Ursaring is a pokemon that has typically only seen usage in low tiers (its home was PU in the ORAS metagame), however I would argue that Ursaring is much more viable now with two conditions being met in the SUMO OU metagame:
1) The Speed Shift - In SUMO OU, many teams rely on slow defensive pokemon such as toxapex and celesteela to absorb neutral physical attacks, while simultaneously weakening pokemon for a faster threat to revenge kill it later on in the game. The speed tiers of the metagame have also shifted slightly, with many teams packing slower offensive mons such as Magearna and Alolan Marowak.
2) The Burn Nerf -Burn damage used to sap away 12% of a pokemon's health every turn, making it a very undesirable status even for pokemon with reliable recovery (such as Venusaur). In Gen 7, however, burn damage does even less than life orb damage at a relatively small 6%, which is a huge boost for pokemon such as Ursaring with the Guts ability.
Background and Motivation:
Stall is incredibly difficult to deal with for most offensive teams, because a stall player gains momentum every time they force switches, usually at little penalty. Stall teams also tend to be free to abuse status moves and stack hazards, as offensive teams struggle to find an opportunity during the stall match to eliminate hazards without absorbing status, and only a select few pokemon don't mind taking status moves at all. Generic stall builds usually look something like this nowadays:
As you can see, Hazards are blocked by Sableye, and strong attackers struggle to manage the defensive core of Toxapex, Chansey, and Zapdos, because they share no weaknesses. Furthermore, Toxapex limits the viability of calm mind Clefable against these teams, since they all pack Haze and take negligible damage from unboosted attacks. Unaware Quagsire is further insurance against setup sweepers such as Swords Dance Landorus-T, and Dugtrio is used to trap and remove pokemon that can potentially threaten the rest of the team.
I have really struggled to build offensive teams this generation which can handle the likes of Pheromosa, Tapu Koko, and Genesect, while still being able to pressure common stall builds effectively. Ursaring, however, is the solution to beating stall:
The Team:
The Teambuilding process is essentially in the order that these pokemon are presented. The team is centered around Ursaring, and finding opportunities to lure in defensive pokemon for it to eat up. It is not a very defensive team at all, and lacks good switch-ins for pokemon like Pheromosa. It hasn't been too much of an issue, but misplaying once in a bad matchup can lead to a quick loss.
Papa Bear (Ursaring) @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Facade
- Close Combat
- Play Rough
- Swords Dance
Ursaring’s moveset is derived from the smogon quick feet PU moveset which can be found here: ( http://www.smogon.com/dex/xy/pokemon/ursaring/ ). Obviously a Jolly nature is typically preferred on offensive pokemon, however I felt that the increase in damage from Adamant was far more worthwhile. Ursaring can 2HKO any (non-ghost) pokemon in the game with a +2 Facade or Close Combat:
+2 252+ Atk Guts Ursaring Facade (140 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Arceus-Steel: 238-281 (53.6 - 63.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Furthermore, the only ghost pokemon that is really found on stall is Sableye. Even unboosted, Sableye can’t handle Ursaring at all:
252+ Atk Guts Ursaring Play Rough vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Sableye: 280-330 (92.1 - 108.5%) -- 50% chance to OHKO
I have heavily considered running Crunch over Close Combat, So Ursaring can handle things such as Alolan Marowak, however I don’t see the need to when I have 5 other pokemon to take on ghosts. This pokemon has extremely few safe switch-ins in the current metagame, making it an incredibly powerful tool even against slower bulky teams that aren’t full-on stall. The only real downsides to this bear are its speed and mediocre defensive stats, but it is almost always guaranteed a kill each game. The best part about using Ursaring is that it can’t be put to sleep, it actually wants to be burned, and if it somehow manages to get poisoned, it really doesn’t mind that either.
