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Lower Tiers DPP UU Discussion Hub

esche said:
Introducing Fix My Team! :smogthink:

This exercise is supposed to mirror team rating and hopes to help you practice identifying problem areas when building and improve your overall understanding of what can and can't feasibly be done in DPP UU. In a sense, it helps you giving advice to others! I ask you to do this by making changes to an import featuring a more or less structurally sound team that will be provided by yours truly. You may edit the team as much as you like as long as you elaborate on why you made the changes you propose. However, keep in mind that you should only make necessary changes - ideally, while keeping the original idea of the team intact. Lastly, even if you can't come up with any immediate fixes, feel free to point out flaws with the team regardless, so that others may use these comments as pointers when they ultimately propose changes. I'm open to have this task tackled individually or as a community effort!

Also, if you have a team that you would like to see featured in either this or What's My Last? shoot me a DM with the import on Discord (esche#7678).

Without further ado, here is the import:

:mismagius: :milotic: :steelix: :leafeon: :blaziken: :weezing:
https://pokepast.es/0c1a711bca38afeb

Weezing + Steelix are an underappreciated duo that has a little more durability than standard SR Registeel on these types of slightly offensively oriented balances because they're more resilient to being removed by Dugtrio (or outright immune to in Weezing's case). Registeel often doubles as a team's Venusaur/Grass and Flying/Normal check and while by splitting this role compression up into two roles you may lose some flexibility in the last slots, you also gain more reliable answers into the common team archetype of Flying/Normal type+ Dugtrio + Venusaur/other Grass. Milotic felt necessary in the next slot given the duo's susceptibility to fire while SD Leafeon + Choice Scarf Blaziken complete the FWG core and offer breaking power as well as speed control. Lastly, since the team was lacking hazard control but couldn't feasibly fit a spinner, I decided to at least limit hazard leads by virtue of making use of the best anti-lead available, Mismagius. Since the team's only dedicated breaker at this point was Leafeon, Mismagius features a more offensively inclined Life Orb set with Taunt + Pain Split to wear down the opposition.
I look forward to your replies! :blobwizard:
Click to expand...
Ok so, I realized that perhaps this wasn't the best team to start this exercise with since it's admittedly already pretty developed. I do, however, believe that it has some noticeable flaws that would make me reconsider using it. You can find some pointers below as to what I was looking for here. Also, I will provide you with another team that features more apparent issues. Hopefully, we can get a conversation going this time around!

Issues!
- CM Clefable (especially FlameKnot)
- leading a Ghost vulnerable to Pursuit and having a rocker that loses to the most common hazard removal options will often leave you behind in terms of hazard wars
- RestTalk Weezing can be quite underwhelming since it's specific role make it a little impracticle
- lack of a way to force progress against Registeel for Leafeon (Choice Scarf Blaziken realistically won't ever break cores ft. Registeel)
- in general, the team seems very much oriented towards the match-up against offense

Fixes?
- Knock Off + Heal Bell Leafeon and Taunt + Pain Split Weezing --> pressure fat better at the cost of some consistency into Venusaur
- fit WoW (and perhaps P-Gem) on Mismagius --> better match-up against Pursuit users; increased likelihood of spinblocking later on
- put Haze>Toxic on Milotic and Toxic>Roar on Steelix --> better Clefable match-up and ability to pressure the spinners without having to risk Mismagius
- perhaps condense Leafeon and Weezing into SpDef Venusaur --> additional slot to work with

:blobthinking:

:jynx: :venusaur: :regirock: :blastoise: :moltres: :absol:
https://pokepast.es/3ba043d29c45a66d

This is a team from when I was just starting out in DPP UU. It features lead Jynx and Swords Dance Absol. Blastoise, Moltres and Venusaur form a FWG core while Regirock takes on the role of SR setter. Chople Berry was chosen to lure Fighting types for Absol. The justification for double Sleep move was that once Jynx would pick up a "kill" with Lovely Kiss, it would usually promptly get sacrificed and due to the offensive pace that this team is supposed to operate under, the target Jynx had kissed good night would likely be the first choice to get sacrificed as well. This in turn would open up another opportunity to put something to bed with Venusaur, essentially netting a "double kill". You can make up your own mind about how realistic this scenario really is to occur, but at the time it made total sense to me.
Have fun taking this team apart! :blobwizard:
 
I've been dragging my feet on this for a while, but i finally have a (slightly) revised version of the team ready to submit for the Fix My Team activity.
https://pokepast.es/5aebafa8230bdf8e
:dp/jynx: :dp/venusaur: :dp/regirock: :dp/moltres: :dp/blastoise: :dp/absol:

I feel the 6 itself is overall solid, but some sets on them definitely could be improved.

