They're good for more than crushing the Elite Four!

Reaver12

Reaver12

One thing I noticed when I went back to one of my old Gameboy games was that your starter Pokemon was your ace in the hole. Your one Pokemon that could save the rest of your team and in some cases single handedly take out the Elite Four. I wanted to make a team of these In-Game-Beasts and try and bring out their strengh in competitive battling. Initially I wanted to make it an OU team, but noticing that only 3 out of my 12 choices was actually OU I decided for a good solid UU team.


typhlosion.png

"HellFire" Typhlosion @ Choice Scarf
Nature: Timid
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Spe, 252 SpA, 4 Def
-Eruption
-Flamethrower
-Focus Blast
-HP Electric

All I can say about this is AWESOME. The choice Scarf lets it destroy all the Roserade and Yanmega leads running around. Eruption has massive power that can be used to sweep until something with Flash Fire comes out, in which case I just switch to Blastoise as none of those Pokemon can KO him. HP Electric and Focus Blast don't really see much use, but they're there to help with coverage if I need to bring him out later on in the match, or if he loses his scarf via Knock off/ Trick.

blastoise.png

"Crush" Blastoise @ Leftovers
Nature: Bold
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Def, 4 SpA
-Surf
-Yawn
-Ice Beam
-Rapid Spin

Blastoise is my token spinner, and overall tank. He can take powerful hits from a wide range of types and still phaze out the other teams sweeper with Yawn. Toxic has been replaced with Ice Beam to help with Roserade problems and because Venusaur is better suited to ToxiStalling. I switch him in when Typhlosion sets off Flash Fire and get a KO, usually at the cost of a good deal of HP however. Note that even after a Nasty Plot Houndoom and Ninetales can't OHKO him with HP Electric or Energy Ball respectively, while he OHKOs with Surf.

torterra.png

"FatherEarth" Torterra @ Yache Berry
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Att, 4 Def
-Stealth Rock
-Crunch
-Earthquake
-Superpower

Torterra is often given a bad rep, as the other two 4th gen starters were deemed worthy of the OU tier and he was not. Still, he does his job on this team well. He sets up Stealth Rock and usually gets some KO's. Earthquake is for good reliable STAB, Superpower is there in case something like Facade Clefable gets going after Blaziken is down, and Crunch is to hit the Ghosts that EQ and SuperPower miss. He has decent tanking ability, taking Physical hits pretty well and doing some major damage in the process.

blaziken.png

"GameCock" Blaziken @ Liechi Berry
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Spe, 252 Att, 4 Def
-Agility
-Blaze Kick
-Earthquake
-SuperPower

Blaziken is my mid game sweeper, his main goal is to draw out any scarfed pokemon or those with priority moves for my other Pokemon to handle. He has netted a few good sweeps for me so far and I expect a decent percentage of matches ending with this guy sweeping the other team. The moves provide pretty good coverage, though Stone Edge would provide for even better I just can't get over the horrible accuracy. Superpowers stat drops I don't really mind, especially with the Liechi Berry there to take away one of those attack losses.

feraligatr.png

"Dundee" Feraligatr @ Salac Berry
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 Spe, 252 Att, 4 HP
-Waterfall
-Return
-Substitute
-Swords Dance

SD Feraligatr, plays kinda like SubPetaya Empoleon does in OU. Sub and SD up until berry and Torrent activate and pull off a sweep. It's 6-0ed a couple of teams since I started testing it, so needless to say I'm gonna keep it. Return and Waterfall provide enough coverage to KO alot of the UU metagame, only being stopped by walls like Milotic (I just can't get around it can I).

venusaur.png

"Monster" Venusaur @ Light Clay
Ability: Overgrow
Nature: Calm
EVs: 252 HP, 252 SpD, 4 SpA
-Light Screen
-Toxic
-Grass Knot
-Synthesis

Venusaur has taken the place of my SubSeedSceptile to act as a special wall and to absorb Toxic Spikes. His main purpose is to stop Milotic, who after testing proved to be a major problem for my team. Light Screen not only helps him easily take Milotics Ice Beams but it helps my other Pokemon switch in on another Poke who has been giving me major problems, Roserade, who can only really be revenge killed. Venusaur was chosen over Meganium for one reason, his Posion type. This makes Roserades Sludge Bomb only a neutral hit, and allows him to absorb Toxic Spikes, which Blastoise really doesn't like having to spin away. Also gives me a useful Fighting resist.

All Sprites courtesy of Arkeis.com
 
I personally think the Bellyzard strategy has no place on this team. With so many priority users in UU and Stealth Rock taking 50% of Charizard's life, it's going to be nearly impossible to set him up, especially since your team members are not supporting this sweep in any fashion. Here are some recommendations:

I would personally replace Charizard with a Choice Scarf Typhlosion, as Scarfed Eruptions are going to do massive damage to anyone that doesn't outright resist it. There are two advantages of using this pokemon as a lead: It will beat those leads that try and sleep you since Scarflosion outspeeds them, and it will allow Torterra to become more of a tank role, since Thunder Wave is going to cause chaos for your team. If your EV's and moveset suit you, then I'm not going to change anything, but I would recommend giving Torterra a more defensive EV spread.

