Resource ZUPL Sets and Team Dump

S1nn0hC0nfirm3d

aka Ho3nConfirm3d
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnusis a defending SCL Champion


art by Spook
approved by 5gen.

With the conclusion of the first ZUPL, here is a thread where players may share the teams and sets they used sometime throughout the tournament. These teams are divided into the SM, ORAS, BW, and DPP tiers that were played in ZUPL. Tour players, feel free to share your thoughts and potential match up fishing when creating the team!

Rules
  • All teams/sets must have seen use in an official ZUPL game. While replays are not needed, an official replay should exist here (or in the tiebreaker, playoffs, and finals threads until the replay thread is updated).
  • Title your post (or team if your post has multiple teams) with one of the corresponding generational tags: [DPP], [BW], [ORAS], or [SM].
  • Post an importable of the team/set, preferably with pokepaste.
  • Use sprites to have a visual of the team: try using sprites dragged from here.
  • Post a description inside a spoiler as to save space.
And that's it! Thank you in advance for participating in the first ZUPL and sharing your thoughts on the teambuilding aspect of it.
 

S1nn0hC0nfirm3d

aka Ho3nConfirm3d
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnusis a defending SCL Champion
Team / Sets Archive:

Click on the spoiler for the player, and then the sprites to be taken to the pokepaste for the team.
Check below the thread for the OPs and descriptions for the teams.

SM


electivire.pngswanna.pngmareanie.pnggolem.pngshiftry.pngbouffalant.png

electivire.pngtoucannon.pngmarowak.pngsimisage.pngmonferno.pngsilvally-water.png

furfrou.pngsilvally-fighting.pngsandslash.pngrotom-fan.pngmareanie.pngrampardos.png

camerupt.pngmareanie.pngshiftry.pngrotom-fan.pngsilvally.pngcrustle.png

golem-alola.pngvibrava.pngmawile.pngdusclops.pngsilvally.pngkomala.png

shiftry.pngfloatzel.pngrapidash.pngelectivire.pngmawile.pngsandslash.png

trevenant.pngcombusken.pngmareanie.pngkecleon.pngsilvally-dark.pnggolem.png

golem.pngkadabra.pngsimisage.pngrotom-fan.pngbasculin.pngsilvally-dark.png




















ORAS


NA

BW



DPP


persian.pngtangela.pnglunatone.pngquagsire.pngkecleon.pnggastly.png

persian.pngseviper.pnglapras.pngsudowoodo.pngtangela.pngslaking.png
 
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DnB

#DnB4608, its way easier on discord :>
is a Tiering Contributor Alumnus
BW ZU
Feel free to use any of my teams :)
I just used good stuff, solid mons, no gimmicks, and while most of my teams have certain weaknesses, I built them in prep for my opponents and 6/7 times it worked out :>

Replay

Import
I wanted to use stall, but its just not viable in the tier when things like Arbok, Leafeon or Pawniard run around. So I decided to build around a bulky core + Purugly and Emolga for revenging. Worked out pretty well: Worm-T gets up Rocks without any problems and Frillish blocks every spinner in the tier easily, so you force your opponent to switch and prevent them from spinning, causing to rack up Rocks + Toxic Damage even more and if something goes wrong, Purugly and Emolga are there for you to revenge anything thats still alive. Flareon is a great answer to Simisear and Granbull just had to stop the physical threats and support the team with heal bell.
Replay

Import
This teams looks so weird, but it did the job. Corsola + Lumineon form a nice defensive water core while Eelektrik is super bulky and has great coverage. The goal of the team is the same: Soft everything up for purugly, but this time it is supported by Arbok, the most threatening Set-Up Mon in the tier. Most of the time 1 Coil is enough to end the game, if you can set up 2 it is really over.
Replay

Import
Worm-T + Lampent + Chinchou stop most offensive teams in the tier and Krok is just there to pursuit ghost types so Rat + Purugly can go ham. Lampent alone stops Purugly, Leafeon and Simisear and ofc tondas brought all 3 of them, sadly it didn't do anything this game. Chinchou is a great special wall, absorbs status and also walls Simisear, sadly it didn't see any more use in ZUPL. Adamant Scarf Krook outspeeds the whole non-scarfed tier and only made it into the team, because Rat and Purugly can't get past ghost types.
Replay

