Spice UUp Your Game 6

By Ark.
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Art

Art by anundeadboy.

Introduction

With SM UU moving along, some old greats have been forgotten while some of the new greats have underutilized options available to them. The metagame is far from set in stone and many new discoveries have been made. In favor of these new discoveries, some Pokémon may not get usage despite being good. In this article, we are taking a look at threats that have been left behind as the metagame evolved as well as sets that do not receive a lot of usage even though their existence is known.

Z-Crabhammer Crawdaunt

Crawdaunt

Crawdaunt is one of the strongest Pokémon around. Between its Adaptability-boosted STAB attacks Crabhammer and Knock Off, few Pokémon can switch in safely. While it is frail and slow, it has a nifty tool in Aqua Jet that allows it to remedy its unfortunate Speed tier. Faster Water-resistant Pokémon are still a problem, but none of them switch in safely, making Crawdaunt an excellent wallbreaker. The addition of Z-Moves gave it a new toy to play with. Z-Crabhammer is able to KO Unaware Clefable after Stealth Rock, and it only needs a minor amount of chip damage to do the same to Quagsire. Pokémon like Conkeldurr sometimes attempt to switch into Knock Off, but they get OHKOed by Hydro Vortex. Keldeo in particular can switch into Crawdaunt rather easily, as it resists both of its STAB moves, but if it switches into a Z-Move, it loses a large amount of health and cannot switch in again. Standard defensive Scizor also gets KOed after Stealth Rock, whereas Bold Klefki only has a small chance to survive. Z-Crabhammer allows Crawdaunt to effectively open up holes for teammates that rely on any of these Pokémon being weakened or removed. There are still plenty of factors holding Crawdaunt back, but it is an excellent wallbreaker that deserves more attention.

Haxorus

Haxorus

Despite having only recently risen to UU, Haxorus is quite a good Pokémon. Its ability lets it bypass Clefable's and Quagsire's Unaware, making it a huge threat to any stall team. With Dragon Dance, it can still perform decently well against offensive teams, and it does not necessarily need a boost to be a threat, as its Attack stat is enormous. Earthquake is used as coverage against Steel-types, and has the additional benefit of hitting uncommon Levitate users such Rotom-H or Bronzong thanks to Mold Breaker. Other items, such as a Lum Berry and Dragonium Z, allow Haxorus to set up on status move users or have an obscenely strong Dragon-type attack without locking into Outrage, respectively, but Clefable will then need some chip damage to fall to Poison Jab. Iron Tail can be used on such sets to still KO Unaware Clefable after Stealth Rock, but it comes at the loss of accuracy and loses the guaranteed KO on uninvested Primarina. Overall, Haxorus is very customizable and can muscle through defensive teams incredibly well.

Z-Move Raikou

Raikou

Despite the tier's many Ground-types, Raikou flourishes. Not many of its checks can switch in on a Hidden Power Ice, and most of the ones that can, such as Gastrodon and Swampert, are susceptible to the uncommon Hidden Power Grass. While there are many Raikou checks in the tier, there are only a few true counters. Hippowdon is one of these, as it can easily tank a +1 Hidden Power and recover up with Slack Off. However, only very little chip damage is needed before Raikou can break through it with a +1 Z-Hyper Beam. +1 Z-Hyper Beam can also remove other checks such as Celebi and Latias, assuming Stealth Rock is up. While Hippowdon does not mind Never-Ending Nightmare too much, Z-Shadow Ball lets Raikou take on Latias and Celebi more reliably, as it can, with the aid of Stealth Rock of course, beat those Pokémon even without a boost. Unlike Hyper Beam, Shadow Ball is also useful outside of its application as a Z-Move. With Z-Moves, Raikou can do some really great wallbreaking and tear through most common balance cores with ease.

VinCune

Suicune

Suicune does not see a lot of usage in SM UU right now, but it is still a great Pokémon. This set is named after Vinc2612 and aims to PP stall its opposition through use of Pressure, Substitute, and Protect. Meanwhile, Suicune can use Calm Mind to set up. Originally, VinCune was meant to break a common stall team during ORAS OU, but UU soon adopted it, as it was able to win many games. The Speed investment allows it to outspeed base 80s so it can set up on Togekiss. Maximum HP investment allows it to create 101 HP Substitutes and take on Blissey rather handily, as Seismic Toss will never break Substitute. The leftover EVs are dumped into Special Defense so Amoonguss cannot break +1 Suicune's Substitute. Toxic Spikes support is incredibly useful, as they help in wearing down opposing teams quickly. A cleric can be used to pass Wishes and heal volatile status conditions. VinCune does not have the staying power and longevity that standard Rest Suicune offers, but it trades these qualities in order to beat some its usual checks and counters. It is still effective against any kind of team, as its capability to whittle down its adversaries is outstanding, making it an effective pick for many kinds of defensively oriented teams.

What's next?

There are many more Pokémon that are not UU by usage, or only barely so, yet have a lot of potential. I recommend trying some Pokémon that were good in ORAS UU, such as Toxicroak. Not everything that used to be viable last generation will be viable this generation, but there is still a plethora of underappreciated threats. On top of that, there are many new threats that are not fully explored. Z-Moves still hold a lot of potential, and the extent of it has yet to be brought forth. As always, I recommend experimenting, as there are still so many unexplored options of Pokémon, items, and moves that can perform well. Stay strong!

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