Resource UMPL ZU Team and Set Dump

[5gen]

Amazing Art by Pujo
Thank you to Apagogie, cromagnet, and Jett for hosting.​

Welcome to the UMPL ZU Set and Team Dump thread! The Unofficial Metagames Premier League was a brand new team tournament that consisted of six teams and featured two ZU slots. This tournament was great for ZU's metagame development and players were able to showcase plenty of cool sets and teams. The ZU metagame also changed over the course of the tournament. For example, Damp Rock was around for most of the regular season and heavily influenced how teams prepared for it and other threats such as Silvally-Ground, Rotom, Sawk, and so on. Tangela became prevalent over the course of the tournament and so did other Pokemon and play styles such as Rapidash, Rotom, Cramorant, and Grassy Terrain to name a few.

There were many creative builds and sets used so it should be really fun to see what everyone used and their reasons for their choices.

Usage Stats

+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon | Use | Usage % | Win % |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1 | Silvally | 31 | 45.59% | 61.29% |
| 2 | Sawk | 22 | 32.35% | 50.00% |
| 3 | Uxie | 20 | 29.41% | 55.00% |
| 3 | Rotom | 20 | 29.41% | 50.00% |
| 5 | Tangela | 18 | 26.47% | 66.67% |
| 6 | Garbodor | 16 | 23.53% | 43.75% |
| 7 | Qwilfish | 14 | 20.59% | 50.00% |
| 8 | Thwackey | 13 | 19.12% | 46.15% |
| 9 | Coalossal | 12 | 17.65% | 50.00% |
| 9 | Rapidash | 12 | 17.65% | 50.00% |
| 11 | Altaria | 10 | 14.71% | 40.00% |
| 12 | Manectric | 9 | 13.24% | 66.67% |
| 12 | Wishiwashi | 9 | 13.24% | 55.56% |
| 12 | Rhydon | 9 | 13.24% | 33.33% |
| 15 | Skuntank | 8 | 11.76% | 62.50% |
| - | Gourgeist-* | 8 | 11.76% | 50.00% |
| 15 | Stunfisk | 8 | 11.76% | 50.00% |
| 15 | Kangaskhan | 8 | 11.76% | 25.00% |
| 18 | Clefairy | 7 | 10.29% | 71.43% |
| 18 | Cramorant | 7 | 10.29% | 71.43% |
| 18 | Piloswine | 7 | 10.29% | 57.14% |
| 18 | Persian-Alola | 7 | 10.29% | 42.86% |
| 18 | Centiskorch | 7 | 10.29% | 42.86% |
| 18 | Rotom-Fan | 7 | 10.29% | 28.57% |
| 24 | Articuno | 6 | 8.82% | 66.67% |
| 24 | Gourgeist-Small | 6 | 8.82% | 50.00% |
| 26 | Jellicent | 5 | 7.35% | 80.00% |
| 26 | Thievul | 5 | 7.35% | 40.00% |
| 26 | Ferroseed | 5 | 7.35% | 20.00% |
| 26 | Stunfisk-Galar | 5 | 7.35% | 20.00% |
| 26 | Audino | 5 | 7.35% | 20.00% |
| 31 | Cofagrigus | 4 | 5.88% | 50.00% |
| 31 | Poliwrath | 4 | 5.88% | 50.00% |
| 31 | Jynx | 4 | 5.88% | 50.00% |
| 31 | Frosmoth | 4 | 5.88% | 0.00% |
| 31 | Alcremie | 4 | 5.88% | 0.00% |
| 36 | Basculin | 3 | 4.41% | 66.67% |
| 36 | Miltank | 3 | 4.41% | 66.67% |
| 36 | Dugtrio-Alola | 3 | 4.41% | 66.67% |
| 36 | Appletun | 3 | 4.41% | 66.67% |
| 36 | Cinccino | 3 | 4.41% | 66.67% |
| 36 | Klinklang | 3 | 4.41% | 66.67% |
| 36 | Shiftry | 3 | 4.41% | 0.00% |
| 43 | Gurdurr | 2 | 2.94% | 100.00% |
| 43 | Runerigus | 2 | 2.94% | 100.00% |
| 43 | Alcremie-Mint-Cream | 2 | 2.94% | 100.00% |
| 43 | Aurorus | 2 | 2.94% | 100.00% |
| 43 | Carracosta | 2 | 2.94% | 50.00% |
| 43 | Raichu | 2 | 2.94% | 50.00% |
| 43 | Kabutops | 2 | 2.94% | 50.00% |
| 43 | Gourgeist-Super | 2 | 2.94% | 50.00% |
| 43 | Rapidash-Galar | 2 | 2.94% | 50.00% |
| 43 | Morpeko | 2 | 2.94% | 50.00% |
| 43 | Spiritomb | 2 | 2.94% | 50.00% |
| 43 | Bouffalant | 2 | 2.94% | 50.00% |
| 43 | Froslass | 2 | 2.94% | 0.00% |
| 43 | Golbat | 2 | 2.94% | 0.00% |
| 43 | Pyukumuku | 2 | 2.94% | 0.00% |
| 58 | Ludicolo | 1 | 1.47% | 100.00% |
| 58 | Flapple | 1 | 1.47% | 100.00% |
| 58 | Vibrava | 1 | 1.47% | 100.00% |
| 58 | Shiinotic | 1 | 1.47% | 100.00% |
| 58 | Corsola-Galar | 1 | 1.47% | 100.00% |
| 58 | Malamar | 1 | 1.47% | 100.00% |
| 58 | Ninetales | 1 | 1.47% | 100.00% |
| 58 | Perrserker | 1 | 1.47% | 100.00% |
| 58 | Electivire | 1 | 1.47% | 0.00% |
| 58 | Eldegoss | 1 | 1.47% | 0.00% |
| 58 | Rotom-Frost | 1 | 1.47% | 0.00% |
| 58 | Mawile | 1 | 1.47% | 0.00% |
| 58 | Alcremie-Caramel-Swirl | 1 | 1.47% | 0.00% |
| 58 | Alcremie-Ruby-Cream | 1 | 1.47% | 0.00% |
| 58 | Trevenant | 1 | 1.47% | 0.00% |
| 58 | Cradily | 1 | 1.47% | 0.00% |
| 58 | Hattrem | 1 | 1.47% | 0.00% |
| 58 | Liepard | 1 | 1.47% | 0.00% |
| 58 | Drifblim | 1 | 1.47% | 0.00% |

