The Power of Balance

[Foo Fighter]

Overview​

I wanted to blend the familiar power of OU with the unpredictabilty and underestimation of UU. This is what came out. Not only are these the pokemon that can work viably in a competitive scene, but they are amoung my favorites. Each has an immunity of sorts (Infernape is really stretching it, but absorbing will-o-wisps is helpful) and they work together nicely.​

The Team​

The Players​

Ferrum [Skarmory]
Ability - Keen Eye
Nature - Impish [+Defense - Special Attack]
252 Hit Points - 164 Special Defense - 92 Speed
-Brave Bird
-Stealth Rock
-Roost
-Taunt

Swapped out ambipom for skarmory lead. Skarm is working out really well, early stealth rock is paying off nicely, plus taunting is truly crippling if I can pull it off. Matches up favorably with most leads. Azelf is the only troublesome one, switching is easy though.

Mojave [Flygon]
Ability - Levitate
Nature - Naive [+Speed -Special Deffense]
252 Attack - 252 Speed - 6 Hit Points
-Outrage
-Fire Blast
-EarthQuake
-U-Turn

My revenge killer and scout. I know he's overdone, but I really enjoy Flygon. The Triple scouting with Ambipom and Infernape works out nicely and keeps people on their toes. Naive over jolly as to not inhibit Fire Blast. Good overall synergy with the team as well.

Jabu-Jabu [Lanturn]
Ability - Volt Absorb
Nature - Bold [+Defense -Attack]
140 Special Attack - 252 Special Deffense -76 Deffense - 40 Hit Points
-Surf
-Thunder Bolt
-Ice Beam
-Thunder Wave

What lanturn lacks in great stats, he makes up for in great typing and ability. Volt absorb is good synergy with Drifblim, and his resistances cover alot of the teams weaknesses. Attacks have great coverage. Thunder wave now over heal bell, less worry over status, and it's crippling.

Sumo [Hariyama]
Ability - Thick Fat
Nature - Impish [+Defense -Special Attack]
80 Hit Points - 176 Defense - 176 Attack - 80 Special Defense
-Force Palm
-Whirlwind
-Pay Back
-Stone Edge

I was having a really hard time dealing with heatran and gengar. After contemplating some replacements, Hariyama was the best possible choice. Force plam hurts heatran, and the paralysis is a bonus. Payback is for gengar and other ghosts. Stone edge for coverage. whirlwind to phaze.

Ecto [Gengar]
Ability - Levitate
Nature - Timid [+speed -Attack]
252 Special Attack - 252 Speed - 6 Hit Points
-Shadow Ball
-Focus Blast
-Pain Split
-Substitute

As pointed out, Drifblim was adding an unneeded SR weakness. Gengar was the suggestion, and Gengar works. I haven't had a chance to use this Gengar set before but I find it very enjoyable and very potent.

Apollo [Infernape]
Ability - Blaze
Nature - Naive [+Speed -Special Defense]
252 Attack - 64 Special Attack - 192 Speed
-Over Heat
-Close Combat
-Mach Punch
-U-Turn

Wall breaker and Sweeper. Staple on all my teams. Fantastic all around. This physical set has played really well and provides further synergy with U-Turn. Mach Punch puts lucario in check as i get priority over his extreme speed.

Synergy​

weakness:
Fire --> Flygon, Lanturn, Hariyama
Electric --> Flygon, Lanturn

weaknesses:
Ice --> Lanturn, Infernape
Dragon --> Skarmory

weaknesses:
Ground --> Fygon, Gengar, Skarmory
Grass --> Skarmory, Infernape, Gengar

weaknesses:
Flying --> Lanturn, Skarmory
Psychic --> Skarmory

weaknesses:
Ghost --> Ambipom, Skarmory
Dark --> Skarmory, Infernape
Psychic --> Skarmory

weaknesses:
Water --> Lanturn
Ground --> Flygon, Skarmory, Gengar
Flying --> Lanturn, Skarmory
Psychic --> Skarmory


Overall synopsis of synergy:

No pokemon has more than two weaknesses to common (I stress common, Psychic isnt seen too much, and flying is easy to predict around).

Each of these weaknesses can be distributed to at least one other team member. All have at least one immunity, barring Infernape (will-o-wisp i guess). Three immunities to ground, two to electric, one to ghost, one to fighting, one to normal, one to poison.

Five out of Six of the team are immune to at least one standard form of status (body slam would be non standard, T-wave would be standard). Infernape (burn), Flygon (para), Skarmory (Poison), Lanturn (para), Gengar (body slam, toxic).

No SR weakness, 2 resist it. Three are immune to Spikes and Toxic Spikes.

 

[Foo Fighter]

Blue = Alright, no problem
Orange = I can work around it, but it takes some work
Red = Crap. Time to get my shit together

Lead = Fake out. If I predict a switch, I taunt, just in case, usually pays off nicely. U-turn otherwise for extra damage

Lead = Taunt first. Followed by U-turn.

Infernape works well, and Gengar. Not too bad to dismantle

Skarm is my best bet. or I U-turn gang bang with Flygon, Ambipom, Infernape, or just use Infernape.

