Psyche, this isn't a suspect rmt at all. It's actually my first rmt on Smogon ever. I've been lurking around for about 6 months now though and after getting bored with OU in about 2 weeks, I started playing UU on Shoddy and haven't looked back since. UU has changed quite a bit since I first started back in May, but I find that the more things change, the more they stay the same. The same ridiculous beatsticks that have were good in May are still awesome now, and the new-fangled movepool and pokemon additions haven't changed that. So without further ado, I present:
Team: The (UU)sual Suspects
Team at a glance:
Ambipom (M) @ Silk Scarf
Ability: Technician
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Fake Out
- Return
- Low Kick
- Payback
Ambipom is a great lead, capable of 2KOing many, many pokes with little fear of reprisal. While most lead Ambipoms run Taunt, I do not in order to maintain better coverage with my moves. Low Kick makes steels and rocks such as Steelix, Regirock, and Registeel think twice about switching in or staying in on Ambipom, and Payback 2KOs most ghosts (Mismagius, Froslass, Rotom) although Spiritomb still escapes relatively unscathed and the bulky version of Froslass is a 3KO. While it's usually a good idea to run Taunt, my team doesn't overly fear Stealth Rock and the primary user of Spikes, Froslass, is usually handled quite nicely by Ambipom. As a final tweak, my Ambipom uses Silk Scarf instead of Life Orb, to give it a bit more longevity and allow it serve my revenge killing needs into the mid or late game.
Slowbro (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Own Tempo
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/4 SDef
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Slack Off
- Surf
- Psychic
Standard CMBro. This thing is extraordinarily bulky, eating Flare Blitzes and Close Combats for breakfast. While I occasionally miss having a status move on Slowbro, the Calm Mind set can make it ridiculously bulky on both sides, as well as turning Slowbro into a slow, but very powerful sweeper. I run Psychic over Ice Beam because Altaria usage is becoming more rare, other notable flyers are usually frail enough to be KOed by a +1 or +2 STAB Psychic, and many of the grass-types in the tier who like to switch in are also part poison. Of course, Psychic also backs up the threat that Slowbro poses to fighting types. In general, Slowbro is the workhorse wall on the team. When in doubt, I switch to Slowbro and sometimes I find myself struggling when Slowbro is KOed early.
Feraligatr (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 28 HP/252 Atk/228 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Substitute
- Waterfall
- Return
A true beast in UU. Pulling off a Feraligatr sweep is how I win 80% of the time. The key to this particular set is Substitute and Leftovers. People often forget that Feraligatr is decent on the special defense side, and decidedly bulky on the physical side. Feraligatr can switch in on a plethora of weak or resisted attacks and proceed to DD up. Many people see my DDing and assume that I run a standard three attack set and attempt to status me, only to be met with a substitute. After that, the opponent usually switches out frantically to a poke that can actually break Feraligatr's sub, since many status-carrying walls cannot. At that point, Feraligatr has 2 Dragon Dances, a sub, and can sweep through the vast majority of an opposing team. Lefties over Life Orb mean that I miss out on some crucial KOs, which have certainly hurt me before, but they also give Feraligatr surprising staying power, usually putting him just out of priority KO range, which is priceless for a sweep. Feraligatr is the best example of a poke who has always been awesome, and is still awesome despite the additions of other sweepers to the tier such as Raikou and Gallade.
Honchkrow (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: <del>Insomnia</del> Super Luck
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Brave Bird
- Sucker Punch
- Superpower
- <del>Roost</del> Night Slash
Standard Smogon wallbreaker set, except with Roost over HP Grass. While I do lose the coverage on bulky waters and Rhyperior, I give Honchkrow a semblance of longevity, and can oftentimes screw over pokes who don't attack at first for fear of a LO Sucker Punch. Despite having Roost on the set, I tend to play Honchkrow rather recklessly, Brave Birding anything and everything for a liberal chunk of damage. Sometimes Honchkrow doesn't even KO anything in a match, but it can always be counted on to severely weaken an opposing team. Honchkrow also provides a sorely needed ground immunity. Insomnia has been dropped for Super Luck, which forces me to be more careful switching into Venusaur, but allows to hit like a truck with Night Slash which helps against Missy and Slowbro. Makes prediction tougher though.