After I decided to test Ursaring, I knew that a power special attacker would be an excellent way to lure in Bear Food. Charizard Mega-Y was my choice to fulfill this role, as the only pokemon that can safely switch into it are Chansey, Mantine, Toxapex, and the Lati Twins.
Charizard-Mega-Y @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Drought
EVs: 104 HP / 48 Def / 104 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Solar Beam
- Focus Blast
- Roost
Edit:
The EV spread I have here is slightly modified from the original 252 / 4 / 252 spread, which hits specific benchmarks such as always avoiding the OHKO from Jolly Mega Metagross' Thunderpunch, Choice Specs Primarina's Hydro Pump, and Mega Sharpedo's Crunch. You also always live a thunderbolt from Tapu Koko outside of Electric Terrain. If the sun is up, you take a maximum of 75% from Choice Specs Greninja's Hydro Pump if he isn't in Ash-Greninja Form, and are NEVER OHKO'd by Choice Specs Ash Greninja's Hydro Pump from full HP in the sun. The spread also allows you to never be OHKO'd by any one of Alolan-Marowak's standard moves, although you cannot do much back. The SpA investment always ensures an OHKO on 248 HP / 8 SpD Landorus - T after Stealth Rocks, which is a great way to free up Excadrill for late-game if the opponent misplays thinking its Zard X. Max speed is really only for Tapu Lele, Kyurem, Manaphy, and Non-Scarf Genesect since you dont have to worry about speed ties with M-Medicham and M-Gardevoir this generation.
The set I have used is incredibly self-explanatory: You can click Fire Blast on anything that doesn’t resist it, with Solar Beam to handle bulky water types and Focus Blast to manage rock types outside of the sun. Charizard lures in Toxapex in nearly every match that I play, and really only fears strong physical attackers. I knew that I needed a team member to sponge physical hits for Zard, as well as eliminate hazards consistently. This led me to my next team member, mew:
Mew @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 228 Def / 28 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Defog
- U-turn
- Roost
Mew’s movepool allows for insane role compression, letting it get rid of hazards, as well as set up its own (because really, every team should have stealth rocks), and gain momentum with U-turn. I felt that U-turn was the best attack for mew to have, because generally mew should switch out after fulfilling its duty of removing hazards anyways, and it eases the need for prediction when the opponent is likely to switch themselves. Roost is a necessity on this set in order to stay alive long enough to remove hazards over longer games. I chose a fully physically defensive set to take attacks from common stealth rockers such as Mamoswine, Landorus, and Defensive Marowak better.
With Charizard and Ursaring on the team, I knew I needed something to pressure offensive teams more, since Charizard isn’t too fast, and Ursaring is downright slow. I choose to add a sand core to the team in Tyranitar and Excadrill, which is an excellent win condition after Defensive Landorus-T has been weakened or killed, and a great way to keep momentum in my favor against opposing weather teams.
Tyranitar @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Superpower
Excadrill @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Iron Head
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
The sets are relatively straightforward, and I really don’t feel the need to talk about these pokemon individually since they act as a pair. Tyranitar sets up sand and hits like a truck with a choice band, and Excadrill can outspeed nearly everything (except for scarf Pheromosa) once sand is up, denting or downright cleaning offensive teams. Choice Band is used because Pursuit can be a relatively weak move without the choice band, although I may consider running a Choice Scarf in the future to deal with the likes of Thunderpunch Metagross once Charizard has been knocked out. I chose to run Swords Dance instead of Rapid Spin on Excadrill, because defensive Landorus is extremely popular, and I can’t afford to be put in a corner when Excadrill is my only remaining win condition. Jolly nature is used to outspeed Heatran outside of sand, as well as Tapu Bulu and other pokemon in that speed tier.
The last pokemon I added to the team is what I consider to be the best pokemon introduced in Gen 7: Tapu Lele. Many people have told me that they believe Tapu Lele should be banned from OU, and while I would disagree with that statement, I certainly can empathize with the sentiment. Tapu Lele is an excellent addition to any team.