I like skrimp's idea of taunt on jynx a lot so that blastoise isn't overrelied on to spin. Having multiple options of preventing stealth rock from going up is really nice, and as he said it can even be used to stop stuff from setting up, such as cm uxie and clefable.

I changed venusaur's set to a lefties set with more bulk investment to make it a better switch in to grass types. I also made it modest to make up for losing the extra power of life orb. The spread allows venu to take 2 defensive milo ice beams after sr, and to outspeed jolly torterra (its not very common but i have seen it before). I gave it leech seed over sleep powder (Shout out to my friend Donny P.) to make it better able to pressure registeel and to give it another form of healing. Leech seed wearing stuff down also is great for facilitating a scarf blastoise clean up late game or an Absol sweep.

Regirock I kept mostly unchanged due to its ev spread looking specific and the set being overall solid. However, I added a small amount of speed to outrun 4 spe donphan and boom on it to block rapid spin.

Specs Moltres is definitely a good set but I prefer it more in the lead slot personally. However, the 6 itself is overall solid and jynx isn't really feasible outside the lead slot (at least not here), and I also wanted it to be less reliant on blastoise spinning. I went with 3 attacks life orb roost here, a personal favorite set of mine. I still wanted a power boost with moltres, and life orb gives it that power boost on all 3 of its moves while also enabling it to run roost for recovery. I like skrimp's idea of running lefties on it, but with black sludge on venu here i figured it could afford to run lo since venu would be my main grass switch. LO also can really make the differences with some calcs, such as with hp grass against rhyp.

I'm admittingly not a fan of scarf blastoise, but the speed control is nice here and its not a bad set. I like the idea of hp psychic on it to ko toxicroak. I added water spout over hydro pump since the extra accuracy is appreciated to make it more reliable at cleaning late game. Hydro pump is overall a fine choice though.

Lastly, Absol was the one pokemon i kept completely and utterly unchanged. No ev changes. no set changes, nothing.


Overall I feel this version of the team is quite solid, and while it isn't vastly different, I feel the changes have improve it.


Keep it up with the awesome activities Esche :D <3
 
https://pokepast.es/5e39159887286ee5

Sooo.... what are the changes...

to help keep rocks off i made jynx taunt instead of nasty plot... this helps vs uxie or lum uxie to be more specific. taunt helps against other leads or stuff such as other rockers who want to take advantage of jynx to setup rocks and get momentum of it like registeel, regirock, omastar, etc. Venu is the scarfer as removing power of moltres and moving it to blastoise allows holes to be broken and venu can throw of sleep powders. Blastoise is specs because i just believe scarf is just wonky as crap and specs puts more holes into other members of the opposing team. Moltres is LO since choice specs on this team is just invting free switches to a resist such as rhyperior, steelix and registeel on air slash. This also allows it to fit roost which have it more longetivity since it can heal itself back up to not be screwed twice by rocks... yeah that is it...
 
esche said:
:jynx: :venusaur: :regirock: :blastoise: :moltres: :absol:
https://pokepast.es/3ba043d29c45a66d

This is a team from when I was just starting out in DPP UU. It features lead Jynx and Swords Dance Absol. Blastoise, Moltres and Venusaur form a FWG core while Regirock takes on the role of SR setter. Chople Berry was chosen to lure Fighting types for Absol. The justification for double Sleep move was that once Jynx would pick up a "kill" with Lovely Kiss, it would usually promptly get sacrificed and due to the offensive pace that this team is supposed to operate under, the target Jynx had kissed good night would likely be the first choice to get sacrificed as well. This in turn would open up another opportunity to put something to bed with Venusaur, essentially netting a "double kill". You can make up your own mind about how realistic this scenario really is to occur, but at the time it made total sense to me.
Have fun taking this team apart! :blobwizard:
Click to expand...

Time to wrap this up, thanks for participating skrimps, Cubic Skunk & HydreigonTheChild! Let's review some of these edits!

:jynx:
I agree with the general consensus that NP is a moveslot that should be changed in favour of something else. Personally, I don't really care for Taunt much as Uxie is quite likely to U-turn out anyway and I'm content going for Lovely Kiss against the Spikes leads. I found Counter to be quite fun in practice since it can let you run away with a surprise kill in some unfavourable lead scenarios (outside of those even, should you manage to preserve your Focus Sash), and possibly even netting another "kill" with Lovely Kiss afterwards.

