Team nUUb; Criticism needed, not flaming

froggrunner

I've been playing UU for a while, and truth be told, its been somewhat unsuccessful. I've looked at my pokes over and over after finishing a team and saying "Dang, these guys will own!" and then the complete opposite happens. I try, try and try again different sets and combinations on Smogon, all seeming to fail when the time comes. My newest team may look like a weather team, but its not, and please help! Also, please don't suggest all cliche pokemon (Ex. Hey dude! Use Froslass lead, SubCM raikou and Moltres!)

Demon Dog @ Focus Sash
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4 hp/ 252 SpA/ 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
-Fire Blast
-Counter
-Sucker Punch
-Taunt/Protect
Houndoom is, in general, a great lead. It kills froslass leads, allowing only one layer of spikes, Arcanine will get KO'd by Counter and Alakazam will die from repeated Sucker Punches. Ambipom is stopped by Protect and OHKO'd by counter. Not much that there is to do about Moltres though, which might cause a switch.

A rock that shoots geodudes and polishes itself @ Life Orb
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252 atk/ 4 def/ 252 spe
Jolly Nature
-Rock Polish
-Stone Edge
-Earthquake
-Megahorn

Rock Polish Rhyperior always seemed like a cool poke to use, just not as viable as torterra due to low speed and is killed by Bulky Milotic, which I have Toxicroak to counter. This set is pretty self-explanatory, and works well with Toxicroak, but Earth Power will kill these guys easy.

Frogrunner, aka me @ Life Orb
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4 hp/ 252 atk/ 252 spe
Adamant Nature
-Swords Dance
-Ice Punch
-Cross Crop
-Sucker Punch

This guy works REALLY well with Rhyperior, taking little or resisted damage from everything that Rhyperior can't take besides EQ, which I'll just have to predict. He also kills Alakazams, which my previous teams had trouble handling. What I also like about Toxicroak is that you can't really know if hes special or physical until they get to set up on you. Ice punch is there instead of the average stone edge because it takes out altaria, rather than moltres which is easily killed by Rhyperior in a stone edge.

A pink thing @ Leftovers
Spr_4p_481.png

4 hp/ 252 sp. atk/ 252 speed
Bold Nature
Psychic
Substitute
Calm Mind
Ice Beam

Mesprit is used to kill any extremely-high-physical-defense-with-low-special-defense pokemon, the best example being enemy Rhyperiors, as well as the Hitmon pokemon. If it can't kill it, at least it can force a switch, sub up and start CMing. I pick Bold over Timid because Mesprits speed is on the low side, and even with 252 EV's and Timid nature, I still won't be able to outrun things such as Mismagius, which is why I want some bulk over speed.

The fat stupid guy @ Leftovers
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252 hp/ 252 def/ 4 spA
Bold nature
-Slack Off
-Surf
-Flamethrower
-Light Screen
Slowbro is mainly to be used to absorb some blows, screen for Mesprit and die or kill something (hopefully). Nobody expects a flamethrower coming from Slowbro, and often I will see Sceptiles switch into this and what do you know? They get set on fire by a creature I am still unable to identify. SD Venusaur causes a problem for Slowbro though.

A vegetable dog @ Leftovers
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200 atk/56 def/ 252 spe
Jolly Nature
Leaf Blade
Roar
Return/Quick Attack
Grasswhistle

This is a utility Leafeon, which is quite rare, and probably unexpected. Grasswhistle's accuracy is shaky, but my team didn't have a sleeper or a pseudo-hazer, which makes it vulnerable to Sub-stat boosters. The EV's are spread kind of oddly, but with a base 130 defense, its not really necessary to put a million EV's into it, and I can switch into Slowbro if I have a fire type I can't take it out. The Fire-Water-Grass Combination seems to work well for me, so I guess thats how i'll play with this team.

Thats my UU team, please note that I tried to be partially creative on most of these. Once again, please don't suggest all extremely cliche pokemon with cliche sets, unpredictability and usefulness is what I need!
 
Don't most Alakazam leads run Dual Screens? If so, why would Kazam die to Sucker Punch if it's setting those up? :0 Although I guess with Taunt that's not so much of a problem, but still... *shrug* I don't know much of UU, so I won't attempt to criticize too much else, but it seems like you have some room for improvement here...
 
Hi,

Your Slowbro's moveset is odd. I would recommend running Thunder Wave over Light Screen. It provides much better team support, slowing down pokes to possibly give more time to setup for your sweepers. Also, sweeper likes to get paralyzed on switching in.