Import
Aaron brought such a weird team and just got swept by Pawniard and Arbok. The strat is pretty easy: 5 of the most dangerous physical offensive threats in the tier + a random rock setter. Lunatone did everything it needed to do: Get up rocks and hit Worm-T with HP Fire. Worm-T is the only physical wall that is annoying for this team, thats why I used HP Fire Lunatone and Occa Natural Gift Leafeon. After Worm-T is gone, you just win...
Replay

Import
Just a different version of my week 5 team, but this time with Dragonair and Kingler. Dragonair just sets up on Worm-T so I didn't need to include some fire techs against it. But again, Arbok and Pawniard did the job. Scarf Kingler is also really cool, never got to use it tho :(
Replay

Import
Again, just a different version of the same team, but this time dragonair did the job. It just set up and clean swept tondas. I also just re-used Lampent to stop annoying Leafeons or Arboks. Dragonair can not be 3HKOed by Purugly if it's sleeping, so you can set-up on it :)
Replay

Import
My 1st and only loss :(
Tack brought a similar team to my earlier builds and they just worked out.
My team here tries to break everything with specs simisear + purugly, while vanilluxe can clean up in the later stages of the game. Vullaby is a great defensive check to many threats in the tier and Arbok/Krook do the same thing as they did in the last 5 weeks

I think some of the teams could be used as BW ZU Sample teams, if the oldgens council wants to include some, I could write a more deeper analysis for the teams :) DurzaOffTopic

At last: Shoutouts to my the team the swannas and of course LPY , ZUPL was a great experience and I got to know so many great people in the ZU community. Really looking forward to other Oldgen ZU Tournaments, I think we really innovated the meta a lot during ZUPL and it was so much fun, looking for new broken things to abuse :>


PS: purugly is broken
PPS: spinners suck
 
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S1nn0hC0nfirm3d

aka Ho3nConfirm3d
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnusis a defending SCL Champion
[SM] Ho3n's ZUPL Teamdump:

Scarfless Offense:

electivire.png
swanna.png
mareanie.png
golem.png
shiftry.png
bouffalant.png

https://pokepast.es/eeda2f6b950d6de0
Seen in the first game of ZUPL (but with a scarf on Vire), Calucha vs Pigeons, and vs sketchy echi

This team is a solid combo of some of ZU's most popular and effective offensive threats. While a scarf Vire may seem safe over what is now the updated Ebelt set, the team handles speed control through priority and bulk to manage. This also preserves and ensures the stall MU to be a breeze. With the first stall MU, scarf Vire was more of a liability than an asset, while in the second with sketchy it was one of only 3 mons needed to dent most of his team. Past that, the Z Mirror Swanna, SD Shift, and SD Bouf all allow you to tear through teams, almost regardless of phys walls. SD Bouf is a star player here, tanking hits left and right and having a reckless 144 bp STAB to abuse. Mare is the glue needed on the team to absorb/provide tspikes, and even without hazard control the team rather have offensive momentum. It's a powerhouse of offensive capabilities that most teams end up cracking under its pressure.

Double Scarf with Simisage + Marow:
electivire.png
toucannon.png
marowak.png
simisage.png
monferno.png
silvally-water.png

https://pokepast.es/a635b27b646f7ece
Seen in Kaif vs 85% and Durza vs Rawmelon

The archetype of this team is to have two offensive scarves that work as both revenge killers and pivots on more offensive teams to support the two main WBs of NP Simi and bulky SubSD Marow. These two WBs utterly destroy stall on their own, as well as have either the speed or bulk to dent any balance as well. I have EQ over Bonermerange as Marow is bulky and will be slower than offensive Golem anyways, and defensive Golem isn't even guaranteed to be 1HKO'd by Bone anyways. Simi with Knock as a 4th move helps deal with Bronz or generally any special wall that may want to come in on it, helping to debilitate it now for a later NP Z Leafstorm sweep. Monf and Silv-Water are great pivots, helping to stop a potential Swan or Shift sweep otherwise, as well as naturally having hazard support on U-turn pivots.

