such as Nihilego, Nidoqueen or fast Choice Band Scizor. Earthquake + Knock Off are obviously two moves of choice and are able to pressure and bother most Pokemon in the tier.

Gyarados

Gyarados @ Lum Berry
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 8 Def / 248 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Bounce
- Power Whip

Gyarados isn't the oldest Pokemon of the team but man it trully shows to me that it deserved to be on the squad. After a Dragon Dance, Gyarados outspeed all the non-boosted metagame which includes Jolly Zeraora. EVs spread isn't max/max, it's not really a big deal for 4 EVs but I just put enough speed to cripple +Spe Mamoswine, Chandelure and the rare Togekiss. Gyarados speed ties are pretty rare not gonna lie so I don't think it's that big of a deal and I never lost a game because of it. Might change it in the future if that happened but for now I think it's good ! I opted for dual STAB + Power Whip because I think it offers the best coverage to Gyarados overall. Ice Fang could be legit to punish Grass-types + Salamence but the difference of power to hit Grass-types is quite huge not gonna lie. Power Whip is mainly there to punish stuff like Azumarill, Rotom-Wash, Slowking, Quagsire or the rare Suicune.

Kommo-o

Kommo-o @ Leftovers
Ability: Bulletproof
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Clangorous Soul
- Drain Punch - Poison Jab

Kommo-o is currently my favorite Pokemon of the squad mostly because its set is absolutely nuts. Kommo-o is the Pokemon on the squad which changed the more times of set. At the beginning it was Clangerous Soul + Throat Spray and it was doing great. But people on the ladder kinda adapt to the team I was using so I had to change it in order to be able to keep the surprise factor. With that in mind, I decided to opt for SubBD Kommo-o for a while and it was doing great too. However, after being stomped on the ladder when I was testing other team by a Sub + Clangerous Soul Physical Kommo-o set, I decided to give it a shot and man.. Oh man it has been so great. I was playing Drain Punch + Dragon Claw at the beginning but I was tired to see my poor Kommo-o not being able to beat Fairy-types, especially Azumarill, Hatterene and Primarina so I decided to put Poison Jab instead to punish those. The set is just phenomenal I swear to god. I won so much games thanks to it. Under Screens, it's able to handle so much stuff and to setup again and again. Most of the time, the opponent forfeit because it can break the substitute of Kommo-o while it still setting up / healing itself with Leftovers & Drain Punch. The main issue with this set is that it lacks immediate raw power unlike SubDM or SD so it can't really break stuff like Whirlwind Skarmory but otherwise I feel it's better overall on the current ladder. Kommo-o is trully the MVP of the squad because it can run a lot of sets which allows me to surprise people on the ladder.

Moltres-Galar

Moltres-Galar @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Berserk
EVs: 68 HP / 252 SpA / 188 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Agility
- Fiery Wrath
- Air Slash

Moltres is a well-known setup Sweeper under Screens thanks to its Bulk, typing and access to both Nasty Plot & Agility. This one is trully straightforward, you just bring it vs something who can't really do anything and you either use Agility or Nasty Plot (or both if you can) and then proceed to sweep what you can. I used to run Heavy-Duty Boots but Weakness Policy is trully better with Screens support. EVs spread allows Moltres-Galar to outspeed Jolly Bisharp/Volcanion etc.. while being able to outspeed Choice Scarf Latias (which is basically the more common and faster Scarf user) after an Agility. I decided to go Air Slash because I hate Hurricane with its 70% accuracy..!

Linoone

Linoone @ Iapapa Berry
Ability: Gluttony
EVs: 52 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 200 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Belly Drum
- Extreme Speed
- Stomping Tantrum
- Seed Bomb

Linoone is the most recent addition to the team but it's a good one ! Like Moltres-Galar, Linoone is a straightforward Pokemon, you setup with Belly Drum and then try to cheese as much as possible. EVs spread allows it to outspeed Chandelure which is the most common Ghost-type at the moment and the main one who prevents it to abuse of Extreme Speed.
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THREATS

Since the team is a HO, it has its flaws and limits. I know that the team can struggle vs some Electric-types mostly because 2 of its 4 Sweepers are weak to it. Kommo-o need to handle most of the time a lot of pressure from them since Krookodile tend to be KO fairly early in the matchs. On the other hand, it can struggles really hard vs some really specific Stalls like the one used by Moltracer which asbolutely counter my squad. I think I would need to switch Linoone for something else in order to be able to beat it or to to cheese with Sub + Nasty Plot Moltres-Galar instead of Dual Dance Moltres-G but it would affect in a negative way the match-up of the team vs a lot of stuff so I'm not sure it's worth it. I just have to admit that the team can't break everything which is also part of the game..!

