Be nice this is my first time here , you know? :)
Okay so straight off the bat the inspiration from this team came from the lead, Medicham. The idea for using Medicham to lead came from the OU environment - its huge attack, access to fake out, bullet punch, good STAB options and fire/ice/thunder punch seemed to make it the ultimate anti lead on paper - fake out and bullet punch mean even Aerodactyl gets no chance to set up rocks or even do anything. Fighting STAB (brick break or hi jump kick) makes lead Tyranitar quake in its boots. A hugely problematic lead in todays OU metagame, Machamp, is easily dispatched by Zen Headbutt. And should lead Metagross or Jirachi worry you there's always fire punch. And so on and so forth.
It wasn't bad but it occurred to me that if Medicham can compete so viably in OU then surely it will be great where it belongs, in UU? And so this team happened. And yet it's not centered around Medicham at all; Medicham just happens to be the lead.
I'm not going to over complicate this so no team building process in this thread. To be honest it wasn't that calculated a process in places, I.E. Registeel was just picked almost randomly because I needed something bulky, to lay down rocks, spread some status and go out with a bang should a big annoying threat arise. It was just one of a number of suitable Pokemon.
So here goes...
Overview
Medicham - Hard hitting lead
Holds: Life Orb
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Pure Power
EVs: 4 HP, 252 Attack, 252 Speed
Moves:
Fake Out
Bullet Punch
Zen Headbutt
Hi Jump Kick
So I've fussed Medicham but really its role is dead simple; get in and hit really hard while the opponent dilly dallys with entry hazards and the like. Fake Out breaks sashes; the way I found Medicham was by looking for a more alternative Fake Out user - even in UU Ambipom seems to be the dominant Fake Out lead. Bullet Punch was originally to deal with Aerodactly and Weavile in OU but it's found use here as a general purpose priority move. Dual STAB too; it's walled a bit by psychic types but it shouldn't have to deal with too many anyway. Hi Jump Kick above brick break just because it's stronger; 90 accuracy is reasonable enough. It sometimes goes suicide lead but typically it will want to stay alive because fighting offers nice coverage in UU.
Registeel - Stealth Rocks man and general purpose wall
Holds: Leftovers
Nature: Careful
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP, 100 Attack, 156 Special Defense
Moves:
Stealth Rocks
Thunder Wave
Earthquake
Explosion
Okay so this set was taken straight off Smogon, and why not? Registeel fills a big bulky hole in my team quite nicely, walling many threats and spreading paralysis and stealth rocks. Meat and potatoes stuff really. Explosion is very nice coming from something built for physical attack; a nice break from the dissatisfying Magnezone and Heatran explosions of OU and it really puts a dent in big threats, usually killing them.
Magneton - Steel Trapper
Holds: Leftovers
Nature: Modest
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 104 HP, 252 Special Attack, 152 Speed
Moves:
Thunderbolt
Hidden Power [Fire]
Magnet Rise
Substitute
Another standard set; nothing traps steels better in UU and with a Belly Drumming Linoone doing the main sweeping on the team, Magneton's job is very important. Typically I'll throw Linoone out there early so long as there isn't too much risk to lure out one of those steel types and then switch in Magnezone (unless of course I see an Earthquake coming). From there it's just Sub, Magnet Rise over a predicted EQ and spray them down with either HP Fire or Thunderbolt, clearing Linoone to sweep.
You may notice one slight deviation from the Smogon EV spread, which runs 108 HP and 148 Speed. There's a simple reason for this and that's outspeeding opposing Magneton of the same build; they're as much of a threat as any steel type and should it come down to Magneton Versus Magneton it's basically down to whichever one's faster.