FurfTurn Version 2.0:
furfrou.png
silvally-fighting.png
sandslash.png
rotom-fan.png
mareanie.png
rampardos.png

https://pokepast.es/4b5965e4fb184d7a
Seen in Teddeh v Hys

CB furf is a monster for being able to outspeed so many offensive threats with its 333 speed, tank a ton of physical hits thanks to Fur Coat, and then also 1hko'ing a lot of slower mons after rocks and chip. In Teddeh's match we saw Furf live after rocks+volt switch+wild charge from scarf Vire and then late game clean the remaining and weakened swanna and silvally. Silvally-Fighting is specially based to bait would-be checks like Mare or Swanna to coming in on it, but also past the surprise is a great mixed WB. Fan/Slash/Mare are the defensive/supportive back bone for the team, gluing the offensive pivots and WBs together. Ramp is there cause it has p much no switch ins and can be a chaky normal resist when needed, as the team otherwise relies of Furf's or Slash's phs bulk.

Here's the first batch of some of my more popular teams, may edit with more past this.
I only built SM teams, so only expect those from me!
 

Greybaum

GENTLEMAN, THIS IS DEMOCRACY MANIFEST
is a Community Contributoris a Tiering Contributoris a Contributor to Smogon
[SM] uhu7's Dump

Welcome to my dump.
To start things off...

W1 vs Pigeons
Right off the bat I knew I had to use something new. I'd gotten notice for running Golem/Crustle/Swanna on every team and I knew that'd be abused. Something bulkier, yet fun. Something ghostly. Something Trevenant.

Anyway, I made this: https://pokepast.es/afd44f858538798d
Honestly, I just wanted to use Trev. It seemed fun. But it was too early for Trev to come out vs a potential offensive matchup and the team had pretty much no Shiftry switchins, with everything dying to Knock Off into Leaf Storm. Instead, after some discussion with sketchy ecchi and Rav3ndan I agreed to remove Pawniard and Trevenant and replace them. I needed something to check Shiftry, and something to abuse Golem. sketchy ecchi came in here by providing me with the best available counter to Shiftry. My own Shiftry.
Shiftry @ Grassium Z
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 96 HP / 248 SpA / 164 Spe
Naive Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Knock Off
- Defog
- Synthesis
In short, it does Shiftry things while also directly switching into opposing Shiftry and beating them 1v1.
Anyway, with both Shiftry and Golem somewhat covered this gave me a free slot. What do I do with a free slot? Shove a Crustle in there. But not any Crustle; I'd shown off Substitute, Figy, and every other tech under the sun during SSNL. I needed something new. So I used Band Crustle. This mon is lowkey a great breaker, somewhat outclassed by Golem but trading the Stealth Rock resistance for emergency speed control in Weak Armour and a neutrality to Earthquake. This is lowkey a good set.
Anyway, this is what it ended as.
https://pokepast.es/314e15ab58fc8123

Reimu Hakurei (Camerupt) (F) @ Wiki Berry
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs: 128 HP / 252 SpA / 128 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Cirno ⑨ (Mareanie) (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 208 Def / 52 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Toxic Spikes
- Haze
- Recover

Renko Usami (Shiftry) (F) @ Grassium Z
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 96 HP / 248 SpA / 164 Spe
Naive Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Knock Off
- Defog
- Synthesis

Flandre Scarlet (Rotom-Fan) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Will-O-Wisp
- Volt Switch
- Air Slash
- Protect

Nue Houjuu (Silvally) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Double-Edge
- Ice Beam
- Explosion
- U-turn

Wriggle Nightbug (Crustle) (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Weak Armor
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- X-Scissor
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Knock Off

Camerupt/Mareanie have nice synergy, with Camerupt softchecking Electric-types like Electivire and Raichu and heavily abusing Bronzor, a mon that had been seeing increased usage at this point. Right off the bat Mareanie also gave me a nice check for Z-MM Swanna, a Muk answer and Toxic Spikes absorption. I added Rotom-Fan as a check to Defog Swanna and finished it off with Scarf Silvally as it's probably the best scarfer in the tier and is one of the best offensive checks to Swanna and Shiftry. Crustle finished off the build because I felt pretty Electivire weak, with no midground to the Scarf set that wasn't bopped by a coverage move. Crustle can 2HKO Pyukumuku btw. Anyway, tour nerves got to me and I lost pretty much entirely because I didn't think Rain Dance Golduck was a set.