:venusaur:
Venusaur definitely needed to be adjusted to not be complete Registeel food. I really enjoy the Leech Seed idea from Cubic Skunk and promptly incorporated that edit into my own overhaul of the team. Another option I was looking into was Roar since I ended up going with a Spikes approach, but I overall deem Leech Seed with some added bulk to be the most apt choice here.

:regirock: --> :omastar:
Regirock is cool, don't let TSR tell you otherwise, but it definitely has its shortcomings and they become glaringly apparent on a team with no Ghost type, the lack of which makes it overreliant on Explosion to spinblock. Granted I do add a Ghost type anyway since the replacement for Regirock is Omastar, which desperately wants a Ghost in the back too, so you could argue there's still a place for Regirock on the new version. However, I much prefer the added element of Spikes on this build and let's not forget Omastar threatens the most used spinner, Donphan, for an OHKO without having to sacrifice itself. A bulkier set with Leftovers + Protect is worth consideration but I found that the pace at which this team operates is much more befitting of Custap Berry + Endure instead. A clutch layer of Spikes can quickly sway the game in your favour.

:moltres: --> :blaziken:
Frankly, midgame Specs Moltres is a terrible idea, as you all correctly identified. Especially on this team, where you rely on Scarf Blastoise to spin. I'm surprised nobody decided to replace it though, please don't be afraid to make changes! Arguably the superior chicken, Blaziken makes an appearance in Moltres' stead. Blaziken + Spikes can quickly spiral out of control for a lot of teams and it being a Fire type that isn't weak to Rocks is actually much appreciated by the team's overall composition. Some added insurance into Clefable never hurts either.

:blastoise: --> :rotom:
With Blaziken filling in for Moltres, the need for a spinner is much less pronounced. With Spikes + SR I opted for the dual status set with Colbur Berry for better insurance against Spinners and Pursuiters alike. Fire resists are a myth anyway and Scarf Blastoise has long become one of my most despised sets so it only makes sense to replace it. WoW and T-Wave have actually proven themselves as invaluable on this team to create set-up opportunities for Absol and have aided in facilitating a sweep many times.

:absol:
Not an edit but moreso a recommendation: Wait for the right moment to reveal this bad boy. He's all the more devastating when you can safely set up a SD and immediately threaten game. And even if Jynx should have an off-day, just keep calm and patiently work towards that absolutely disastrous Absol sweep.

So yea, in conclusion, I do believe this team was in dire need of some changes. I quite like the end result in comparison to the much more sluggish, less focused original version of the team I built two years ago - I tested the edit in a RoA room tour earlier and it performed well. Disclaimer: You do have to be somewhat aggressive with it to make it work but that's just the nature of such offenses in DPP UU to be honest.

:jynx: :venusaur: :omastar: :blaziken: :absol: :rotom:
https://pokepast.es/2c5e855cf34db0eb

-------------------------------------------------------

We will return to Fix My Team, but for now here's another installment of the Teambuilding Competition!

:dp/swellow:
dugtrio banned.png


I would ask you to build around Swellow. Only Swellow? Yes. The catch being that its most coveted partner, Dugtrio, is currently being held up at customs under suspicion of smuggling illegal substances into the country. So unfortunately, you cannot rely on it for this iteration of the Teambuilding Competition. No matter though, as there are a wide variety of partners to choose from. I look forward to your creations. Have fun!
 
https://pokepast.es/de12a4a819aff19e

:dp/mismagius: :dp/venusaur: :dp/rhyperior: :dp/swellow: :dp/primeape: :dp/rotom:

this team is built around overloading most normal and flying resists such as regirock, rhyperior, registeel, steelix, and aggron.

Missy is the lead on this team, With WoW and taunt it can stop most leads and cripple most ghost switch ins (besides clefable), with dbond you can potentially get a favorable trade that allows smth on the team to take advantage of it such as of a houndoom, arcanine, haryiama, uxie, mespirit, etc.

Leech seed venu is the next member of this team, it lures in registeel and can leech seed it to wear it down and force it to take additional chip damage on top of hazards and a potential burn. Venusaur loves to take advantage of the rock type normal resists in that would switch in on swellow such as rhyperior, regirock, omastar, kabutops, etc and can easily use them for turns to fire of leaf storms or spam leech seed to gain additional chip.

Rhyperior is the rocker of the team, and arguably the best abuser of registeel on this team as it is immune to twave, takes minimum damage from toss due to its massive hp pool, shrugges of anything else, and can beat curse sets of it easily. I chose this over regirock, omastar, torterra, or donphan because it compresses both being a good fire resist to have on a team but also being a great stop to moltes thanks to its rock typing which this team otherwise struggles against.