Mr Mime - sleep inducing sub passer
Holds: Wide Lens
Nature: Timid
Ability: Soundproof
EVs: 4 HP, 252 Special Attack, 252 Speed
Moves:
Hypnosis
Substitute
Baton Pass
Psychic
Now it begins to look more individualistic; with the wide lens Hypnosis becomes noticeably more reliable (although it's still missed three times in a row before - damn hax...), and it's surprising how much of the UU tier it outspeeds with a timid nature and 252 Speed EVs, meaning that well played it'll probably put something to sleep. It can then pass a sub to whoever it likes, typically for Linoone to Belly Drum behind. Soundproof is good roar insurance; Filter is nice but it doesn't get hit too often anyway. Finally, Mr Mime's base 100 Special Attack still packs a punch, and Psychic takes advantage of that, with STAB and okay coverage.
Linoone - Belly Drumming death machine
Holds: Salac Berry
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Gluttony
EVs: 4 HP, 252 Attack, 252 Speed
Moves:
Belly Drum
Extremespeed
Seed Bomb
Shadow Claw
This is where the pain begins. It's a one turn setup, and with support from Mr Mime it's rather achievable. Rather than being a late game sweeper I simply use Linoone to put a huge gaping hole in the opponent's team after checking all opposing steel types - Dugtrio cleans up nicely after Linoone finishes off. I'm not sure if this is a standard Linoone set or not but it seems obvious enough and it works a charm.
Dugtrio - revenge killer and late game cleaner
Holds: Life Orb
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 4 HP, 252 Attack, 252 Speed
Moves:
Earthquake
Stone Edge
Sucker Punch
Substitute
Another standard set but it works like a charm, clearing up most steel types Magneton fails to check and finishing off whatever might have finished off Linoone. Arena trap is a godsend, type coverage is good, Substiture blocks Sucker Punches. What more is there to say?
Thanks for reading, all comments welcomed and appreciated!
I may edit in a threat list later. If it infringes a character limit, then oops. I'm not sure it's too interesting reading through those things. If you can identify a huge potential threat, please do speak up - I feel like I'm okay at this but I'm not experienced enough to be able to do the threat checklist thing. This team doesn't really deal in immediate counters; there's a specific strategy that it wants to execute every match.
Thanks again!
Okay so straight off the bat the inspiration from this team came from the lead, Medicham. The idea for using Medicham to lead came from the OU environment - its huge attack, access to fake out, bullet punch, good STAB options and fire/ice/thunder punch seemed to make it the ultimate anti lead on paper - fake out and bullet punch mean even Aerodactyl gets no chance to set up rocks or even do anything. Fighting STAB (brick break or hi jump kick) makes lead Tyranitar quake in its boots. A hugely problematic lead in todays OU metagame, Machamp, is easily dispatched by Zen Headbutt. And should lead Metagross or Jirachi worry you there's always fire punch. And so on and so forth.
It wasn't bad but it occurred to me that if Medicham can compete so viably in OU then surely it will be great where it belongs, in UU? And so this team happened. And yet it's not centered around Medicham at all; Medicham just happens to be the lead.
I'm not going to over complicate this so no team building process in this thread. To be honest it wasn't that calculated a process in places, I.E. Registeel was just picked almost randomly because I needed something bulky, to lay down rocks, spread some status and go out with a bang should a big annoying threat arise. It was just one of a number of suitable Pokemon.
So here goes...
Overview
Medicham - Hard hitting lead
Holds: Life Orb
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Pure Power
EVs: 4 HP, 252 Attack, 252 Speed
Moves:
Fake Out
Bullet Punch
Zen Headbutt
Hi Jump Kick
So I've fussed Medicham but really its role is dead simple; get in and hit really hard while the opponent dilly dallys with entry hazards and the like. Fake Out breaks sashes; the way I found Medicham was by looking for a more alternative Fake Out user - even in UU Ambipom seems to be the dominant Fake Out lead. Bullet Punch was originally to deal with Aerodactly and Weavile in OU but it's found use here as a general purpose priority move. Dual STAB too; it's walled a bit by psychic types but it shouldn't have to deal with too many anyway. Hi Jump Kick above brick break just because it's stronger; 90 accuracy is reasonable enough. It sometimes goes suicide lead but typically it will want to stay alive because fighting offers nice coverage in UU.