W2 vs love chants
I was pretty much left to build for myself this week, though skecchi and Rav once again gave some advice during the build.
I was probably more fancy than I needed to be, but I settled on a core of SD Silvally-Normal and Scarf Komala, subverting standard expectations for each role, breaking their shared checks and using U-Turn to pivot into Golem-Alola to take out Bronzor. It pretty much did exactly what I wanted it to, with SD Silv luring in Bronzor and later taking out the bulky Mareanie/Altaria core, Golem-Alola taking out Bronzor and Komala taking an unexpected kill on offensive Monferno before allowing Mawile to take the win. Mawile/Vibrava, as I've said in other posts on the forum, are fantastic compression and together beat a huge chunk of the meta, including but not limited to Shiftry, Rapidash, Leafeon and Golem.
https://pokepast.es/fa4b7b1f0a0e5bfd

Angela (Golem-Alola) (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Fire Punch
- Volt Switch
- Stone Edge

Roddy (Vibrava) (M) @ Eviolite
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 152 Def / 104 Spe
Timid Nature
- Defog
- Earth Power
- Roost
- U-turn

Ertegun (Mawile) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 216 Def / 36 SpD / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
- Protect
- Seismic Toss
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic

Gus (Dusclops) (M) @ Eviolite
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Rest
- Seismic Toss
- Sleep Talk
- Toxic

Carole (Silvally) @ Normalium Z
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Double-Edge
- Shadow Claw
- U-turn

Tuesday (Komala) (F) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Comatose
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Wood Hammer
- Knock Off
- Return
- U-turn

W3 vs Taskr
Taskr is a solid player, but I also knew he wasn't a big ZU main. I figured he'd probably be passed some easy to use anti-offence and as such I heavily prepped for two things in particular: Sun and Trick Room. I ended up with the following:
https://pokepast.es/db16d8885384c94a

Hori (Shiftry) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naughty Nature
IVs: 29 HP
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
- Leaf Storm
- Swords Dance

Prince (Floatzel) (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Water Veil
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Liquidation
- Ice Punch
- Pursuit
- Aqua Jet

Mikorin (Rapidash) (M) @ Firium Z
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz
- High Horsepower
- Morning Sun
- Will-O-Wisp

Sakura (Electivire) (F) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Motor Drive
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Focus Blast
- Flamethrower

Lorelei (Mawile) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 216 Def / 36 SpD / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
- Protect
- Seismic Toss
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic

Waka (Sandslash) (M) @ Figy Berry
Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 Spe
Impish Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Toxic

As it turns out, he brought Trick Room, so it was a fantastic pick.
Floatzel/Shiftry start off the core with the former threatening fast mons with Sucker Punch and the latter straight up outspeeding them, giving me an immediate advantage vs faster frail mons like Simisear. With a Z move free I opted to use Rapidash to finish off the offensive core to punish Gourgeist, Shiinotic and anything else that beat the other two members. I then went with Mawile as the rocker because I felt I didn't have enough Shiftry counterplay and Sandslash as a guaranteed Electivire switchin. My own Electivire finished off the build as I felt Sandslash and Shiftry gave me enough counterplay vs Golem if I had to make predicts. It didn't come to that, however, as I ended up facing Trick Room. Mawile was extremely clutch here, with Protect allowing it to stall out turns repeatedly, block a Z move from Beheeyem and generally annoy his team.