Venusaur (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 252 HP/4 Spd/252 SDef
<del>Calm nature (+SDef, -Atk)</del> Careful nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Sleep Powder
- Leech Seed
- <del>Grass Knot</del> Power Whip
- <del>Sludge Bomb</del> Earthquake
Venusaur serves as my special wall. Sure, Registeel may have a better typing and stats, but I wanted a poke who resisted both Grass and Electric, of which I have two and three pokes weak to, respectively. Venusaur fits the bill, as well as providing sleep support, something Registeel can't do. Grass Knot and Sludge Bomb have been switched to Power Whip and Earthquake to help me with my Sub Raikou problem, it also helps me with Sub Mismagius who would otherwise sweep me once Ambipom and Honchkrow are gone. Leech Seed is another great move which often causes switches, helping me rack up damage with the entry hazards provided by:
Nidoqueen (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Poison Point
EVs: 252 HP/6 Atk/252 Def
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic Spikes
- Roar
Electric immunity, check. Stealth Rock, check. Toxic Spikes, check. Phazing move, check. Nidoqueen fills so many roles on my team. She lays down Stealth Rock to help my sweepers, she phazes stat-uppers, and dismantles stall with Toxic Spikes. I used to think that Toxic Spikes weren't worth it on UU teams, due to the abundance of useful Poison types in the tier. But I realized that I had been playing them incorrectly, trying to lay them at the start of the match and oftentimes sacrificing my lead in order to get two layers down, only to have a Venusaur or Toxicroak switch in and ruin all my fun. The proper way to play TS in UU is to take your time scouting the opponent's team, and then play 1 or 2 layers either after the opponent's poison type is KO'ed, or when it would be highly disadvantageous for the poison type to switch in. I have won many seemingly unwinnable matches vs. stall because of Nidoqueen and her Toxic Spike support. My only gripe is that she never seems to be bulky enough for my purposes. I expect Nidoqueen to fulfill so many roles - entry hazard layer, phazer, semi-physical wall - that she often finds herself tanking way too many hits and going down before achieving everything she needs to. If Fidgit were UU, I'd take it in a heartbeat but alas.
Highly Abbreviated Threat List:
Swellow - Swellow can come in and proceed to outspeed and OHKO half my team, and severely maim the other half. Midgame, after my walls have been worn down a bit, Swellow can sweep my rather easily if it carries Quick Attack. Without Quick Attack, it falls to Honchkrow's Sucker Punch but Quick Attack variants usually take down half my team.
Shedinja - Sure, laugh, but this is a serious threat. Ambipom and Honchkrow are usually the first to go down, and once they're gone, if the opponent manages to spin away my entry hazards, Shedinja walls me completely. I've lost a couple matches to a properly played Shedinja. Luckily, Shedinja usually sees very little usage.
Milotic - For some strange reason, I haven't played against many Milotic recently but when I do come across them, it's always a pain. Milotic tanks hits from the majority of my sweepers and can threaten half the team with HP Electric, and the other half with Ice Beam. Either way, half my team risks taking super-effective damage from Milotic without being able to do much back to it. The only times Milotic isn't a major problem are when it switches into Honchkrow's Brave Bird, that wraps things up nicely.
Alakazam - Alakazam outspeeds and OHKOs half my team with Psychic and Signal Beam/Focus Blast, and gets 2KOs on all the rest. Even Ambipom can't revenge it if it's running the Focus Sash + Counter set. My only saving grace is that most Counter Alakazams are leads, so it's precluded from sweeping properly after Ambipom brings it down to 1 HP.
Analysis:
This team basically takes several of the best pokes in UU and mashes them together in a somewhat synergistic way. My primary weaknesses are the triple electric weak, the lack of a special sweeper, and generally low speed stats. I'm also looking for a decent replacement for Nidoqueen. Ideally, it would still be a Toxic Spiker and be immune or resistant to Electric (I miss you Roserade!).
Please read, rate, and review!
Team: The (UU)sual Suspects
Team at a glance:
Ambipom (M) @ Silk Scarf
Ability: Technician
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Fake Out
- Return
- Low Kick
- Payback
Ambipom is a great lead, capable of 2KOing many, many pokes with little fear of reprisal. While most lead Ambipoms run Taunt, I do not in order to maintain better coverage with my moves. Low Kick makes steels and rocks such as Steelix, Regirock, and Registeel think twice about switching in or staying in on Ambipom, and Payback 2KOs most ghosts (Mismagius, Froslass, Rotom) although Spiritomb still escapes relatively unscathed and the bulky version of Froslass is a 3KO. While it's usually a good idea to run Taunt, my team doesn't overly fear Stealth Rock and the primary user of Spikes, Froslass, is usually handled quite nicely by Ambipom. As a final tweak, my Ambipom uses Silk Scarf instead of Life Orb, to give it a bit more longevity and allow it serve my revenge killing needs into the mid or late game.
Slowbro (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Own Tempo
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/4 SDef
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Slack Off
- Surf
- Psychic
Standard CMBro. This thing is extraordinarily bulky, eating Flare Blitzes and Close Combats for breakfast. While I occasionally miss having a status move on Slowbro, the Calm Mind set can make it ridiculously bulky on both sides, as well as turning Slowbro into a slow, but very powerful sweeper. I run Psychic over Ice Beam because Altaria usage is becoming more rare, other notable flyers are usually frail enough to be KOed by a +1 or +2 STAB Psychic, and many of the grass-types in the tier who like to switch in are also part poison. Of course, Psychic also backs up the threat that Slowbro poses to fighting types. In general, Slowbro is the workhorse wall on the team. When in doubt, I switch to Slowbro and sometimes I find myself struggling when Slowbro is KOed early.