Registeel - Stealth Rocks man and general purpose wall
Holds: Leftovers
Nature: Careful
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP, 100 Attack, 156 Special Defense
Moves:
Stealth Rocks
Thunder Wave
Earthquake
Explosion
Okay so this set was taken straight off Smogon, and why not? Registeel fills a big bulky hole in my team quite nicely, walling many threats and spreading paralysis and stealth rocks. Meat and potatoes stuff really. Explosion is very nice coming from something built for physical attack; a nice break from the dissatisfying Magnezone and Heatran explosions of OU and it really puts a dent in big threats, usually killing them.
Magneton - Steel Trapper
Holds: Leftovers
Nature: Modest
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 104 HP, 252 Special Attack, 152 Speed
Moves:
Thunderbolt
Hidden Power [Fire]
Magnet Rise
Substitute
Another standard set; nothing traps steels better in UU and with a Belly Drumming Linoone doing the main sweeping on the team, Magneton's job is very important. Typically I'll throw Linoone out there early so long as there isn't too much risk to lure out one of those steel types and then switch in Magnezone (unless of course I see an Earthquake coming). From there it's just Sub, Magnet Rise over a predicted EQ and spray them down with either HP Fire or Thunderbolt, clearing Linoone to sweep.
You may notice one slight deviation from the Smogon EV spread, which runs 108 HP and 148 Speed. There's a simple reason for this and that's outspeeding opposing Magneton of the same build; they're as much of a threat as any steel type and should it come down to Magneton Versus Magneton it's basically down to whichever one's faster.
Mr Mime - sleep inducing sub passer
Holds: Wide Lens
Nature: Timid
Ability: Soundproof
EVs: 4 HP, 252 Special Attack, 252 Speed
Moves:
Hypnosis
Substitute
Baton Pass
Psychic
Now it begins to look more individualistic; with the wide lens Hypnosis becomes noticeably more reliable (although it's still missed three times in a row before - damn hax...), and it's surprising how much of the UU tier it outspeeds with a timid nature and 252 Speed EVs, meaning that well played it'll probably put something to sleep. It can then pass a sub to whoever it likes, typically for Linoone to Belly Drum behind. Soundproof is good roar insurance; Filter is nice but it doesn't get hit too often anyway. Finally, Mr Mime's base 100 Special Attack still packs a punch, and Psychic takes advantage of that, with STAB and okay coverage.
Linoone - Belly Drumming death machine
Holds: Salac Berry
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Gluttony
EVs: 4 HP, 252 Attack, 252 Speed
Moves:
Belly Drum
Extremespeed
Seed Bomb
Shadow Claw
This is where the pain begins. It's a one turn setup, and with support from Mr Mime it's rather achievable. Rather than being a late game sweeper I simply use Linoone to put a huge gaping hole in the opponent's team after checking all opposing steel types - Dugtrio cleans up nicely after Linoone finishes off. I'm not sure if this is a standard Linoone set or not but it seems obvious enough and it works a charm.
Dugtrio - revenge killer and late game cleaner
Holds: Life Orb
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 4 HP, 252 Attack, 252 Speed
Moves:
Earthquake
Stone Edge
Sucker Punch
Substitute
Another standard set but it works like a charm, clearing up most steel types Magneton fails to check and finishing off whatever might have finished off Linoone. Arena trap is a godsend, type coverage is good, Substiture blocks Sucker Punches. What more is there to say?
Thanks for reading, all comments welcomed and appreciated!
I may edit in a threat list later. If it infringes a character limit, then oops. I'm not sure it's too interesting reading through those things. If you can identify a huge potential threat, please do speak up - I feel like I'm okay at this but I'm not experienced enough to be able to do the threat checklist thing. This team doesn't really deal in immediate counters; there's a specific strategy that it wants to execute every match.
Thanks again!