W4 vs The Goomy
Finally up against the dreaded Oricorios and I had no idea what Goomy was going to bring. I mean come on just look at what he'd used in the past:
Anyway, I thought Durza might pass him jank stall so I decided it was time to bust out, as DurzaOffTopic affectionally calls it, "THE DEMONIC TREE". I'd been mulling over the set for some time just waiting for a chance to use it and it was finally here.
https://pokepast.es/5664fe50691560b0

Trevenant @ Figy Berry
Ability: Harvest
EVs: 244 HP / 88 Def / 176 Spe
Impish Nature
- Substitute
- Curse
- Wood Hammer
- Protect

Combusken @ Firium Z
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Flare Blitz
- Sky Uppercut
- Protect

Mareanie @ Eviolite
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 200 Def / 60 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Toxic Spikes
- Haze
- Recover

Kecleon @ Assault Vest
Ability: Protean
EVs: 188 HP / 252 Atk / 68 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Shadow Sneak
- Drain Punch
- Knock Off

Silvally-Dark @ Dark Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 252 HP / 144 Atk / 68 SpD / 44 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Multi-Attack
- Pursuit
- U-turn
- Defog

Golem @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Protect
The general core was based around tspikes, with Trevenant generally being infuriating to play against and Combusken greatly appreciating chip damage. Silvally-Dark gave me a Shiftry switchin that wasn't frail as a stick and a nice check to Psychic-types, and Kecleon acted as a SpDef tank that could weaken teams with Fake Out in conjunction with TSpikes. Golem finished off the build by giving me a normal resist, electric immunity and Stealth Rock user.
Goomy happened to bring a team that got obliterated by tspikes, with a Rapid Spin Pineco as his only removal. I set up one layer, literally just went Trev and ignored all his hazards because his team basically just killed itself over time while my Silvally-Dark at the back prepared to clean. The prep didn't go as I expected but regardless the team did what it was supposed to well.

W5 vs Ho3nConfirm3d
I expected full offence in this match and tried to match his aggression as best as possible. This was the first variation of the team: https://pokepast.es/b069ffc61c6dea3b
Yeah, I was planning on using Pikachu and I still think it's worth using. Anyway, the core idea was simple. Do as much damage with breakers as possible until Pikachu and Swanna could clean, with Silvally-Dark in the back to take out Beheeyem if it was brought. After some testing, I wasn't really all that impressed with Swanna and sketchy ecchi really wanted me to remove Pikachu, so I ended up slotting them out and bringing in Basculin and Rotom-Fan to replace them.

https://pokepast.es/f250d199f2c23dab

Thorkell (Golem) (M) @ Custap Berry
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Explosion

Floki (Kadabra) (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Signal Beam
- Counter
- Protect

Askeladd (Simisage) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Superpower
- Knock Off
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Ylva (Rotom-Fan) @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 12 SpA / 248 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Air Slash
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

Thorfinn (Basculin) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
IVs: 29 HP
- Aqua Jet
- Liquidation
- Ice Beam
- Zen Headbutt

Halfdan (Silvally-Dark) @ Dark Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 120 HP / 252 Atk / 136 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Defog
- Multi-Attack
- Pursuit
- U-turn

A few differences; Rotom-Fan is bulky and gave me a soft check to Swanna & Shiftry while still having some offensive presence thanks to Z-Air Slash. I changed Golem to Jolly with Custap because I knew Ho3n had a fondness for Golem leads of his own and I figured having an advantage in the mirror matchup could prove vital.
This is probably the game I was most disappointed in, in the end, because the prep actually worked fantastically but I threw the game by sending out Kadabra into a Silvally-Fighting before checking Psychic would kill (it didn't), proceeding to leave it in after I knew that instead of cutting my losses and making a sack, and then Leafeon just swept. Kadabra was pretty necessary for basically anything faster and letting it die gave Leafeon a full 6 kills versus me. If I kept Kadabra alive I think the game could have been incredibly close and a lot more exciting for everyone involved. Nonetheless it was a good learning opportunity for me and I give props to Ho3n for immediately seeing the mistake and taking advantage to secure the win.

Lastly, we get to the tiebreaker where I picked up a win using one of sketchy ecchi's stall teams, but as it's not my team I don't feel right about posting on his behalf.

I also helped with a few of the other teams (though not nearly as much as Rav and skecchi) and might make a second post about them later, ideally as a joint post with Rav and skecchi if they're interested, but I'm pretty lazy so who knows. Cheers for reading.
 