Primeape is the speed control of this team, it is a pokemon that also abuses rocks and steels to no end but also provides a way to pivot mons in such as venu on phys def walls or rotom or missy on sp. def walls who can take advantage of them. I chose this over ken in that it outruns mons such as dd altaria, scarf moltres, scarf houndoom, and Rock polish torterra.

Dual stats colbur rotom is the 2nd ghost on the team, this allows it to cripple pokemon with para and burns to help pokemon such as swellow, venu and primeape to clean late game or potentially even rhyperior if enough of the opposing team is paralyzed. COlbur allows it to paralyze a pursuit pokemon or to live and switch out successfully. This also helps late game against some pokemon such as absol, kanga, or doom late game.

Swellow is the key member of this team and all these pokemon are built around it. it will usually be the last mon sent out and allows the team to go ham on registeel without knowing that swellow is sitting in the back waiting and spam facade over the enemy team. Flame orb is chosen over toxic orb as i do not believe swellow takes hits often and instead the opponent will try to stall it out.
 
Bughouse said:
not a new team but thought I'd share since it's fun to use:
https://pokepast.es/2254a01b53753f64

I don't remember who modified this or when, but I enjoy using this team which is heavily based around this original RMT I think:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/the-a-team-uu-rmt.74119/
Click to expand...
I think it's more another Heysup Spikes classic, Free Bird: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/team-free-bird-uu-rmt-peaked-3.65978/

Besides Froslass being swapped out for Qwilfish, the PokePaste is identical, right down to the Earthquake ScarfSaur that should've stopped being used after Raikou was banned.

Also, if I were to build around Swellow sans Dugtrio, I would strongly consider Knock Off Venusaur or Leafeon to bait in and ruin Registeel, as well as a Fire-type to switch into Regi that could also bait in and mess up Rhyperior. Spikes would go a long way, too!
 
I've recently been experimenting with screen setters to enable hyper offense in the tier, and I've found an interesting dichotomy- Alakazam's speed versus Uxie's bulk. Both of these Pokemon function rather well to set screens and enable set-up sweepers, but there are huge differences to keep in mind.
Alakazam's speed allows it to set screens with the least interference, as the only threats it faces are a speed tie with Dugtrio which can absolutely one shot and Swellow, who cannot OHKO if Alakazam has speed invest. Alakazam has the capability to also taunt most other leads, giving it extra utility. Finally, it functions mostly as a suicide lead due to its lower bulk, its death giving momentum for the incoming sweeper.
Uxie, on the other hand, has a significantly higher level of bulk than Alakazam allowing it to take more hits as it sets up screens, and can also taunt other setters with the addition of rocks for hazard support. A few issues pop up, however- taunt from other Uxie, Alakazam, and other faster mons shuts down its set-up, and it requires u-turn for momentum, which it can't take much advantage of due to the higher speed it needs to run to effectively function. It can still get the dedicated sweeper in, but there's a bit more risk as compared to letting alakazam die.
So what do y'all think? Defensive Uxie can also work to guarantee screens but I generally prefer the speed, but there's a lot of fun nuance with the interactions.
 
mkap said:
I've recently been experimenting with screen setters to enable hyper offense in the tier, and I've found an interesting dichotomy- Alakazam's speed versus Uxie's bulk. Both of these Pokemon function rather well to set screens and enable set-up sweepers, but there are huge differences to keep in mind.
Alakazam's speed allows it to set screens with the least interference, as the only threats it faces are a speed tie with Dugtrio which can absolutely one shot and Swellow, who cannot OHKO if Alakazam has speed invest. Alakazam has the capability to also taunt most other leads, giving it extra utility. Finally, it functions mostly as a suicide lead due to its lower bulk, its death giving momentum for the incoming sweeper.
Uxie, on the other hand, has a significantly higher level of bulk than Alakazam allowing it to take more hits as it sets up screens, and can also taunt other setters with the addition of rocks for hazard support. A few issues pop up, however- taunt from other Uxie, Alakazam, and other faster mons shuts down its set-up, and it requires u-turn for momentum, which it can't take much advantage of due to the higher speed it needs to run to effectively function. It can still get the dedicated sweeper in, but there's a bit more risk as compared to letting alakazam die.
So what do y'all think? Defensive Uxie can also work to guarantee screens but I generally prefer the speed, but there's a lot of fun nuance with the interactions.
Click to expand...
I would argue that it is much easier to play around screens Zam due to the fact that Zam's offensive movepool is way too limited as it needs all of the screens and Taunt so stalling its screens is usually not an incredibly hard task, sure fast Taunt and screens gives it the niche for that but I'd still think that Uxie does it better cuz of the bulk part and U-turn, its true that sometimes you wish Uxie was a bit slower to make better use of U-turn allowing safe setups for teammates but its bulk and Levitate makes it so it is way more likely to come in and set screens up multiple times than Zam.
Also Uxie doesn't learn Taunt but the 4th slot could simply be rocks for some very valuable compression (which is almost always the case) or even something funnier like Memento.
 