Tapu Lele @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Thunderbolt
Tapu Lele compliments the Sand Rush core excellently due to Psychic Terrain blocking priority moves. This means that Greninja can’t spam water Shuriken to deal with my team, and smaller threats such as Mimikyu are dealt with easily. Choice Scarf is used because it can reliably handle Pheromosa, revenge kill Tapu Koko, and maim nearly anything in the game that isn’t named Mega-Metagross. Hidden Power Fire is used so that it can handle Scizor, and Thunderbolt is there to dent Celesteela and OHKO Mantine. Shadow Ball is a viable option in the last slot, as most ghost resists don’t appreciate a Moonblast, however this set still works wonderfully. Last but not least, Tapu Lele can kill Sableye should both Ursaring and Charizard go down, minimizing the chances of an opposing stall player winning.
Threats:
Strong Water Types, such as Sharpedo, give this team a lot of trouble. Playing against standard Kingdra / Tapu Koko / Pelipper rain teams is surprisingly not a big issue, because it is extremely hard for the opposing player to win the weather war, and they typically lack the defensive backbone to deal with Sand, Charizard, and Ursaring.
Baton Pass - I honestly hate dealing with scolipede speed pass teams, because it requires such little skill to click Protect and Substitute then baton pass, but I suppose it is just as viable of a strategy as any other. This team does not have many pokemon to tank hits repeatedly, which is an issue when dealing with fast pokemon hiding behind a substitute, which excadrill can't outspeed.
Lead Smeargle / Focus Sash Abusers - without taunt on the team, there is little to stop something from going to sleep against lead Smeargle / Breloom. Focus Sash Mamoswine is typically not a problem. I tend to be of the opinion that teams involving Smeargle are generally bad anyways.
Pheromosa - With a speed boost, it can sweep my team when weakened. The choice scarf set is also a problem, outspeeding Tapu Lele. The main counterplay to this is the fact that Pheromosa can't touch Char-Y without an attack boost.
Genesect - The Scarf set is somewhat annoying, but it is easily pursuit trapped by TTar if it manages to pick off a weakened charizard. I typically don't risk Tapu Lele against Genesect, and Excadrill outspeeds it under sand. The choice band and choice specs sets are extremely easy to deal with, considering the how the combination of psychic terrain, zard, and sand to applies immense pressure. The more niche shift gear set typically will only sweep this team if charizard has been significantly weakened.
252 SpA Genesect Thunderbolt vs. 104 HP / 4 SpD Charizard-Mega-Y: 164-194 (50.7 - 60%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
That's about it I can think of for threats. This team does lack Ice coverage, which means that DD Zygarde can become an issue if left unthreatened. Zygarde only switches in freely on Mew, however, and many players fear the common Will-O-Wisp mew set. Ursaring can take 2 hits from unboosted sub-coil Zygarde, allowing it to break a sub and bring it down to very low health.
Conclusion:
This team does one thing well, and that is handle stall. If you are faced with a team that has only one or two pokemon to outspeed Ursaring, you will most likely win the match. Naturally, it is possible lose even given the best of matchups, but I honestly love playing stall with this team. Yes, Charizard and Tyranitar can typically handle stall matchups quite well themselves, however this team makes it nearly impossible to lose to even the most competent stall players. You might have to fall asleep at the keyboard to lose, honestly.
Replays:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7pokebankou-500466959
I believe this game was around 1570 ELO, and it was one of my first times playing against stall with this team. I couldn’t have been happier about how the team panned out in gameplay after planning it out on paper.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7pokebankou-501288114
Another stall matchup, this time with a Shedinja which is particularly annoying to my Ursaring, but easily dealt with by keeping sand up, and frequently threatening with Charizard. Possibly another reason to consider running Crunch on Ursaring, but Ursaring walls most Shedinja sets anyways since they are usually Protect / Baton Pass / Will-O-Wisp / Shadow Sneak.