PEAK & CONCLUSION

That's all for this RMT, I'm enjoying a lot this team and I'll try my best to improve it during the whole SS generation. My aim is so be able to keep a backbone and edit the team based on the changes of the metagame and the tier. I trully think this team can last and that's also for this reason that I decided to make a RMT of it. Feel free to try it on your own and to upgrade some stuff if you feel the need !

Another reason I decided to make this RMT is as I said in the introduction to draw a line on all the recent events which happened and went way too far in my opinion. While I do understand that I can't be liked by everyone, I've been shocked to see a real hatred of some people towards me without knowing really why. I know that I'm not a perfect user at all but I'm trully trying my best to become one. If some people tend to not like how I am, I can't really do anything beside saying that behind every profil on Smogon and more widly, on the Internet, there is someone, "A Human's Heart", which can be really hurts by what you're doing or saying. I know this quick comment will not change a lot of things but it was important for me to make people realize that I cared about all this drama, that it hurted me, not because I received a lot of "ahah react" but because there was a group of people who decided for whatever reason to try their best to bother me, to harrass me and it went way too far since I even received on discord some insults and threats saying that "I should kill myself". Fortunately, I'm 23 yo and I have friends and people who are caring about me, on Smogon and IRL so I was able to "escape" all this toxicity but think about twice next time before doing this kind of stuff. The day it happens to a person already in difficulty or isolated could lead to a far more damaging ending. Once again, think about it. To all the people who are reading this, I trully hope I never hurted you in any way and if it's the case, I trully, deeply and sincerely apologize for it.

That's all for today, folks ! Take care of you and your family, peace !

shoutout

Dlanyer, Alumn, Katy, Blitz, Pepeduce, Bouki, Hurtadoo, basaninho, TJ, Antares, TMM, ProDigeZz, LBDC, Laevin and to all the UU community, Pokéstrat Community, Translations Project and the people like Posho who kinda supported me through those events, thanks a lot !

 

[Mygrein]

i rate it 5/7

 

[Moutemoute]

(click sprites for importable)​

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Quick update to inform you that I made some tweaks on the team to allow it to be a bit better. I replaced Weakness Policy + Air Slash on Moltres-Galar by the Chesto Berry and Rest. It allows Moltres-Galar to have a incredible match-up vs defensive teams. On the other hand, I replaced Linoone by LO SD + 3 attacks Scizor which brings a Steel-types to the team and a good way to pressure Nihilego or revenge kill a weakened Terrakion, Azumarill etc.. EVs spread on Scizor allows it to outspeed Adamant Crawdaunt and thus, Azumarill too. Scizor is overall more effective than Linoone.
It's clearly doable to keep the old Moltres alongside Scizor, but I was tired to autolose vs Sableye Stall in high-ladder so yeah Rest is the way to go in my opinion..

 

[BigFatMantis]

Monsieur Moute,

I have never officially rated a team, but this post is collecting dust, and I have faced so many iterations of this team on the ladder (like at least 10 different iterations in 100+ battles) that I feel it necessary for me to provide a medium tier amateur rate:

I will focus on the latest version with ChestoResto Moltres + Scizor

First a foremost, your team has several key holes that are easily exploitable.

#1: Huge fairy weakness

Scizor doesn't really solve this (though it helps) because the main fairies that give you issues are Azumarill and Primarina which are not weak to Scizor. Your only go-to against these is an unreliable Power Whip from Gyarados.

#2: Huge Zeraora weakness

How many times have you lost to Bulk Up Zeraora on the ladder? Because, if it runs Bulk Up + Plasma/Play Rough then this whole team is getting shredded. Your only "stop" is Krookodile which is really just a throwaway lead in this team. And if a Zeraora runs Blaze Kick then all of a sudden it OHKO's your entire team (once Krook sash is broken). Obviously one team cannot counter every single mon, but given the substantially high usage Zeraora has you really something to help deal with this better.