Okay, this took me a couple weeks but here we go. I had a lot of fun this ZUPL with the Spindas, even though we didn't get the result we deserved. Everyone was really supportive in our discord and I got numerous great ideas from uhuhuhu7 and Rav3ndan and even though a fruitshop owner was busy with college he was a great manager to play for.

Week 1 vs Feliburn click the sprites for details
Free Silv-Ghost :( This team takes advantage of Silvally-Ghost’s ability to pressure common hazard setters which helps Simisear and Swanna function. DrReuniclus and I threw this together in five minutes; Cradily sets rocks and Machoke absorbs status while walling things that aren’t super strong. Physical life orb Swanna is a pretty cool set that gives you more immediate power than the z-mirror move set and allows you to fit on roost, also, being able to revenge Combusken from full is really important for this team. Simisear compliments Swanna by breaking things it can’t, such as Pyukumuku and Dusclops. Scarf Electivire adds speed control and an electric immunity. With four pokemon at or above the 95 base speed benchmark, this team is really fast which is a key factor in facing opposing offense, and at the same time it’s not paper thin.

Tom H0lland vs 5gen
This is a team from Rav that I liked and we made some small changes before passing this to tom holland. Golem + SpDef Mareanie + Z-Synthesis Leafeon is a solid defensive core, Silv-Ghost (rip) defogs, and here we decided to run flamethrower because 5gen has an affinity to using Pawniard. Band Bouffalant breaks stuff and can pursuit troublesome psychic types to which this team has no good answer. Rotom-Fan is the scarfer of choice here as to not compound the team's weakness to Gourgeist and earthquake, and here, with some classic Tom predicts, hp ground really shined and allowed fan not to just be deadweight vs Golem and Electivire.

Pif vs SBPC
For this game Rav was mistakenly subbed out for pokeisfun (rip) and it only seemed right that he used stall. This is my favorite stall team, because Avalugg, Vullaby, Duslops, Lickilicky, and Pyukumuku is just about unbreakable as long as you can keep hazards off the field, and Probopass offers the unique role compression of trapping Bronzor and setting rocks, and it also walls some niche wallbreakers like Rampardos, Mawile, Toucannon, and Oricorio. Using physical Probopass is a big step up from the analysis set, as it allows you to 3hko Bronzor with smack down, earthquake and z-earthquake. Out of curiosity, I did some math and found Probopass has a 32% to live three psywaves from full. I used this team in week 6 vs Ho3n and ended up losing to the combination of scald, knock off Mareanie and offensive Golem which was a really tough matchup to win as this team’s biggest weakness is its vulnerability to hazards.


Week 2 vs RawMelon
Another stall team. In regard to the previous team, it is less sturdy, but has better hazard control and a nifty pursuit which can be used to trap key pokemon. The SpDef on Mawile lets it take 2.5 leaf storms from Shiftry and an overheat from life orb Toucannon. This game demonstrates the necessity for z-toxic and spite on Pyukumuku as it outlasts Regigigas. This team is pretty weak to expert belt Electivire, but Uhu managed to outplay it when he used this team in week 6.

DJ Breloominati vs Czim
This is a really standard balance team of mine, again making use of band Bouffalant for its helpful pursuit, Bronzor + Mareanie and Servine + Rapidash are two of my favorite cores and they work well together here. Servine has great role compression as a ground and electric check, defogger, and stallbreaker, Rapidash checks Shiftry and other knock users and Bronz Mare needs no explanation. I opted for sludge bomb on Mareanie to hit Shiftry and hidden power ice on Servine to more effectively break stall and lure Altaria for Rapidash.


Week 3 vs Funbot
This webs team is a favorite of mine, and I owe Ho3n credit for inspiring some sets, namely custap Shuckle and Gourg-Small. Shuckle is the best webs setter because of its durability. This set is a bit substandard, but sturdy is unnecessary since you live one hit from pretty much anything, and encore is all that’s needed to play around defoggers. Gourgeist-Small is obviously chosen for its speed; one of the things I wanted to focus on was having an answer to common priority and not being weak to Swanna so Gourgeist is great in this regard as it can boom on Swanna and Silvallys that often carry defog, checks Kecleon, and can switch into Shiftry, threatening to burn it. Assault Vest Muk is used to check special Combusken and absorb toxic spikes. Simipour and Raichu are the two real abusers of sticky webs as most teams rely on scarf Electivire to revenge them, and finally, Purugly rounds out the team by punishing defog and being a respectable threat in its own right.