Edit #1: Charizard's EV spread has been changed to a bulkier one, see the notes for what it does.
importable:
1) The Speed Shift - In SUMO OU, many teams rely on slow defensive pokemon such as toxapex and celesteela to absorb neutral physical attacks, while simultaneously weakening pokemon for a faster threat to revenge kill it later on in the game. The speed tiers of the metagame have also shifted slightly, with many teams packing slower offensive mons such as Magearna and Alolan Marowak.
2) The Burn Nerf -Burn damage used to sap away 12% of a pokemon's health every turn, making it a very undesirable status even for pokemon with reliable recovery (such as Venusaur). In Gen 7, however, burn damage does even less than life orb damage at a relatively small 6%, which is a huge boost for pokemon such as Ursaring with the Guts ability.
Background and Motivation:
Stall is incredibly difficult to deal with for most offensive teams, because a stall player gains momentum every time they force switches, usually at little penalty. Stall teams also tend to be free to abuse status moves and stack hazards, as offensive teams struggle to find an opportunity during the stall match to eliminate hazards without absorbing status, and only a select few pokemon don't mind taking status moves at all. Generic stall builds usually look something like this nowadays:
As you can see, Hazards are blocked by Sableye, and strong attackers struggle to manage the defensive core of Toxapex, Chansey, and Zapdos, because they share no weaknesses. Furthermore, Toxapex limits the viability of calm mind Clefable against these teams, since they all pack Haze and take negligible damage from unboosted attacks. Unaware Quagsire is further insurance against setup sweepers such as Swords Dance Landorus-T, and Dugtrio is used to trap and remove pokemon that can potentially threaten the rest of the team.
I have really struggled to build offensive teams this generation which can handle the likes of Pheromosa, Tapu Koko, and Genesect, while still being able to pressure common stall builds effectively. Ursaring, however, is the solution to beating stall:
The Team:
The Teambuilding process is essentially in the order that these pokemon are presented. The team is centered around Ursaring, and finding opportunities to lure in defensive pokemon for it to eat up. It is not a very defensive team at all, and lacks good switch-ins for pokemon like Pheromosa. It hasn't been too much of an issue, but misplaying once in a bad matchup can lead to a quick loss.
Papa Bear (Ursaring) @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Facade
- Close Combat
- Play Rough
- Swords Dance
Ursaring’s moveset is derived from the smogon quick feet PU moveset which can be found here: ( http://www.smogon.com/dex/xy/pokemon/ursaring/ ). Obviously a Jolly nature is typically preferred on offensive pokemon, however I felt that the increase in damage from Adamant was far more worthwhile. Ursaring can 2HKO any (non-ghost) pokemon in the game with a +2 Facade or Close Combat:
+2 252+ Atk Guts Ursaring Facade (140 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Arceus-Steel: 238-281 (53.6 - 63.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Furthermore, the only ghost pokemon that is really found on stall is Sableye. Even unboosted, Sableye can’t handle Ursaring at all:
252+ Atk Guts Ursaring Play Rough vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Sableye: 280-330 (92.1 - 108.5%) -- 50% chance to OHKO
I have heavily considered running Crunch over Close Combat, So Ursaring can handle things such as Alolan Marowak, however I don’t see the need to when I have 5 other pokemon to take on ghosts. This pokemon has extremely few safe switch-ins in the current metagame, making it an incredibly powerful tool even against slower bulky teams that aren’t full-on stall. The only real downsides to this bear are its speed and mediocre defensive stats, but it is almost always guaranteed a kill each game. The best part about using Ursaring is that it can’t be put to sleep, it actually wants to be burned, and if it somehow manages to get poisoned, it really doesn’t mind that either.
After I decided to test Ursaring, I knew that a power special attacker would be an excellent way to lure in Bear Food. Charizard Mega-Y was my choice to fulfill this role, as the only pokemon that can safely switch into it are Chansey, Mantine, Toxapex, and the Lati Twins.
