Hey Smogon. I've recently fallen in love with the UU metagame on wifi, and am now ready to bring the team to Shoddy. Before I start laddering with it, I wanted to get it rated and hammer out any problems with it. The team basically consists of a powerful Fire/Water/Grass offensive core, and some defensive/supportive backbone to help them in the course of the match. Here it is at a glance:
Team Building Process
I wanted to use one of my favourite Pokemon in UU, and that was Feraligatr. DDGatr can really rip through entire teams, be that mid or late game. With the current support from my team, he can come in again and again!
With Feraligatr being a powerful physical sweeper, I wanted a special one that could also check his weaknesses to Grass and Electric. Sceptile filled the role perfectly, with his massive Speed and good SpA.
With a Fire and a Grass Pokemon, I realised I could create the famous F/W/G core. With one being physically based and the other specially based, it made sense to use a mixed attacker. Blaziken is the main wall breaker on my team.
It was time to choose a lead. My team lacked immunities, so I wanted to fix that. Spiritomb is an excellent and very bulky lead that has proven to be very effective on this team.
Every team needs SR support, so I chose my favourite UU Stealth Rocker. My team also needs to switch around a lot, so Rapid spin support really helps. Donphan gives me a good physical wall and a powerful attacker in general.
I needed a special wall for the team and some very useful support moves, like Wish and Heal Bell. Chansey provides all of it, and fits in well with Donphan and Spiritomb.
Spiritomb
Item: Spooky Plate
Ability: Pressure
Nature: Quiet
EVs: 244 HP / 48 Att / 204 SpA / 12 Spe
-Shadow Ball
-HP Fighting
-Shadow Sneak
-Pursuit
Spiritomb is my lead, and a very effective one at that. It can deal with just about any common one out there. Shadow Ball is his main attack, getting boosted by Spooky Plate and getting the 2HKO on the majority of of other leads. HP Fighting allows me to deal with Ambipom and Steelix, and together with Shadow Ball gives me perfect coverage. His last two moves bypass his pathetic speed, allowing me to finish off Focus Sash users, and revenge kill some threats, especially speedy Ghosts and Psychics like Mismagius and Alakazam.Pursuit nails them on the inevitable switch. Spiritomb is really bulky, and having no weaknesses heally helps. He also can really benefit from Chanseys wish support, coming in on the inevitable fighting attack aimed at her and restoring his health. Not only does he have a fighting immunity, but also a very handy Psychic and Normal one. Spiritomb is completely irreplacable on this team, since he's saved my butt so many times, be it with his priority, immunities or coverage.
Donphan
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 52 HP / 252 Att / 204 Def
-Stealth Rock
-Rapid Spin
-Earthquake
-Ice Shard
The grumpy Heffalump provides some crucial support to my team. Stealth Rock is always needed, and Donphan has numerous opportunities to set it up. Rapid Spin is crucial to my team, since even if none of them actually have a SR weakness, Spikes has seen more usage and my sweepers will be doing a lot of switching. Earthquake is found on all Donphan, since with his awesome Attack, it can really lay on the hurt. Ice Shard gives him lovely coverage alongside EQ in UU. I didn't bother with Assurance since Spiritomb easily deals with the Ghosts coming in to block the Rapid Spin. Donphan also acts as my physical wall for the team, while having an awesome Electric immunity that Feraligatr really appreciates. Ice Shard is crucial to revenge-kill Torterra and Altaria, since both have seen a boom on usage on wifi (not sure about on Shoddy though).
Chansey
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
Nature: Calm
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 6 Spe
-Wish
-Heal Bell
-Seismic Toss
-Toxic
The special wall of OU comes to my team to not only provide flawless walling skills, but also some incredible support. My sweepers really hate status, and Chansey easily fixes that problem, while also restoring their health. She gives me a Ghost immunity as well. Seismic Toss is her only real way to deal damage, but it easily deals enough to KO some things that aren't Ghosts. Cresselia also seems to really like to switch into Chansey for some reason, so when I predict her coming in I Toxic, making Cresselia almost useless, since most are SubCM versions that I've seen. The synergy between Spiritomb and Chansey is perfect. I gave her a Speed EV, just to outspeed others in her speed group that don't invest in it, since I don't see what an extra point in Defense can possibly do.
Sceptile
Item: Choice Specs
Ability: Overgrow
Nature: Timid
EVs: 6 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
-Leaf Storm
-Energy Ball
-Focus Blast
-HP Ice
Sceptile is the most immediately threatening Pokemon on my team, due to massive Speed and SpA. Leaf Storm is so powerful, it can nearly compare to a SpecsMence Draco Meteor. When I send Sceptile in on something I know is going to switch, like a bulky water, I just Leaf Storm anyway, to damage the switch in. Providing SR is in play, I can OHKO Swellow with it. Energy Ball is there for when I want to attempt a sweep. Focus Blast decimates Registeel trying to take a Leaf Storm, and HP Ice deals with Altaria. I think most UU players have experienced the power behing a Leaf Storm coming from SpecsTile, since so many Pokemon that is hits for neutral damage, like Torterra, Steelix and Mismagius, are all OHKOd. Sceptile really appreciates the support from Donphan more than my others, since he's the one who does the most switching. Blaziken is also really helpful, since he easily disposes of Chansey, without having to fear Thunder Wave, thanks to my own Chansey.
Blaziken
Item: Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
Nature: Rash
EVs: 6 Att / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
-Superpower
-Fire Blast
-Vacuum Wave
-HP Ice
The wall breaker of the team, Blaziken can easily dispose of annying things like Donphan, Registeel and Chansey with his STAB moves. He also brings more priority to the table, since he isn't exactly the fastest. Generally Sceptile is the one I use to kill bulky waters, since Blaziken can't really do it any more as he lacks HP Grass. HP Ice has proven to be far more useful, since the most common switch in to my Blaziken is Altaria, who is outsped and OHKOd, providing it isn't running a positive speed nature. Blaziken is an absoulte monster against slower, defensive teams who rely on Altaria to kill him, often being able to sweep through the entire team all by himself. He resists common attacks thrown at Sceptile, and Grass ones at Feraligatr and Donphan.
Feraligatr
Item: Life Orb
Ability: Torrent
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 28 HP / 252 Att / 228 Spe
-Dragon Dance
-Waterfall
-Ice Punch
-Earthquake
When I play OU, in general I always have a Gyarados on my team. When I made the jump to this much more fun tier, I decided to use Feraligatr, since I'm a very experienced Gyarados player and Feraligatr is played in almost the exact same way. He is my real sweeper, having excellent coverage, backed up by high attack and a great speed stat after a DD, crucially outpacing Sceptile and Swellow, and hitting them for the OHKO with Ice Punch. Waterfall is his main STAB move, hardly being resisted and with some good coverage. In his last slot, Earthquake gives good neutral coverage and his his best attack against other Waters that are low on health. I had Crunch here before, but Waterfall KOd Mismagius and Rotom anyway