Tom H0lland vs Catalystic
This is a paste of my version of the team, I’m not sure what changes Tom made exactly. The idea behind this team is just to create free turns for Beheyeem with pivot moves and use the defensive core of Gourg and Muk. Beheyeem is still relevant even with Exeggutor in the tier, as analytic and the ability to kill Bronzor and cripple things with trick is worthwhile. Monferno, Gourgeist, Muk, and Silvally-Dark make for a very resilient backbone, although Monferno is a shaky answer to Rapidash and sd Combusken. Another issue is teams that have pursuit or a Beheyeem counter like Vullaby since Beheyeem is the only wallbreaker.


Week 4 vs Finchinator
Bronzor Mareanie Silvally-Dark Electivire is maybe the most generic ZU core you can possibly come up with, but they're all great mons that work well together. The idea behind this team was to use Crustle as a secondary normal resist that Bronz Mare cores so often need for things like Sub SD Bouff. This set was Uhu's idea; I decided to ev Crustle to outspeed 105s at +1 speed, meaning it can come in on Rapidash if Mareanie gets worn down. Exeggutor compliments Crustle offensively and helps with opposing Electivire. Eggys set is a bit unorthodox too, Grassium gives it the option to use z-leaf storm as a one time nuke or to use z-sleep powder and sweep. With a timid nature, Exeggutor outspeeds 105s and slower at +1 speed and outspeeds Altaria, Toucannon, and Pawniard without the boost. I was a bit disappointed in the outcome of this game since I just assumed I was facing scarf Pinsir that meant I didn't see any reason to actively try to set up for Crustle or Exeggutor to sweep although they both could have potentially swept after the right things get chipped.


Week 5 vs OminousDraco
This is my take on rain. When Rav proposed the idea of Muk as a rain setter I was opposed, but then I realized it learns memento and I didn’t look back. Not only does Muk set rain and create opportunities for set-up, it absorbs t-spikes and makes for a convenient switch into to grass types and the ever-troubling Pyukumuku. Dugtrio is a decent suicide lead and gives me another memento mon, and Volbeat is indispensable for rain. Poliwrath and Golduck are the best rain abusers and then I opted for Armaldo (I was considering Beartic) to take advantage of rain and memento. A big part of playing around weather is stalling turns by making switches and using protect, so substitute on Armaldo and Golduck made perfect sense to take advantage of this, ease predictions and dodge status. As far as this game is concerned I had a god-awful matchup, facing Cradily and Kecleon and even Silvally-Fighting to invalidate Armaldo, so getting it down to a 50-50 roll was a good enough result.

DJ Breloominati vs Calucha
same team I used week 2

Tom H0lland vs Kaif
Rav, Uhu, and I made some small changed to the classic trick room build of Carbink z Dusknoir Beheyeem Wishiwashi Camerupt Toucannon. 85percent convinced me of a couple things about trick room, too run 1 speed iv to have a better matchup vs other trick room, and that Chimecho is better than Dusknoir because it doesn't require the z slot. Substitute on Exeggutor and Wishiwashi is a gimmick to punish protect that Combusken and others mons might use to waste turns as well. Another worry was toxic spikes, but Shiftry seemed like too much of a threat to drop signal beam on Chimecho.


Week 6 vs Ho3nConfirm3d
same team pif used week 1

Uhuhu7 vs Plas
the stall team I used week 2 and DJ in week 5


Sets

Swanna @ Life Orb
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 29 HP
- Aqua Jet
- Brave Bird
- Liquidation
- Roost

Nothing crazy, but you hit harder off the bat, meaning Broznor is a 3hko, Electivire dies to liquidation into ajet, and Combusken can be ohko'd by aqua jet after rocks or some chip.