Charizard-Mega-Y @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Drought
EVs: 104 HP / 48 Def / 104 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Solar Beam
- Focus Blast
- Roost
Edit:
The EV spread I have here is slightly modified from the original 252 / 4 / 252 spread, which hits specific benchmarks such as always avoiding the OHKO from Jolly Mega Metagross' Thunderpunch, Choice Specs Primarina's Hydro Pump, and Mega Sharpedo's Crunch. You also always live a thunderbolt from Tapu Koko outside of Electric Terrain. If the sun is up, you take a maximum of 75% from Choice Specs Greninja's Hydro Pump if he isn't in Ash-Greninja Form, and are NEVER OHKO'd by Choice Specs Ash Greninja's Hydro Pump from full HP in the sun. The spread also allows you to never be OHKO'd by any one of Alolan-Marowak's standard moves, although you cannot do much back. The SpA investment always ensures an OHKO on 248 HP / 8 SpD Landorus - T after Stealth Rocks, which is a great way to free up Excadrill for late-game if the opponent misplays thinking its Zard X. Max speed is really only for Tapu Lele, Kyurem, Manaphy, and Non-Scarf Genesect since you dont have to worry about speed ties with M-Medicham and M-Gardevoir this generation.
The set I have used is incredibly self-explanatory: You can click Fire Blast on anything that doesn’t resist it, with Solar Beam to handle bulky water types and Focus Blast to manage rock types outside of the sun. Charizard lures in Toxapex in nearly every match that I play, and really only fears strong physical attackers. I knew that I needed a team member to sponge physical hits for Zard, as well as eliminate hazards consistently. This led me to my next team member, mew:
Mew @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 228 Def / 28 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Defog
- U-turn
- Roost
Mew’s movepool allows for insane role compression, letting it get rid of hazards, as well as set up its own (because really, every team should have stealth rocks), and gain momentum with U-turn. I felt that U-turn was the best attack for mew to have, because generally mew should switch out after fulfilling its duty of removing hazards anyways, and it eases the need for prediction when the opponent is likely to switch themselves. Roost is a necessity on this set in order to stay alive long enough to remove hazards over longer games. I chose a fully physically defensive set to take attacks from common stealth rockers such as Mamoswine, Landorus, and Defensive Marowak better.
With Charizard and Ursaring on the team, I knew I needed something to pressure offensive teams more, since Charizard isn’t too fast, and Ursaring is downright slow. I choose to add a sand core to the team in Tyranitar and Excadrill, which is an excellent win condition after Defensive Landorus-T has been weakened or killed, and a great way to keep momentum in my favor against opposing weather teams.
Tyranitar @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Superpower
Excadrill @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Iron Head
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
The sets are relatively straightforward, and I really don’t feel the need to talk about these pokemon individually since they act as a pair. Tyranitar sets up sand and hits like a truck with a choice band, and Excadrill can outspeed nearly everything (except for scarf Pheromosa) once sand is up, denting or downright cleaning offensive teams. Choice Band is used because Pursuit can be a relatively weak move without the choice band, although I may consider running a Choice Scarf in the future to deal with the likes of Thunderpunch Metagross once Charizard has been knocked out. I chose to run Swords Dance instead of Rapid Spin on Excadrill, because defensive Landorus is extremely popular, and I can’t afford to be put in a corner when Excadrill is my only remaining win condition. Jolly nature is used to outspeed Heatran outside of sand, as well as Tapu Bulu and other pokemon in that speed tier.
The last pokemon I added to the team is what I consider to be the best pokemon introduced in Gen 7: Tapu Lele. Many people have told me that they believe Tapu Lele should be banned from OU, and while I would disagree with that statement, I certainly can empathize with the sentiment. Tapu Lele is an excellent addition to any team.