Also, your team lacks Stealth Rock, which is one of the most important tools any team needs to have. Hence, I recommend swapping your current Mesprit set for a more standard support set:

Mesprit@Leftovers
252 HP, 92 Sp Atk, 164 Spe
Timid Nature
- Stealth Rock
- U-Turn
- Psychic
- Ice Beam/ Thunderbolt/ Thunder Wave

That Leafeon set is effective, but one minor nitpick: Use Yawn over Grasswhistle. Yawn combines sleep and p-hazing into one move, which frees up Roar's slot. In that slot, I'd recommend running Synthesis, which gives Leafeon a reliable healing move. The additional coverage from Return isn't really needed on support Leafeon, so why not try out Wish in that slot, supporting your team even further?

Other than that, nice team and gl.
 
IronBullet93 said:
Hi,

Your Slowbro's moveset is odd. I would recommend running Thunder Wave over Light Screen. It provides much better team support, slowing down pokes to possibly give more time to setup for your sweepers. Also, sweeper likes to get paralyzed on switching in.

Also, your team lacks Stealth Rock, which is one of the most important tools any team needs to have. Hence, I recommend swapping your current Mesprit set for a more standard support set:

Mesprit@Leftovers
252 HP, 92 Sp Atk, 164 Spe
Timid Nature
- Stealth Rock
- U-Turn
- Psychic
- Ice Beam/ Thunderbolt/ Thunder Wave

That Leafeon set is effective, but one minor nitpick: Use Yawn over Grasswhistle. Yawn combines sleep and p-hazing into one move, which frees up Roar's slot. In that slot, I'd recommend running Synthesis, which gives Leafeon a reliable healing move. The additional coverage from Return isn't really needed on support Leafeon, so why not try out Wish in that slot, supporting your team even further?

Other than that, nice team and gl.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'll try the Mesprit, like you said. Just realized how Yawn is such a great move that can take the place of both of those spots. Wish seems like a good idea over Return, I'll have to try that out, and with Froslass banned, I'm expecting to see some people switch over to Sunny day teams, which will definitely help out Synthesis/Leafeon in general. Thanks again for the advice!
 
Not bad so far. Here are my ideas that might help.

I'd switch your Mesprit to a Mismagius as it counters Rhyperior and Hitmon much better. Here is the set:

Mismagius@Leftovers
Timid Nature
4 HP/252 SAtk/252 Spe
Nasty Plot
Thunderbolt
Shadow Ball
Taunt

With Raikou out of the tier, this is the top special sweeper setup poke in UU right now. Taunt shuts down enemy Clefable and should help you last under Light Screens. While this set might seem "cliche" it is significantly more powerful than Mesprit. Another option is to use the Subcharge Rotom set under the analysis page if you would like a different option. Both of them help your slight Moltres problem, as Slowbro is 2HKOed on the switch to HP Grass while Rhyperior is a OHKO.

As for setting up the light screens, I don't see Slowbro cutting it, as Milotic fills this role much better. Here is a set I would try:

Milotic@Leftovers
248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
-Surf
-Ice Beam
-Recover
-Light Screen/Haze/Toxic

Ice Beam works better than Flamethrower for taking down Grass-types as it gives better type coverage anyways. Another option if you want to set up screens longer is to use Light Clay over Leftovers. I added Haze and Toxic as Milotic can also use these for support.

One other thing is that your sweepers would really appreciate SR support, I just don't know where to fit it in yet. One idea is to put Donphan over Rhyperior but I don't know what set would help out the best. Perhaps that is something to experiment with.
 
I think that this is a great team! However, I think that there are a couple areas of concern for you. One, Froslass is now BL, so you don't have to worry about that. Second, I have seen more and more Nidokings and Nidoqueens in UU, even though this might be me, and they usually carry Earth Power. Finally, I agree with toshimelonhead's idea about a Donphan. I'm not exactly sure about what set to use, but I feel that the best one would be the Rapid Spin set on the Analysis. I've found that moveset to work very well. I hope my comments helped!
 
Alright, thanks guys! Toshimelonhead, I've tried that EXACT milotic before, no joke, and even though its pretty physically bulky, it doesn't take superpowers very well, which is one move that I relatively detest. I am attempting to get a good timid Mesprit at the moment, but Mesprit can't learn nasty plot. =( I've tried Bulky Donphan in the past, and it doesn't seem to work all that well. It gets 2HKO'd by Swellow's Facade with burn/toxic orb, and OHKO'd by nearly any good grass knot. Hopefully this team can finally work out!
 
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