LpZ said:
I would argue that it is much easier to play around screens Zam due to the fact that Zam's offensive movepool is way too limited as it needs all of the screens and Taunt so stalling its screens is usually not an incredibly hard task, sure fast Taunt and screens gives it the niche for that but I'd still think that Uxie does it better cuz of the bulk part and U-turn, its true that sometimes you wish Uxie was a bit slower to make better use of U-turn allowing safe setups for teammates but its bulk and Levitate makes it so it is way more likely to come in and set screens up multiple times than Zam.
Also Uxie doesn't learn Taunt but the 4th slot could simply be rocks for some very valuable compression (which is almost always the case) or even something funnier like Memento.
Click to expand...

oh shit you’re right, I always forget which lake trio gets what haha. You have a really good point there, but I’d argue that it just comes down to preferring a suicide lead versus a bulky screens lead
 
https://pokepast.es/19713ef6859d829f

Opinions?

This is my first attempt at a stall team. Im running a lot of statuses here so i wonder if tspikes is maybe excessive. I haven't had too much trouble with opposing spikes yet but with 4/6 susceptible Im worried about it. But Ive tried slotting claydol and as per usual, spinning isn't so easy to do
 
AngryPidgeon said:
https://pokepast.es/19713ef6859d829f

Opinions?

This is my first attempt at a stall team. Im running a lot of statuses here so i wonder if tspikes is maybe excessive. I haven't had too much trouble with opposing spikes yet but with 4/6 susceptible Im worried about it. But Ive tried slotting claydol and as per usual, spinning isn't so easy to do
Click to expand...
I'm fairly new to the tier, so I'm probably not too qualified to give out advice, but it seems like without a grass move on Venusaur or Ice Beam on Clefable, ground types like CB/Sash Dugtrio and RP Torterra are a major threat to your team, especially if spikes are up. I don't know how you might want to address that, but maybe slotting in a support Claydol over Nidoqueen or even Uxie wouldn't be a bad idea. You could give it a set like Stealth Rock, Ice Beam, Earth Power, and Rapid Spin. Up to you though.
 
jhm5 said:
I'm fairly new to the tier, so I'm probably not too qualified to give out advice, but it seems like without a grass move on Venusaur or Ice Beam on Clefable, ground types like CB/Sash Dugtrio and RP Torterra are a major threat to your team, especially if spikes are up. I don't know how you might want to address that, but maybe slotting in a support Claydol over Nidoqueen or even Uxie wouldn't be a bad idea. You could give it a set like Stealth Rock, Ice Beam, Earth Power, and Rapid Spin. Up to you though.
Click to expand...
Honestly, I have a hard time removing Uxie. I personally think Uxie is best mon in tier, regardless of the team style. I can see replacing nidoqueen with something like claydol for some more insurance against spikes and dugtrio
 
AngryPidgeon said:
Honestly, I have a hard time removing Uxie. I personally think Uxie is best mon in tier, regardless of the team style. I can see replacing nidoqueen with something like claydol for some more insurance against spikes and dugtrio
Click to expand...
I actually think it's a pretty decent stall/semi stall. I think some initial issues could simply be fixed by moving Nidoqueen to the lead slot and replacing Reflect on Uxie with Heal Bell. Your team actually isn't too Dug weak, tho RP Tort is a threat (albeit a slightly uncommon one). If anything, I'd consider changing up Clef's movelsots, slotting in Ice Beam over TWave gives you a bit more flexibility to play around things and helps more align your team around TSpikes. You could also consider giving it CM over SToss to provide another win condition aside from Regi. A more drastic change would be replacing Nido with Drapion, but I don't like suggesting wholesale changes to teams personally.

Good luck with the team! Always been a fan if TSpikes builds. :)
 
Oglemi said:
I actually think it's a pretty decent stall/semi stall. I think some initial issues could simply be fixed by moving Nidoqueen to the lead slot and replacing Reflect on Uxie with Heal Bell.