Too many bug moves to not put him down. Taunt if I feel necessary

Lead = Fake out is useless. U-turn for minimal damage, then go to lanturn or skarm i suppose.

Gengar.

Lanturn

Lanturn​

Flygon if I predict a fire blast. Skarm if I predict an Outrage or Earthquake.

Infernape, Flygon if not locked into outrage/quake.

Lanturn takes standard mix well. Subsplit i use ambipom's taunt, then i U-turn to my gengar or flygon or Infernape if I feel balsy. Testing other stuff to handle it.

Overheat kills him. Ice beam from lanturn if I predict his switch in. Flygon's Fire Blast surprises too.

Have to be careful. DDers i Phaze with Skarm. If it doesnt have Earthquake, lanturn hits hard.

Also tougher. Depends on the set. CS i try to outpredict and wear it down, finish it with mach punch. torment is trickier, but lanturn works well if it doesnt have earth power, or is locked into another. Also testing other things to beat it.

Infernape, Skarm.

Fire Blast surprises, over heat as well. Surf if i can out predict with lanturn

Lanturn surf on special mix set. Flygon on physical

Infernape, Flygon

Lanturn. Surpisingly, people forget he has Volt Absorb too. most dont carry HP grass, even so it doesnt hurt to much. Flygon as well.

Flygon on revenge. otherwise, beat the shit out of it with whatever i have.

Mach Punch is specifically for him. works well. flygon if possible.

paralyze with lanturn if its no gaurd. Gengar hurts him nicely

Skarm.... JK, Flygon, Infernape.

Infernape Priority, but wont knock out in one hit, so i have to be careful, but not too bad

Infernape, Flygon. Still have to be careful

SR does most of the work. Pretty much any member helps. Whirlwind kills chains

Infernape, Skarm.

Gengar? havent dealt with it yet. but lanturn could work too

Tougher. but managable. Prediction, prediction, prediction

Infernape, Lanturn

Anything. No worries here

CC this mofo.

lanturn. U-Turners

Lanturn worked really well against calm mind cune.

No grass moves. Just have to be careful.

Flygon, Lanturn to an extent, but he doesnt like poison

Im not sure. Havent dealt with it yet, but the options are scary. Skarm for DDers. Mach punch, CC if I can. Flygon

Taunt. Taunt. Taunt. CC kills

Lanturn walls nicely. T-bolt kills.

Mach Punch. SR. etc

Lanturn walls mostly.

 

[Faladran]

Hello,

This is a pretty interesting and unique team, and I have to admit that you've chosen UU Pokemon that actually work decently in OU.


Notable Threats

• Lack of Stealth Rock

This is rather self-explanatory, but the lack of Stealth Rock really hurts this team's effectiveness. Stealth Rock is honestly mandatory on teams of any playstyle, as the ability to cause entry damage to all switch-ins and check Flying types' (Gyarados and Dragonite) ability to sweep is just invaluable.

• Offensive Gyarados

This is a large threat that could be made much less dangerous just with the addition of Stealth Rock to your team, which isn't difficult at all to fit in somewhere. Offensive 3 Attacks Gyarados with Earthquake can basically sweep through your team unhindered. Your best check to it is Lanturn, who is OHKO'd with a +1 Earthquake that deals 94.8% - 111.7%, a likely OHKO even without Stealth Rock damage.

Suggestions

• Consider a Drifblim replacement

Using Drifblim is a creative idea, but the abundance of Scarf Tyranitar and faster checks really limits its effectiveness. It also adds an unnecessary Stealth Rock weakness to your team, putting more pressure on Forretress to both set up hazards and spin away your opponent's.

I feel that the best and most similar replacement for Drifblim is a standard SubSplit Gengar. It gives you a significant amount of stall-breaking ability, while still functioning very well against other offensive teams. Here is the set below:

Gengar (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spe/252 SpA
Timid nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Pain Split
- Substitute

As stated above, SubSplit Gengar functions great against teams of all styles, and is in my opinion the best set in the current metagame. Keep in mind that like Drifblim, it gives opposing Blissey a hard time, making it even more difficult to wall. If Gengar doesn't do a good job of blocking Rapid Spin, a Choice Scarf Rotom would also fill this position nicely.

• Switch Forretress to Skarmory

If you decide to make the change to Gengar, I'd recommend changing Forretress. While it is not a bad Pokemon, Forretress really slows down the pace of this team and is more suited towards stall playstyles. Gengar also doesn't have a Stealth Rock weakness, making your need for Rapid Spin considerably less. However, you still need something to counter threats like Agiligross, and entry hazard support is quite useful. A specially-defensive Skarmory with Stealth Rock and Spikes would most likely be a good replacement:

Skarmory (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Keen Eye
EVs: 252 HP/4 Def/252 SpD
Impish nature (+Def, -SpA)
- Whirlwind
- Roost
- Spikes
- Stealth Rock

Now you have access to both entry hazards, which is all you need. Whirlwind allows you to phaze away opponents and rack up more hazard damage, while the special defensive EVs and Roost give you a way to set up on weaker specially-based attacks.


Good luck with your team!