Leafeon @ Grassium Z / Normalium Z
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Leaf Blade
- Knock Off / Double-Edge
- Synthesis

Not my creation or anything new, but this is Leafeons best set, effectively checking golem, electivire and shiftry (the 2 most used mons in the tier and the broken one). A lot of teams don’t have any solid defensive answer to leafeon (golem mare and bronz mare builds) and Leafeon can be a problem to revenge with Electivires ice punch only doing 50%.


Shiftry @ Grassium Z
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 96 HP / 248 SpA / 164 Spe
Naive Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Knock Off
- Defog
- Synthesis

This set lacks a lot of what makes Shiftry so good, but it has a solid niche as a defogger and shiftry check ironically. 248 SpA Shiftry Bloom Doom (195 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0- SpD Shiftry: 207-245 (64.4 - 76.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO


Crustle @ Figy Berry / Rockium Z
Ability: Weak Armor
EVs: 92 HP / 240 Atk / 176 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shell Smash
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Spikes

Uhu already mentioned this set because it was his creation but im posting it again because it's really cool. Crustle is the most viable spikes user in the tier and even then it struggles with the prevalence of faster Silvallys and other defoggers so this set remedies that and also gives you the flexibility of just sweeping too.


Probopass @ Groundium Z
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Smack Down
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake

I’m just posting this as an excuse to show off the math I (read: mengy) did to calculate the probo-bilities of winning in a 1v1 scenario with Bronzor. Physical probopass has the advantage over special of 3hkoing standard Bronzor, which is important on stall, because if Probo was to leave Bronzor at 40% it would able to rest on one of its many passive pokemon. Probopass has its flaws but on bulkier teams the utility of setting rocks and eliminating Bronzor and other steels makes it worthwhile.
One of my concerns about using Probopass was if it would actually beat Bronzor 1v1 and this depends on psywave rolls which can vary greatly. with max hp investment, 108 is the average psywave roll required to 3hko Probo so you can simulate this in python with this script Clefable wrote https://pastebin.com/MGTp0DAV and probtrials(108, 3, 1000) and it will tell you the probability of the sum of three psywaves being over 324 (its ~32%) which means psywave 3hkos 252 HP Probopass 32% of the time. In comparison, the analysis set uses 172 HP which translates into a ~48% chance to get 3hkod.


Duosion @ Eviolite
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Acid Armor
- Calm Mind
- Psychic
- Recover

Duosion is a really dangerous bulky sweeper, it was Rav's idea to use a specially defensive spread which I think is better suited towards its defensive capabilities although it struggles with pursuit more.


Klang @ Eviolite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shift Gear
- Gear Grind
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Klang is a bit gimmicky, but it checks a bunch of stuff like non-z rain dance Swanna with its great steel typing and with this set you can stick around and potentially sweep.


Mawile @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 64 Def / 188 SpD / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Seismic Toss
- Protect

Mawile really needs SpDef investment for Shiftry otherwise you can die on your second switch in to leaf storm. EVs are for 2.5 leaf storms from Shiftry.


Mareanie @ Eviolite
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 SpD
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Knock Off
- Toxic Spikes
- Recover

Knock Off Mareanie put in a ton of work against me this ZUPL, but it is a big risk not running haze for stat boosters that you can't kill. EVs here let Mareanie live a +2 z-fire blast from Simisear and two life orb hp electrics from Combusken as well as hitting a jump point in physical defense.


Grimer-Alola @ Eviolite
Ability: Poison Touch
EVs: 252 HP / 36 Def / 216 SpD / 4 Spe
Careful Nature
- Poison Jab
- Pursuit
- Rest
- Knock off / Sleep Talk

Grimer-alola has some really cool traits and fits on stall or bulky teams that need an answer to psychic type wallbreakers and Bronzor, while also acting as a Shiftry detterent. EVs are to live 2.5 leaf storms from specs Exeggutor.

So there you have it, I could post some more teams and sets, but I wanted to focus on what me and the Spindas came up with during ZUPL. I hope whatever happens with the release of Gen 8 that we can continue the legacy of ZU. I've enjoyed this tier and the people I've met through it ever since I started at the end of 2018. I gave some shoutouts to people that helped with teambuilding, but I could've tagged a lot more. Thanks for reading!
 
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