Good luck with the team! Always been a fan if TSpikes builds. :)
Click to expand...
I didnt realize Uxie learned heal bell! Thanks for the tip. T-spikes are tough because grounded poison types are fairly common in UU: Qwilfish, Venusaur very common, sometimes Drapion and Toxicroak


I have another team for you guys, this one has been doing pretty well for me. I love this Houndoom set btw. I originally thought Houndoom was common as a Mismagius answer, but it actually sweeps well in its own right.

https://pokepast.es/c3e47f6389572327
 
thought I'd share a fun team I cooked up for DPP PL here. I mostly used older, comfier teams as is or with slight modifications, but vs LpZ for week 7, I decided to cook up something fun and as far as I know totally original that I thought would do well into the scout. Aside from there being an unexpected Milotic, I ended up getting close to the matchup I wanted and the team performed as desired.

I think more people should explore HO in DPP UU, since it was fun to build and play, even though HO is far from my forte. Someone who knows what they're doing better would probably make something much more solid. DPP UU could be poised for HO success because the bulkier/balanced teams a lot of people rely on are naturally very susceptible to this kind of aggression (DPP Boom is DPP boom!), as well as the fact that Stall seems quite unpopular these days. That lets you instead focus your attention on making sure your HO has enough anti-offense strats (i.e. more priority, more speed) to beat regular offenses.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen4uu-772741
:arcanine: :qwilfish: :mesprit: :skuntank: :drifblim: :mismagius:

As of this point in the season LpZ's scout looked like this:
Screenshot_2024-06-03_at_6.56.56_PM.png


The thought process was more or less the following:
1) no truly bulky teams all season, including zero clef and zero milo.
2) while they started off the season with more balanced teams, they'd been leaning more heavily offense in the last 3 weeks with the yama and shark leads
3) they really, really liked registeel, even if they had a lead uxie that could be rocks. most teams relied on Registeel.
4) they had only 2 spinners in 6 weeks and it was back when they were running somewhat more balanced teams. they hadn't brought for example a kabutops on any of their more recent offenses.
5) I hadn't brought spikes yet all season through 6 games, and they weren't using Scyther at all, and only one Moltres (in a w1 loss) so it seemed unlikely I would face a spinner this time either.

All this led me to believe I should go with a spikes HO with Trick on something that Regi would want to come in. Trick Scarf Rocks Mesprit was picked to be a centerpiece of the team therefore, for role compression and surprise factor. The initial iteration of the team was using 2 trick scarfers, with Mismagius also being Trick Scarf, Drifblim as a CM sweeper with Chesto to act as the Venu switchin, and what eventually became Skuntank was a SD Drapion to beat bulkier things like Clefable or Milotic just in case they appeared. However in tests, this team was quite bad. I realized the team was too lacking in offensive pressure for a HO and was too reliant on getting Tricks perfectly right. I settled on what I really needed was fast Booms to be more immediately threatening and to specifically take down Venusaur, since most teams here have little defensive backbone besides Venu and Regi. Of course boom would do well into Clef and Milo and into spinners too should they show up.

If I'm going to rely on boom then the simplest first change was to turn Drapion into a Skuntank. I then settled on it being a scarfer so that it would very reliably trap ghosts and psychics for me to be able to potentially sweep late game with Mismagius or Mesprit. This freed up my ability to have Mismagius be NP and be the primary expected cleaning option. I decided on Dbond as the last move to help with potential sequencing, so that if Mismagius enters the field early and runs into a Pursuiter, I can trade and potentially win with Mesprit, but I think Taunt or Tbolt would be perfectly fine for this team too, and Colbur Berry would make a lot of sense in that case if dropping Dbond. I just really wasn't expecting to see a Milotic or Clef so I didn't think Tbolt or Taunt would be necessary. And most importantly I didn't want to have to be so careful with my sequencing, and DBond lets me bring Mismagius out earlier if I need to. I next turned to Drifblim. Because I was able to throw sleep talk onto Skuntank, I no longer needed Drifblim to be the Venusaur switchin. I also decided that using Drifblim as a CM sweeper was not efficient for this team. While I really wanted double ghost to ensure that my spikes would stay up no matter what, even vs a Foresight Top, I didn't need both Ghosts to be setup mons. I instead chose to make Drifblim a secondary option alongside Skuntank for removing Ghosts and Psychics and Clefable etc, for Mesprit or Mismagius to clean late. Hence Boom Dbond Drifblim. The last moves are kinda wonky, but as with the rest of the team, it's all about supporting a late Missy or Mesprit clean. Adamant Sucker Drifblim can pick off mons like Zam or Rotom that would be annoying for my cleaners. Wisp cripples Registeel. The lowered HP ensures HP divisible by 4 meaning Sitrus procs after 2 rocks switchins.