I'll start off by dumping my own teams and ideas:

Week 1 vs czim - Poison
Idea was to use a strong special breaker since special breakers looked good vs czim in general. Specs Thievul was as good as it got week one and I rolled with that. Team aims to support it via pivots and Pokemon that break down Thievul's checks. Bulk Up Gurdurr to take advantage of special walls and remove items, and Defog Silvally-Poison to check Alcremie. Rest of the Pokemon cover bases. I had a great matchup here with Thievul and the critical hits made things a lot smoother.

Week 2 vs EviGaro - Dark
Wanted to use CB Thwackey because Tuthur hyped it up in a VR slate and I also wanted to try SD Silvally-Dark. Future Sight Uxie helps vs Tangela and other physical walls that switch into Silvally-Dark. Coalossal and Jellicent form the backbone and Specs Manectric is there for the extra power. Team could use more speed and stuff like NP Ninetales are annoying because of that. This week I had another good matchup and the build worked out well.

Week 3 vs Fille -

This week I felt like switching it up and going with a fat team. Audino plus mixed defensive cleric Alcremie was a core I came to really like as they check a whole lot in two slots. Rest of the team is mainly to cover things defensively and have good synergy. Originally I had SD Silvally-Poison over Klinklang, but having a Steel-type provided great defensive utility against stuff like Frosmoth and Alcremie. I could have played this game better and forgot that Aroma Veil blocks Encore, and ultimately was bailed by a crit. Didn't deserve this one. Team was fun to use even if it is pretty weak to things like Centiskorch, Jynx, and Choice Specs Basculin.

Week 4 vs daniYSB - Poison

Someone in the team chat, I think gglrg, mentioned Jynx and so I felt like trying it. I had tried to build a hazard stack team with it in an earlier week that didn't work, so I opted for HO. Few things switch into Jynx and it can basically break through teams by clicking the right move. I paired Jynx with a bunch of pivots and two entry hazard removers to fully support it. However, CB Thwackey overshadowed it this game because the opposing team had no Grass-type resistance.

Week 5 vs Maki - Ground

This week we just needed like two wins to secure finals and I wanted to go with something safe and easy to use. I hadn't seen Cofagrigus used and felt that it could be a cool pick. Setup spam between Cofagrigus, Silvally-Ground, Uxie, and Qwilfish means overlapping checks are weakened and one or two sweepers can break down teams for teammates to sweep. Sub NP Uxie managed to set up and won handily.

Finals vs TJ - Ground

The teams TJ brought throughout UMPL looked similar and weak to special Water-type breakers. tlenit suggested Choice Specs Jellicent and I thought it was a fun pick. Team ended up a bit disjointed and I had to opt for Defog Skuntank as a result. Physical Skuntank for more power and to help vs faster threats thanks to Sucker Punch. The team breaks down Jellicent's checks well and there is enough pivot support to bring it in. My big misplay was not going Specs Jellicent sooner vs Rapidash and staying in with Centiskorch. Was really bad of me and in the moment I didn't slow down and think accordingly. Made a call vs Rapidash in the end game then proceeded to get bailed by a Rock Slide crit.