Feraligatr (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 28 HP/252 Atk/228 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Substitute
- Waterfall
- Return
A true beast in UU. Pulling off a Feraligatr sweep is how I win 80% of the time. The key to this particular set is Substitute and Leftovers. People often forget that Feraligatr is decent on the special defense side, and decidedly bulky on the physical side. Feraligatr can switch in on a plethora of weak or resisted attacks and proceed to DD up. Many people see my DDing and assume that I run a standard three attack set and attempt to status me, only to be met with a substitute. After that, the opponent usually switches out frantically to a poke that can actually break Feraligatr's sub, since many status-carrying walls cannot. At that point, Feraligatr has 2 Dragon Dances, a sub, and can sweep through the vast majority of an opposing team. Lefties over Life Orb mean that I miss out on some crucial KOs, which have certainly hurt me before, but they also give Feraligatr surprising staying power, usually putting him just out of priority KO range, which is priceless for a sweep. Feraligatr is the best example of a poke who has always been awesome, and is still awesome despite the additions of other sweepers to the tier such as Raikou and Gallade.
Honchkrow (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: <del>Insomnia</del> Super Luck
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Brave Bird
- Sucker Punch
- Superpower
- <del>Roost</del> Night Slash
Standard Smogon wallbreaker set, except with Roost over HP Grass. While I do lose the coverage on bulky waters and Rhyperior, I give Honchkrow a semblance of longevity, and can oftentimes screw over pokes who don't attack at first for fear of a LO Sucker Punch. Despite having Roost on the set, I tend to play Honchkrow rather recklessly, Brave Birding anything and everything for a liberal chunk of damage. Sometimes Honchkrow doesn't even KO anything in a match, but it can always be counted on to severely weaken an opposing team. Honchkrow also provides a sorely needed ground immunity. Insomnia has been dropped for Super Luck, which forces me to be more careful switching into Venusaur, but allows to hit like a truck with Night Slash which helps against Missy and Slowbro. Makes prediction tougher though.
Venusaur (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 252 HP/4 Spd/252 SDef
<del>Calm nature (+SDef, -Atk)</del> Careful nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Sleep Powder
- Leech Seed
- <del>Grass Knot</del> Power Whip
- <del>Sludge Bomb</del> Earthquake
Venusaur serves as my special wall. Sure, Registeel may have a better typing and stats, but I wanted a poke who resisted both Grass and Electric, of which I have two and three pokes weak to, respectively. Venusaur fits the bill, as well as providing sleep support, something Registeel can't do. Grass Knot and Sludge Bomb have been switched to Power Whip and Earthquake to help me with my Sub Raikou problem, it also helps me with Sub Mismagius who would otherwise sweep me once Ambipom and Honchkrow are gone. Leech Seed is another great move which often causes switches, helping me rack up damage with the entry hazards provided by:
Nidoqueen (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Poison Point
EVs: 252 HP/6 Atk/252 Def
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic Spikes
- Roar
Electric immunity, check. Stealth Rock, check. Toxic Spikes, check. Phazing move, check. Nidoqueen fills so many roles on my team. She lays down Stealth Rock to help my sweepers, she phazes stat-uppers, and dismantles stall with Toxic Spikes. I used to think that Toxic Spikes weren't worth it on UU teams, due to the abundance of useful Poison types in the tier. But I realized that I had been playing them incorrectly, trying to lay them at the start of the match and oftentimes sacrificing my lead in order to get two layers down, only to have a Venusaur or Toxicroak switch in and ruin all my fun. The proper way to play TS in UU is to take your time scouting the opponent's team, and then play 1 or 2 layers either after the opponent's poison type is KO'ed, or when it would be highly disadvantageous for the poison type to switch in. I have won many seemingly unwinnable matches vs. stall because of Nidoqueen and her Toxic Spike support. My only gripe is that she never seems to be bulky enough for my purposes. I expect Nidoqueen to fulfill so many roles - entry hazard layer, phazer, semi-physical wall - that she often finds herself tanking way too many hits and going down before achieving everything she needs to. If Fidgit were UU, I'd take it in a heartbeat but alas.
Highly Abbreviated Threat List:
Analysis:
This team basically takes several of the best pokes in UU and mashes them together in a somewhat synergistic way. My primary weaknesses are the triple electric weak, the lack of a special sweeper, and generally low speed stats. I'm also looking for a decent replacement for Nidoqueen. Ideally, it would still be a Toxic Spiker and be immune or resistant to Electric (I miss you Roserade!).
Please read, rate, and review!