The Qwil set is stolen from here, credit to hariyana grande/frankjosh. Perfectly fit what I was after to be a fast boom on Venu, and Jet protecting Qwil against Dugtrio helps ensure maximum spikeage and also protection against a fast mon I could strangely struggle against (if it was SubTrio). For Arcanine, really I just wanted an offensive lead with either priority or lots of speed to fit the bill of applying early pressure for HO. Early on I was considering Hindenburg Drifblim or using Hariyama myself, but I settled on Arcanine starting from the very first iteration of the team for having a bit more long term flexibility, considering the team was almost entirely lacking in defensive switches. ESpeed and Intimidate seemed like they could come in clutch, and since he wasn't using Milotic, Arcanine seemed very good into the scout.

Lead: Perfect, a Houndoom lead is very likely to mean there's not another Dark/Pursuiter in the back. Almost certainly Arcanine 2HKOs this, and I am not going to get 2HKOed back.
Turn 2: no chance he stays in. Even though he doesn't usually have great Arcanine switchins, he must have something better than just letting Houndoom die turn 2. Even if he has a Registeel it could possibly be an Occa Registeel coming in, etc. Switch to Mesprit, get Rocks.
Turn 3: Oh, interesting the first Milotic of the season. This isn't a half bad thing for me to Trick, and also the presence of both Milotic and Houndoom makes me feel really confident he has a Registeel, since he almost always does, and these are two of the best Fire switchins out there. Registeel is basically always a safe switch into Mesprit, and if I'm wrong and I trick the Milotic anyway, it's probably fine for me, so Trick seems quite free.
Turn 4: Trade Rocks, obviously
Turn 5: He can't stay in with Regi, so he's probably going back to Milo which is likely the best Mesprit switchin. Go Qwilfish and start getting Spikes. Hope he's not some sort of offensive HP Electric one.
Turn 6: He switched into Venu on Qwilfish, and it didn't have Lefties. This is almost certainly Scarf, unfortunately, meaning I can't boom on it. Luckily I have a Scarf Skunk of my own who can safely switch into any attack and is my best option into Sleep Powder too. Easy choice.
Turn 7: Perfect, he Leaf Stormed and now 100% has to switch. Free Pursuit. This will leave him quite low on his next switchin to Rocks and Spikes.
Turn 8-9: I was surprised he went to Regi, since it would just give Qwilfish Spikes, or he'd have to Boom with Regi earlier than he would otherwise want to, but he succesfully baited me to go Qwil when he puleld a double switch to Mismagius. I don't really want to switch anything into Mismagius since Skuntank already took damage.
Turn 10-11: I decide my best option is just to Jet and take my damage. If he NPs or Taunts or something, 2 Jets might kill or at least will make it dead to rocks. A second Spike didn't seem all that useful at this point with where Venu, Houndoom, and Regi were at on health. Also I always lived a Shadow Ball from non-LO/Specs missy, and I was expecting it to be Colbur or possibly Trick Scarf, since LpZ's team seemed lacking in ways to kill Clefable (last mon Hariyama wasn't revealed yet).
252 SpA Mismagius Shadow Ball vs. 72 HP / 0 SpD Qwilfish: 183-216 (63.3 - 74.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and 1 layer of Spikes
I got lucky and crit Jet, which made the rest of the game vastly easier, since i could just pick it off next turn and maintain switch advantage. At the time I was thinking I was pretty far ahead regardless, but this would let me close it out pretty easily.
Turn 12: I'm dead to Rocks, but the fact that he brought out Yama must mean it's BP. I feel far enough ahead to not need to get cute and try to Boom on a Bulk Up or something, just grab my Jet damage and move on. So long as I get it down into a guaranteed Mesprit Psychic KO range, I'll be fine.
Turn 13: Go Mesprit and click the psychic move. Even if he goes Houndoom or Registeel, I'm making very good progress. Houndoom is most likely not OHKOing Mesprit and he's probably not risking this path anyway yet when he has a Registeel that can come in and boom (neither Ghost revealed yet, though he must surely expect one with me being a Spikes team.)
252 SpA 30 IVs Houndoom Dark Pulse vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mesprit: 222-264 (73.5 - 87.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
Turn 14: There's no guarantee he booms, totally possible he could TWave, so I don't want to risk either Drifblim or Mismagius. Skuntank feels like its done its job and it is slower than a Scarf Venusaur since I'm Adamant. Best case, I might end up booming with it later to take down Milotic or Hariyama, but I still have Boom and Dbond on my ghosts. If Registeel attacks with Iron Head or Toss etc, I'll live, or even if I die it'll end up taking Aftermath, etc. All helps continue to bring down Registeel for a Mismagius or Mesprit clean. It feels like the lowest risk play. He locks into Toss.