Overall the tournament was pretty fun and I enjoyed the atmosphere of our team and all the ZU building that took place. Looking forward to everyone else's posts.

 

[Landon]

Stole your format 5gen :D

Week 1 vs EviGaro -

For the first week I really wanted to use Frosmoth. This was for a couple simple reasons: 1. I hadn't used it in any tournaments yet and really wanted to. 2. I remember seeing in Discord that EviGaro hated it. So, even though I assumed Evi would most definitely bring a Frosmoth check, I thought it would be amusing to bring. All the mons that were added were just to fill roles and check as much as I could. I had Manectric over Duggy initially, but changed to Duggy as it filled the Volt immunity role and made me not straight up lose to Toxic Articuno. Once the team was done we decided to add Hurricane on Frosmoth so we could better deal with Centi. Originally, I had the standard Tangela set (Phy Def), but after reviewing the team I was quite weak to Specs Basculin. Therefore, Greybaum suggested a more specially defensive Tang which was able to take 2 Hydro's with rocks up and not risk 50/50ing in the early game. We also decided to add Infestation on Tang so we could trap mons like Audino to get a Knock on it, and dwindle it down to better help Frosmoth sweep. Infestation was also nice to catch stuff like Qwil and Ferro and dwindle those down as well. Overall, I liked the build, but Sawk was able to keep up the pressure, especially since I was a more SpDef Tang and Evi was able to keep up rocks most of the time. Also, Skuntank was a bit hard to play around as I let Duggy get burned and it was Shuca Skunk.

Week 2 vs daniYSB -

Greybaum showed me a cool Sub + Toxic Skuntank set and I liked how it could break down balance, so that was what I decided to build around for the week. I really liked how Gourg-S paired with it as it could handle GroundVally to an extent and stuff like Sawk. I actually opted for speed control this early because I knew Skuntank could bait in GroundVally and when Toxiced it became a bit easier to handle, so I wouldn't need to run something like Boots Gourg. Alt, Centi, and Pilo were added to fill up a defogger, ice check, and rocker role. Also I went with Jolly Centi (HA beat you to the Jolly Centi party Kay >:)) because of the popularity of bulkier and slower Cram's. Lastly, I added Alcreamie because it gave me a better Sawk check and I really liked how ID Alcreamie matched up against stuff Dani normally brought. Alcreamie did exactly what I wanted it to do and it was pretty safe to say it coulda ended up winning, but I ended up choking the game against the Tangela.

Week 3 vs Aaronboyer -

For this week I really had no idea what Aaronboyer was going to bring, but I decided I wanted to use Sub Appletun. I really liked the idea of pairing it with NP Rotom as Appletun helps in dealing with Audino as it Subs for free on it and Rotom was good for checking stuff like GroundVally and Garb while also being a wincon. I needed an ice answer and liked Piloswine as it also offered a volt immunity and rocks. Garb and Persian were added as Garb helped me against stuff like Clef and Alcreamie and Persian helped in checking faster setup threats like the Silvally. Also I put Haze on Garb because fuck Alcreamie. Originally, I had Altaria in the last slot, but ended up changing to Defog Gurdurr as Rhydon was annoying for me to switchin to. It also gave me an emergency Moth "check", so I wouldn't have to worry about keeping Pilo as healthy throughout the game. I finally won this week and that was mainly thanks to NP Rotom because every time I was able to get it in, there wasn't a whole lot Aaron could do.

Week 4 vs a fruitshop owner -

For this week I knew I wanted to use GhostVally as A Fruitshop Owner had no Ghost resist in his previous games that I watched. I really liked Skuntank on this build as it wears down mons like Stunfisk, Garb, and GroundVally to better help Silvally sweep and Mane clean late game. Rapidash and Cram both help with the poor Skuntank matchup and Uxie is there to do Uxie things. The end game was kinda lame due to GhostVally getting para'd off of Effect Spore because if Fruitshop didn't have Aqua Jet on Carro GhostVally + my Cram being fast than Cuno would have won it. Also GhostVally had a 56% chance to kill Carro at +2 (assuming Carro had no defensive investment), so both of those ended up being a bummer.

Week 5 vs gglrg -

By the time I was going to play we were already out of making the playoffs, so I decided to use a team that I already built. I really wanted to use Jynx, so that was what I ended up going with. In this game PoisonVally put in so much work. Greg really had no switchins to it bar Rhydon (b/c i was using Ice Beam over Surf), but I was able to get rid of Rhydon early in the game which meant PoisonVally was hard to stop at that point.

I wish we could have made it further and that I wish I had won some more games, but overall I found it enjoyable. The tour had its share of standard teams, but also its share of some pretty cool and heat teams which kept things interesting. It had been a while since I had managed a tour and looking back on my own I will say I could have done a better job communicating with my team more outside of the ZU portion. I enjoyed managing with my man zio and like 5gen said, hope to see more posts in this forum!