#3: Good Moltracer stall matchup - Bad Pyukumuku stall matchup

Moltres-G fixed your Moltracer stall problem and it's an easy 6-0 for you now. But against specially defensive Pyukumuku stall you are out of luck and have absolutely nothing but Power Whip Gyarados to deal with it. Sure you can taunt it with Krook/Grimm, but those mons aren't really supposed to be out on the field very often. This stall isn't THAT common, but I have seen it a few times and it is probably the second most common stall variation besides the Moltracer spinoffs.

#4: Skarmory

So besides Moltres-G you really have like nothing for this. Even Celesteela will probably give you some issues though not as bad - but Skarmory is unphazed by everything but Moltres-G. And since you have no hazard removal, it can set up spikes and whirlwind away unless you Taunt it, but your taunters can't do much besides Krook knocking its item.

So how do you deal with all of this?

Well first of all, we have to see where the weakpoints really lie. Krook and Grimm are the backbones of the setup, so you have to keep those in place probably. Gyarados is your wincon against average stall and your best physical speed breaker. Moltres-G is essential to beat Moltracer-related stall. That leaves Scizor and Kommo-o.

Scizor is your only priority user, and priority is important here, so if you were to replace it then it would need to be another HO Priority user. Unfortunately these are slim pickings and relegated to Azumarill (doesn't work well with your team so much and doesn't solve your issues), Linoone (you tried this already), Bisharp (not really a great screens offense mon), Crawdaunt (definitely does NOT help your fairy issues), and that's about it really (rip Aegislash - would have been perfect).

So let's talk about Kommo-o. I know you have very strong feelings towards it and consider it the MVP of your squad. I get it, and it may be hard to let go. And, it's not bad! But if your team is going to take a major leap, you may need to consider what it does for the squad and if something else could be better. I would strongly advise you to put a Zeraora of your own in this slot instead. A Bulk Up Zeraora solves a big part of your issues - it offers further protection against enemy Zeraora, and offers an extra layer of offensive presence against Azumarill, Primarina, and Pyumuku stall, without giving up Gyarados. It also gives you a better matchup agianst other HO's similar to yours - as Zeraora shreds through Moltres-G based HO teams usually. And, of course, it hits Skarmory and Celesteela pretty decently. So swap out for your Kommo-o for something like this:


Zeraora @ Leftovers/HDB/Life Orb
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Bulk Up
- Plasma Fists
- Play Rough
- Blaze Kick/Knock Off/Close Combat

I made it Jolly so that you win the speed wars with Adamant Zeraoras, but you can also go Adamant. BU/Plasma/PR is all you truly need, the last move can be any of BK/KO/CC (maybe CC so that it can feel just a little bit like Kommo-o to you). You could even use Drain Punch and nickname it Kommo-no? Blaze Kick is probably the best option though for covering Scizor, Bulu, and Amoonguss, among others. Still not great against Tangrowth but nothing you run here will be. I think HDB is the best item because your team is also pretty weak to hazards with no hazard removal, but leftovers or orb also work. With this addition, your fairy problems are reduced, your Zeraora issue is amended somewhat, and you are better equipped for more types of stall fights.

Now, let's talk more about Scizor:

It's mostly fine, but I would adjust the speed EVs to 216 so that you outspeed Modest Magnezone - you don't want to lose your momentum because there's a Magnezone on the enemy squad, no matter how bad Magnezone may be.

So, that's about it. Here is how a completed version of the fixed up team would look:

importable

Grimmsnarl (M) @ Light Clay
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 40 HP / 252 Atk / 216 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Taunt
- Spirit Break

Krookodile @ Focus Sash
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Earthquake
- Knock Off

Gyarados @ Lum Berry
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 8 Def / 248 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Bounce
- Power Whip

Zeraora @ Leftovers
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Bulk Up
- Plasma Fists
- Play Rough
- Blaze Kick

Moltres-Galar @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Berserk
EVs: 68 HP / 252 SpA / 188 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Agility
- Rest
- Fiery Wrath

Scizor @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 32 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD / 216 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Quick Attack
- Knock Off

And that's it! Not too many changes, but I think the changes make a big difference. Overall it was a solid team, and it was also a very popular team as the entire ladder loves to use it. But you can keep doing better I am sure. Hope this was helpful!