Turn 15: I lived, and now there's nothing better for me to do than Boom. Either he switches and I kill something, or he stays, I bring it down to hazard death and have a locked Regi with Toss for me to bring Blimp in on.
Turn 16: I've gone Blimp and taken one rock. Regi is locked into Toss and ordinarily this is where Drifblim might click Sub and CM etc. He can't stay in with Regi ever. I think most likely he's going to Houndoom, so I swap to Arcanine. Unfortunately he goes Milotic. While this isn't ideal, it's still ok for me since now the next time Drifblim comes in, it will proc Sitrus and outrun the Houndoom, which was the whole idea of going Drifblim on Regi and immediately switching out.
Turn 17: Take my chip with Arcanine and die.
Turn 18-23: Go Mesprit. Based on the 29% Thunder Fang damage on turn 17, it has to be Phys Def Milotic.
228+ Atk Arcanine Thunder Fang vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Milotic: 114-136 (28.9 - 34.5%)
Because it's Phys Def, I felt like Tbolt would pressure Milotic too much offensively with the threat of Para and Crit for Milotic to stay in. He only 3HKOs me with Surf (probably 4HKOs if he has to recover too many times and I am healing with lefties) and he is at half health so he has to start by spamming Recover. If I get quite unlucky, I guess Mesprit loses this 1v1 and I probably lose the game, but I was pretty confident he wouldn't want to go down this path, vs just recovering enough times to achieve a healthy Milo for last mon and Drifblim, who he likely is still expecting to be a CM sweeper. He ultimately decides to do this. Get Milo healthy, sac Regi, then Venu to do damage, to get in Houndoom safely for the OHKO. This then puts a Houndoom on the field vs a Drifblim who probably wouldn't want to come in on a Houndoom (it would have to be Sitrus, not Chesto or anything else, for it to make sense to go Drifblim here. and even then Sitrus Drifblim would have to play mindgames vs a Houndoom Sucker Punch) and an unrevealed last mon who Houndoom might well also beat. Specifically, I've shown Arcanine and Qwilfish so betting on the last mon being a Grass is a decent guess, and it's not going to be a scarfer given Mesprit was one and Skunk could have been one too, so Houndoom might be faster than a Venusaur or could at least Sucker a Sceptile, etc. This path makes a lot of sense for him and I would have done the same.
Turn 24: Go Drifblim, get Sitrus, and then surprise him with the Sucker Punch of my own. Now he's probably really starting to panic.
Turn 25: I really want to Boom, but my last mon Mismagius doesn't actually KO most Hariyama from this range and I'll die to Payback since I'm not Colbur. He'll be at about 45% after Rocks and Spikes and I only do ~30something% to most yama. Therefore I need Mismagius to NP on Milotic before Hariyama comes in. It seems very unlikely to me that Milotic would be Haze on this team, so as long as I can get a NP, I should win. But unfortunately, since I know Yama has BP, I actually have to get a NP when Milotic is lower health so that I can always KO it the next turn at +2. Mismagius can't take 2 Surfs and a BP. So I do still want Drifblim to boom rather than just die to Milotic. I have to get it low. In order to make that happen, I have to burn Milotic to activate Marvel Scale, so that Explosion doesn't kill it. Thankfully I hit the Wisp.
Turn 26: At 64% health, Boom probably is killing Milo, which, again, I don't want.
252+ Atk Drifblim Explosion vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Marvel Scale Milotic: 241-284 (61.1 - 72%)
But a Sucker from here, plus the burn should be more than enough for Missy. If he Recovers on the Sucker, I can then click boom the next turn.
Turn 27: Since he recovered, now I can click Boom. Just pray I don't crit, ironically. Thankfully I don't.
Turn 28-30: NP and win. Thankfully I don't get crit by Surf or BP.

In hindsight with how close the game ended up being, relying on me hitting a Wisp and then not critting/not getting crit/frozen/etc, I maybe wasn't as far ahead as I thought way back when Aqua Jet crit Mismagius and that early crit was probably a lot more impactful than I thought at the time. But I also think I played a bit unnecessarily safely at places that might have helped me to be more aggressive too, which let the game drift back a bit closer to level as we went. Knowing all the final sets, LpZ should have just stayed in with Milotic on the Tbolting Mesprit and hoped to win the 1v1, but I 100% get why they switched out and I was banking on that. As noted above, I would have done the exact same path they took if I were in their position, but it was ultimately a losing path once I revealed the Drifblim techs and didn't get unlucky in the final turns. I was very pleased to see the Drifblim do exactly what it was designed to do, even if in an unexpected way vs the surprise Milotic and with Sucker killing a Houndoom rather than a Ghost/Psychic.
 
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