 

[zdrup15]

I'll only say a few things. First, if your strategy involves spikes you have to have a reliable spin blocker. The most common spinner is starmie and it often carries 2 SE attacks against drifblim and is faster which means it can easily hit you twice and you lost your spikes and rocks. Therefore I suggest the best spin blocker: rotom-A. Use the TrickScarf set.
Also, your team is still weak against bp teams and when using spikes you should make use of it with a phazer. Since you no longer have that electric weakness lanturn loses its usefulness (you have imunities to all status so with prediction you can avoid them and it makes your introduction true!). I suggest a spdef heatran with calm nature, roar/lava plume (spread burns)/EP/SR. It doesn't ruin your synergy either.
Finally and, since none of your pokes is severely crippled by rocks, I suggest you use anti-lead machamp instead of ambipom (it also has good synergy with heatran).
Hope this helps! GL

 

[Foo Fighter]

Hello,

This is a pretty interesting and unique team, and I have to admit that you've chosen UU Pokemon that actually work decently in OU.


Notable Threats

• Lack of Stealth Rock

This is rather self-explanatory, but the lack of Stealth Rock really hurts this team's effectiveness. Stealth Rock is honestly mandatory on teams of any playstyle, as the ability to cause entry damage to all switch-ins and check Flying types' (Gyarados and Dragonite) ability to sweep is just invaluable.

• Offensive Gyarados

This is a large threat that could be made much less dangerous just with the addition of Stealth Rock to your team, which isn't difficult at all to fit in somewhere. Offensive 3 Attacks Gyarados with Earthquake can basically sweep through your team unhindered. Your best check to it is Lanturn, who is OHKO'd with a +1 Earthquake that deals 94.8% - 111.7%, a likely OHKO even without Stealth Rock damage.

Suggestions

• Consider a Drifblim replacement

Using Drifblim is a creative idea, but the abundance of Scarf Tyranitar and faster checks really limits its effectiveness. It also adds an unnecessary Stealth Rock weakness to your team, putting more pressure on Forretress to both set up hazards and spin away your opponent's.

I feel that the best and most similar replacement for Drifblim is a standard SubSplit Gengar. It gives you a significant amount of stall-breaking ability, while still functioning very well against other offensive teams. Here is the set below:

Gengar (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spe/252 SpA
Timid nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Pain Split
- Substitute

As stated above, SubSplit Gengar functions great against teams of all styles, and is in my opinion the best set in the current metagame. Keep in mind that like Drifblim, it gives opposing Blissey a hard time, making it even more difficult to wall. If Gengar doesn't do a good job of blocking Rapid Spin, a Choice Scarf Rotom would also fill this position nicely.

• Switch Forretress to Skarmory

If you decide to make the change to Gengar, I'd recommend changing Forretress. While it is not a bad Pokemon, Forretress really slows down the pace of this team and is more suited towards stall playstyles. Gengar also doesn't have a Stealth Rock weakness, making your need for Rapid Spin considerably less. However, you still need something to counter threats like Agiligross, and entry hazard support is quite useful. A specially-defensive Skarmory with Stealth Rock and Spikes would most likely be a good replacement:

Skarmory (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Keen Eye
EVs: 252 HP/4 Def/252 SpD
Impish nature (+Def, -SpA)
- Whirlwind
- Roost
- Spikes
- Stealth Rock

Now you have access to both entry hazards, which is all you need. Whirlwind allows you to phaze away opponents and rack up more hazard damage, while the special defensive EVs and Roost give you a way to set up on weaker specially-based attacks.


Good luck with your team!

i actually really like these suggestions. Skarmory was on the short list to be here, so i'll test him over foretress, and while im not sure on the exact set, he would most likely function nicely. Gengar set seems interesting as well. I'll test both and see what works. Thanks for the constructive criticism.

 

[Foo Fighter]

BUMP

having trouble with gengars and heatran. Any suggestions?

also testing skarm as a lead and weavile over ambipom. Any ideas about a UU option over weavile to check gengar?


EDIT: Skarm is working great as a lead. Thinking about Hariyama over ambipom to counter gengar, tyranitar, heatran and gyardos. 3 psy weaknesses too much? or 2 flying for that matter?

 

[Foo Fighter]

bump. switched the team up a little. thoughts?

 

[R.B.G.]

A favorite of mine, Choice Scarf Scizor might do well on your team. Hold on, Choice Scarf? Isn't Choice Band the name of the set? No, Choice Scarf, and I meant it. With Choice Scarf and the set of Bullet Punch, Pursuit, Superpower, U-Turn, you have a reliable check/counter to Gengar, OHKOing with Pursuit after Stealth Rock damage, and Superpower which does significant damage to opposing Heatran. It lacks the raw power of the Band set, but you get to check many more things with it. You also safely check most standard forms of Ttar including DDTar, ScarfTar, and BandTar, revenge killing them all with ease.

This is theorymoning, and I didn't consider where you would be able to fit in this Scizor if you were planning on using it, so sorry for an incomplete rate.

 

[Foo Fighter]

hmm, intriguing. i'll check it out. If hariyama doesnt work i'll test scizor in his place