For consideration, here is the moveset for Lead Typhlosion:

Typhlosion @Choice Scarf
Nature: Mild/Rash
Ev's: 144 ATK / 252 SpA / 112 Spe
Moves:
-Eruption
-Hidden Power Ice / Focus Punch
-Overheat / Will-o-Wisp
-Earthquake

The analysis gives a preference to Focus Punch, but I think you should go with HP Ice since Blaziken and Torterra both carry fighting moves.

With a Choice Scarf on Typhlosion and a set-up sweeper removed, you could then use Feraligator as a Dragon Dancer as you had it before. The Substitute + Swords Dance set could also work since that's similar to Charizard's Belly Drum strategy without the weakness to Stealth Rock or Aqua Jet (which I think is the most commonly used priority move in UU outside of Sucker Punch, which has a fail condition that Feraligator can use to Swords Dance even more).

Since Boltbeam really wrecks this team, I can also suggest you replace Sceptile with a Support Meganium with the following moveset:

Meganium @ Leftovers
Nature: Calm
Ev's: 216 HP / 148 SpD / 144 SpA
Moves:
-Energy Ball / Leaf Storm
-Aromatherapy
-Light Screen / Reflect
-Leech Seed / Synthesis

Support set from the analysis, except I made Meganium specially defensive, since Blastoise seems to do the physical side just fine. You can use either Energy Ball or Leaf Storm for your attacking move, and I would recommend Leaf Storm since its usually going to support your team and then switch out, but if you want it to have staying power, Energy Ball is fine as well. Aromatherapy is great for if your sweepers are paralyzed or burned. I would really recommend you use Light Screen for the third move since Thunderbolt and Ice Beam are much more common than their physical counterparts. Lastly, you can choose whether you want staying power with Leech Seed (in which case you would choose Energy Ball as your attacking move) or a quick heal with Synthesis (in which firing Leaf Storms is the better option.

Play around with any of these, but be warned that I don't actually play UU; I'm just trying to find ways for your team to support itself better.
 
Futility I actually made the Charizard switch before reading your post, but it would have been helpful before I realized that Charizard was never setting up. Anyway, I like the Meganium idea but there's no way I'm dropping Sceptile. He's just too good at annoying and stalling out things that would other wise drop half my team. But I might try and find a way to work him in Torterras spot, as he also seems to be mostly dead weight.
 
I can see where you think Torterra would be dead weight, but his Thunder Wave immunity is simply too valuable to replace. The problem is that Torterra is the only UU starter that can use Stealth Rock, but at the same time the only time that Torterra is used laying down the rocks is when it's using Leech Seed, but that's redundant since you have Sceptile doing that. If you can afford to drop Stealth Rock, then you can make Torterra a Resttalker so that it can absorb burns and sleeps that could otherwise hinder your sweepers. With your EV's and moveset, you're attempting to be offensive and at the same time carry out support, but doing well at neither. Again, and I stress this, Thunder Wave will murder you if you don't have Torterra on your team, so I would mess around with the sets on the analysis and attempt to give him a role that will help your team.

The Meganium set was only if special Boltbeamers were bringing you down, but if Sceptile is as good at taking out those threats as you claim he is, I have no business portruding in its business. Once you get defined roles for Torterra and Feraligator (unless you're confident in the DD set, you don't sound confident in your description of him), then this will be a solid team despite any weaknesses.
 
An idea worth attempting for Feraligatr is a Swords Dance Set, with a Salac Berry. If Feraligatr gets down to 25% HP as you Swords Dance, you'll end up with +2 Attack, and +1 Speed, with Torrent Activated as well. This might make Feraligatr more worthwhile to your team, as you claim it is underwhelming. However, this stratagy is somewhat more risky than the DD stratagy, as you are relying on getting down to 25% health, and Priority is an issue.
 
Just a quick suggestion for you, because I have mad love for the starters, and would feel like a shitbag saying anything bad against them. On your Blastoise set, everything looks good (I use Blastoise for a spinner in OU xD), except for instead of Yawn, you might want Rest, and then change your item to Chesto Berry. It gives Blastoise instant full recovery with no sleep (the first time anyway), and on a fatass like Blastoise, instant recovery is invaluable. Good luck!
 
Testing out a SubSwordsDance set now, but I really do like Yawn. It's great for causing switches and stopping sweepers in their tracks.
 
Ok, updated once again. SD Feraligatr now has a pretty solid spot on my team, even though it's not the easiest to set up I do still see alot of chances.

My biggest problem is still Roserade. Most people have learned to expect Scarfs on lead Typhlosions and don't let their Roserades face him, and Blaziken needs to set up before he can beat Roserade (problem being that Roserade is normally paired with Milotic who Blaziken can't beat) as does Feraligatr. So needless to say anyone with an idea for a way that an all starters team can counter Roserade I'm all ears. This team's gotten me to 1305 on the UU ladder, this while only playing a few matches a night, and can def. get higher if I can work out this issue.
 
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