The Underdogs

GreekPantheon

GreekPantheon

Hello, everyone! This is my anti-metagame OU team, pulling only from the current UU pool. This is for 2 reasons: 1) OU players usually don't have counters for solid UU 'mons and 2) Lucario's suspect testing has me wary of using 'mons that are likely to be banned. This is the team:

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The general strategy is to use Ambipom as a Fake Out lead, then switch to Bronzong to Stealth Rock when convenient. Arcanine and Nidoking are my two main sweepers, and Umbreon and Blastoise are my support 'mons. It thus far has a W/L record of 15-6 (tested on CharizaRed).

Individual breakdowns:
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Ambipom @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- Return
- Fake Out
- Beat Up
- Low Kick

Ambipom is a wondrous lead, if a bit predictable. Fake Out is wonderful: it ruins Sturdy and Multiscale, breaks down Focus Sashes, and does a lot more damage than one would think. If a team runs a Ghost, I usually assume that the player will switch the Ghost-type in to render Fake Out useless, and I instead lead with Beat Up, which cleanly 2HKO's Cofagrigus and Shield-Forme Aegislash. It 1HKO's just about every other Ghost-type in the OU metagame. Return is a reliable STAB, and Low Kick takes care of Bisharp and the occasional Aggron quite nicely.
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Bronzong @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Confuse Ray
- Protect
- Toxic

If there were a weak link to this team, it would be Bronzong. Don't get me wrong; it's the most reliable Stealth Rock setter that I've ever used, and it has handy resistances. It's just that it can't really do anything else. Umbreon and Vaporeon could potentially outclass it by miles in Toxic stalling (and Vaporeon, surprisingly enough, has dropped to UU tentatively).
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Arcanine @ Life Orb
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 HP / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Wild Charge
- Close Combat
- Extreme Speed

Arcanine is a wonderful sweeper, with recoil abuse to the max, perfect neutral coverage in OU, and the strongest priority move in the game, and it often gets a boost from fire-type attacks directed at Bronzong (and idiots who try to burn it). Arcanine is the best recipient of Wish passes from Umbreon.
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Nidoking (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Flamethrower
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power
- Sludge Wave

Nidoking is a beast with Sheer Force. Besides Mew, it has the best special movepool in the tier, hands down. It synergizes well with Blastoise and Arcanine, being able to take Electric-type moves for the former and having nearly perfect super-effective coverage with Arcanine. The double-STAB is also nice, and it is the only 'mon on the team that can really destroy fairies.
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Blastoise @ Blastoisinite
Ability: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 SAtk
Modest Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Water Pulse
- Aura Sphere
- Dark Pulse

I can't really imagine a more solid Spinner than Mega Blastoise. Besides ridiculously powerful special attacks, Mega Blastoise also has the wonderful 20% flinch from Dark Pulse and 20% confusion from Water Pulse. It has trouble with Azumarill, which is usually when I switch into Bronzong for Toxic stall.
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Umbreon @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 Def
Careful Nature
- Heal Bell
- Yawn
- Wish
- Foul Play

And here we have the glue of the team. Umbreon is ridiculously bulky, and its lack of decent offensive stats really doesn't matter because of Foul Play. It has tanked a +6 Aqua Jet from Azumarill and OHKO'd in return with Foul Play. Nor is it uncommon for Umbreon to Wish pass half a dozen times in the course of one match. Yawn is great for forcing switches, and Heal Bell works great with Umbreon's bulk. It does suffer a bit from 4-slot syndrome: Toxic, Protect, Substitute, Moonlight, Curse, Baton Pass...the list goes on.

And that concludes my summary of the team. Thanks for reading, and have a wonderful Valentine's Day!
 
Ambipom can hurt leads bad. And you aren't necessarily taking advantage of it. Normal Gem is obtainable, and I have battled my friend a few times, and I am absolutely angered by his shenanigans. Normal Gem Fake Out to a Thief is great to steal an item for him, and a solid 90 power Dark move is nice.

Can't judge most of the remainder, but use Special Attack over Special Defense EVs on Blastoise.

I also like Umbreon Bold with Max HP and Defense and Snarl, to bulk up his Special Defense and force switches on Special Attackers.
 
I would recommend that you change you Ambipom's move-set Fake out is good, but the rest should go. Try Fake out, Taunt, Double Hit, and Knock Off/Pursuit.
 
The only thing I have to say is that with 3 mons running life orb you could be facing some trouble with the recoil later in the game if Umbreon ever dies, maybe try running expert belt/choice items on them. Other than that very solid team.
 
Thanks for the help, everyone!

I_am_A_Garchomp and I not tell U :I have updated Ambipom to the following.
Ambipom @ Normal Gem
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Acrobatics
- Fake Out
- Thief
- Covet
Fake Out leads (obviously), followed by either Thief or Covet (both base 60*1.5=90). If the opponent has an undesirable item, Acrobatics is used instead. I considered a set that revolved around Thief/Covet and Fling, which would be the most hilariously annoying set in the history of Pokemon, but almost all competitively viable items are base 10 or 30 on the Fling scale.

B3N and I not tell U :Nidoking kind of needs Life Orb, and it takes great advantage of Sheer Force since it bypasses the 10% recoil. Choice Band/Expert on Arcanine is a great suggestion--which would you guys suggest?
 
If you are using Arcanine to revenge kill and then switch out then probably choice scarf/band but if you are using it as more of a physical sweeper because it gets good coverage and you hit things super-effectively than Expert Belt. It really depends on what you use it for and can be run both ways.
 
I would consider ditching dark pulse on blastoise for ice beam. It doesn't get the mega launcher boost but the superior coverage it offers is a worthy trade off in my opinion.
 
I really like the idea of using a UU team in the OU environment, and you're using a ton of Pokemon I personally love. I just have a few minor suggestions, as many others have already given some that I would have mentioned.

You mentioned Bronzong being the potentially weak link in your team, and I agree. You already have a solid lead in Ampipom, and a great staller in Umbreon. May I suggest giving Toxic to Umbreon, and replacing Bronzong with a more offensive Stealth Rocker? My personal choice would be Tyrantrum! He's got SR for utility, but can also do some truly monstrous damage with a recoil-free Head Smash. He's also got Dragon Tail, if you wanted to maintain some forced switching (since you'd sacrifice that by swapping out Yawn on Umbreon).

Tyrantrum @ Leftovers
Adamant Nature
Ability: Rock Head
252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpDef
- Stealth Rocks
- Head Smash
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw / Dragon Tail
 
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