Tapu Lele @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Thunderbolt
Tapu Lele compliments the Sand Rush core excellently due to Psychic Terrain blocking priority moves. This means that Greninja can’t spam water Shuriken to deal with my team, and smaller threats such as Mimikyu are dealt with easily. Choice Scarf is used because it can reliably handle Pheromosa, revenge kill Tapu Koko, and maim nearly anything in the game that isn’t named Mega-Metagross. Hidden Power Fire is used so that it can handle Scizor, and Thunderbolt is there to dent Celesteela and OHKO Mantine. Shadow Ball is a viable option in the last slot, as most ghost resists don’t appreciate a Moonblast, however this set still works wonderfully. Last but not least, Tapu Lele can kill Sableye should both Ursaring and Charizard go down, minimizing the chances of an opposing stall player winning.
Threats:
Strong Water Types, such as Sharpedo, give this team a lot of trouble. Playing against standard Kingdra / Tapu Koko / Pelipper rain teams is surprisingly not a big issue, because it is extremely hard for the opposing player to win the weather war, and they typically lack the defensive backbone to deal with Sand, Charizard, and Ursaring.
Baton Pass - I honestly hate dealing with scolipede speed pass teams, because it requires such little skill to click Protect and Substitute then baton pass, but I suppose it is just as viable of a strategy as any other. This team does not have many pokemon to tank hits repeatedly, which is an issue when dealing with fast pokemon hiding behind a substitute, which excadrill can't outspeed.
Lead Smeargle / Focus Sash Abusers - without taunt on the team, there is little to stop something from going to sleep against lead Smeargle / Breloom. Focus Sash Mamoswine is typically not a problem. I tend to be of the opinion that teams involving Smeargle are generally bad anyways.
Pheromosa - With a speed boost, it can sweep my team when weakened. The choice scarf set is also a problem, outspeeding Tapu Lele. The main counterplay to this is the fact that Pheromosa can't touch Char-Y without an attack boost.
Genesect - The Scarf set is somewhat annoying, but it is easily pursuit trapped by TTar if it manages to pick off a weakened charizard. I typically don't risk Tapu Lele against Genesect, and Excadrill outspeeds it under sand. The choice band and choice specs sets are extremely easy to deal with, considering the how the combination of psychic terrain, zard, and sand to applies immense pressure. The more niche shift gear set typically will only sweep this team if charizard has been significantly weakened.
252 SpA Genesect Thunderbolt vs. 104 HP / 4 SpD Charizard-Mega-Y: 164-194 (50.7 - 60%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
That's about it I can think of for threats. This team does lack Ice coverage, which means that DD Zygarde can become an issue if left unthreatened. Zygarde only switches in freely on Mew, however, and many players fear the common Will-O-Wisp mew set. Ursaring can take 2 hits from unboosted sub-coil Zygarde, allowing it to break a sub and bring it down to very low health.
Conclusion:
This team does one thing well, and that is handle stall. If you are faced with a team that has only one or two pokemon to outspeed Ursaring, you will most likely win the match. Naturally, it is possible lose even given the best of matchups, but I honestly love playing stall with this team. Yes, Charizard and Tyranitar can typically handle stall matchups quite well themselves, however this team makes it nearly impossible to lose to even the most competent stall players. You might have to fall asleep at the keyboard to lose, honestly.
Replays:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7pokebankou-500466959
I believe this game was around 1570 ELO, and it was one of my first times playing against stall with this team. I couldn’t have been happier about how the team panned out in gameplay after planning it out on paper.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7pokebankou-501288114
Another stall matchup, this time with a Shedinja which is particularly annoying to my Ursaring, but easily dealt with by keeping sand up, and frequently threatening with Charizard. Possibly another reason to consider running Crunch on Ursaring, but Ursaring walls most Shedinja sets anyways since they are usually Protect / Baton Pass / Will-O-Wisp / Shadow Sneak.
Edit #1: Charizard's EV spread has been changed to a bulkier one, see the notes for what it does.
importable:
Last edited:
