The Psychic Moon - a UU RMT

[IbanezObsession]

The Psychic Moon
A UU RMT

What's up Smogon, this is the IbanezObsession back again for another RMT. My last one was an NU team that eventually got dropped. I started to get bored of NU and decided to try some higher tier battling, UU being my favorite so far. I hope you guys enjoy this team, and please give me any suggestions on what I can improve on! :)

The Team:

Empoleon (M) @ Leftovers Trait: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Stealth Rock
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Roar

The infamous penguin of UU that can wall special attackers (especially Chandelure, Houndoom, and Slowbro) for days. Its nifty defensive typing and brilliant base HP and Sp.Def stats make it a great special wall that can live just about any special attack and dish out either a Scald, Ice Beam, or Roar to make sure that sweeper knows who he's dealing with. A max special attack Modest Life Orb Houndoom's Fire Blast only does 47.85% to 56.45% on this Empoleon spread, showing off its massive bulk.

Hitmontop (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Close Combat
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic
- Stone Edge


Ah yes, Hitmontop. So bawlky, as I would say. The ability to shrug off Heracross' banded Megahorns and Close Combats (and lower its attack too) make Hitmontop a necessity for almost every UU team nowadays (especially mine, seeing as how none of my Pokemon really want to take one of its banded attacks). And with my two weaknesses to Rock (Zapdos and Victini), I knew a rapid spinner was vital to this team, and here we have it.

Zapdos @ Life Orb Trait: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Heat Wave
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Roost

I'll be honest with you guys on this one. I did not expect Zapdos to be such a dangerous Pokemon (coupled with great type coverage and Life Orb), but after seeing Zapdos in action against one of my previous teams (yeah, I lost about 7 battles because of it), I knew I would have to put one on my team. Roost is a good move to have on Zapdos, allowing it to live longer and terrorize more of the opponent's team. Hidden Power Grass always OHKOs Rhyperior, and it's always good to get rid of those as soon as possible. Zapdos' problem? It's not the fastest in the tier and many pokes can outspeed and KO it. Proper prediction is the key to demolishing teams with this legendary beast.

Victini @ Choice Scarf​

Trait: Victory Star
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- V-create
- U-turn
- Zen Headbutt
- Fusion Bolt

To be honest, I'm not sure why this monster is still UU. With all its possible counters and walls on the opponent's team gone, Victini's ready to sweep. I've always put speed over power on scarfers, but in this case, I decided to pick Adamant over Jolly for all that extra power that I can get. It'll get outsped by other scarfers, yes, but it'll also miss out on crucial KO's if I run Jolly, and besides, its decent bulk ensures that I can take any neutral-effective hit at full health.

Roserade (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Natural Cure

EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Rest
- Sleep Powder
- Leaf Storm
- Sludge Bomb

Roserade and Zapdos make a great special attacking duo, and if I don't feel like attacking, I might as well heal up via Rest (thank you casey90) or put something to sleep while she's on the field. And if I don't feel like getting put to sleep myself (or being burned or paralyzed), then I'll just send Roserade in. Natural Cure is indeed a wonderful ability.

Umbreon (M) @ Leftovers Trait: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Wish (possibly will be changed to Roar)
- Payback
- Heal Bell
- Protect (possibly will be changed to Toxic)

When Victini's in doubt, send in Umbreon to help it out! Even if Umbreon doesn't cover Victini's water weakness, you'd better believe that a base 95 HP (394 at Max) and base 130 Sp.Def (394 at Max) can take water-types on with ease. Scared yet? You'd better be, as Payback is an easy 2HKO on Mew, meaning special Mew with Aura Sphere doesn't stand a chance against the likes of Umbreon. Even more annoying about Umbreon is that it gets Synchronize AND Heal Bell, meaning a Pokemon coming in to Toxic you doesn't stand a chance.


Wrapping it Up


All in all, I've had a good time with this team (just surpassed 1200 points on the UU Smogon ladder with it, and still climbing). If you have any suggestions on how to improve my team, please share them with me! It would be much appreciated! :) Thank you all, and have a good day!




​

 

[casey90]

Hi, may I ask why you are running HP water over grass on Zapdos? The reason I ask is because, grass hits and KO's Swampert, while still getting the coverage on Rhyperior. This is very important because swampert is not a pokemon you are really going to enjoy switching in on, Roserade, the only pokemon that can properly threaten once in has to be weary of switching in on ice punch or EQ, while both Umbreon and Hitmontop both completely kill your momentum, and do nothing to remove the threat of pert.

I would also recommend that you give Rose a life orb and drop TS for rest. Toxic spikes are very unreliable in a meta where Rose itself is the dominant pokemon, Heracross gains a free guts boost, and so many teams are prepped for spikestacking nowadays, it'll be a waste of the pressure Roserade can present on an opponent. Life orb makes Rose' killing power go through the roof.

Have you considered running Roar over Heal Bell on Umbreon? The thing is, umbreon has nothing currently to pressure an opponent, which is frankly a waste of such a bulky Pokemon, roar gives you a nice option against boosters looking to use you as set up (which is like all of them) and gives you the best option against switching into Chandelure with a sub up, or any sub user for that matter

Other than that it's a good team, and good luck!

 

[IbanezObsession]

Hi, may I ask why you are running HP water over grass on Zapdos? The reason I ask is because, grass hits and KO's Swampert, while still getting the coverage on Rhyperior. This is very important because swampert is not a pokemon you are really going to enjoy switching in on, Roserade, the only pokemon that can properly threaten once in has to be weary of switching in on ice punch or EQ, while both Umbreon and Hitmontop both completely kill your momentum, and do nothing to remove the threat of pert.

I would also recommend that you give Rose a life orb and drop TS for rest. Toxic spikes are very unreliable in a meta where Rose itself is the dominant pokemon, Heracross gains a free guts boost, and so many teams are prepped for spikestacking nowadays, it'll be a waste of the pressure Roserade can present on an opponent. Life orb makes Rose' killing power go through the roof.

Have you considered running Roar over Heal Bell on Umbreon? The thing is, umbreon has nothing currently to pressure an opponent, which is frankly a waste of such a bulky Pokemon, roar gives you a nice option against boosters looking to use you as set up (which is like all of them) and gives you the best option against switching into Chandelure with a sub up, or any sub user for that matter

Other than that it's a good team, and good luck!

Thank your for the rating :)
And I do understand what you are asking about HP Water vs. HP Grass. I'm probably going to change that. You do also make a good point with TS vs. Rest and LO over Black Sludge. More power has a risk :P And if anything, I'd rather replace Wish on Umbreon (if Victini's paralyzed, I'm pretty much screwed as far as speed is concerned).

Thanks for all the info you could give! :)

 

[Psychotic]

Hi. First of all, very solid team. The only suggestion I have is to replace Toxic with Rest on Hitmontop. Sice you rely so much on Hitmontop to check almost every physical attacker, it can get worn down quite easily, and once it is gone, your team can get swept by many threats. With Rest, it is given new life, and Umbreon can simply Heal Bell to get rid of status.