ORAS UU Honchkrow UU Team (Need Suggestions)

[Shirozaru]

Hello, everyone. I've been experimenting for competitive battling, which I've been doing for a while, but I have noticed that something great is lacking on my UnderUsed team, and need advice on what to do, so I decided to come to Smogon Forums.

Let's start off with the main component of my team:

(Italicized means it was edited/fixed)

Honchkrow @ Life Orb
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Pursuit
- Superpower
- Brave Bird
- Sucker Punch

Honchkrow is the primary Pokemon on this team. I personally admire the moxie mixed with the Bird and Sucker Punch combo, whereas Pursuit is used to get an easy moxie on a weakned pokemon before they switch out, and Superpower is used for alleviating curselax weakness. Stab on BB and SP along with Life Orb and 252 EV's invested in speed make this crow a danger, but he needs other Pokemon to support him.

Froslass @ Focus Sash
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Spikes
- Taunt
- Icy Wind
- Destiny Bond

This is usually my lead Pokemon, unless there is another situation that would be more advantageous than her (haven't seen a reason to not lead with her so far, unless it's against a faster Pokemon). Her ability to taunt the enemy as well as set up spikes against normally offensive leads, combined with a Focus Sash and Destiny Bond make this spirit a force to be trifled with. Icy Wind is there if I need it, usually to slow down the quicker pokemon, and great against lead grass types, such as Sceptile.

Entei @ Choice Band
Ability: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Quiet Nature
- Flamethrower
- Lava Plume
- Substitute
- Calm Mind

Entei I came across after going against a great user of him that completely wiped out my team (I have edited many times even before and after that event). Paired with a Choice Band to boost his Atk stat and a STAB Sacred Fire with 50% chance to burn makes this canine a fearsome foe, but he is usually either downed by Mega Swampert or I am forced to switch, which gives me quite the trouble.

Nidoqueen @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 40 HP / 252 SpAtk / 216 Spe
Modest Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Sludge Wave
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power

"Nidoqueen not only sets Stealth Rock, but also provides [me] with a second Fairy-resist to switch into things like Florges and Whimsicott in case Entei gets worn down. She also gives [me] a valuable Fighting resist... Nidoqueen also threatens to do huge damage, if not straight OHKO, every potential spinner and Defog user in the tier, meaning that [my] team will have an easy time keeping [my] Spikes and Stealth Rock on the field.

Sceptile @ Sceptilite
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Dragon Pulse
- Giga Drain
- Focus Blast
- Substitute

My mega on the set, he is also the fastest when he mega evolves. Being capable of switching in and wreaking havoc, especially when done so on a nicely-predicted electric-type move, he is often a danger in the eyes of others. He is my check to Mega Swampert, and usually comes in as the victor of that fight, otherwise the Swampert switches out. Ice Beam is dangerous to be around, so I usually have Substitute for that scenario if the opponent is packing it or another super-effective move. I was thinking of switching from Giga Drain, but that leaves him without recovery besides my cleric.

Slurpuff @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 28 HP / 252 Def / 228 Speed
Jolly Nature
- Belly Drum
- Play Rough
- Drain Punch
- Return

"Florges has very limited offensive presence, and sending her out will mean that [my] opponent will have an easy time healing up, clearing your hazards, or setting up with a Pokemon of their own. Slurpuff discourages the opponent from revenge killing one of [my] teammates with Scarf Hydreigon, Salamence, or Mienshao, as a free turn of setup for Slurpuff can often end the game in [my] favor. Slurpuff is a really fun setup sweeper that fully takes advantage of Froslass's Spikes."

I appreciate any advice and any input regarding the usefulness and/or betterment of this team.
Best of thanks, Crow.

 

[DoctorZie]

I would suggest running a lonely nature on your honchcrow so your special attack won't be as low and it's not like you were investing in defense anyway.

 

[Shirozaru]

I would suggest running a lonely nature on your honchcrow so your special attack won't be as low and it's not like you were investing in defense anyway.

Changing the nature to Lonely would, indeed, increase SpAtk, but that stat is unneeded, and Adamant increases Atk, which increases the damage of both his stab moves (because they are physical) and, in tandem with Life Orb, causes serious damage.

 

[DoctorZie]

Changing the nature to Lonely would, indeed, increase SpAtk, but that stat is unneeded, and Adamant increases Atk, which increases the damage of both his stab moves (because they are physical) and, in tandem with Life Orb, causes serious damage.

Actually lonely nature increases attack and lowers defense so i thought it would be more suitable.

 

[Shirozaru]

Actually lonely nature increases attack and lowers defense so i thought it would be more suitable.

Ah, I thought that you implied that it would increase SpAtk. I don't have every nature's stat changes memorized. I'll take that advice.

 

[HT]

Hey Crow, you have a really interesting take on HO here. First thing that stuck out to me is that you have a Florges on a Spike Stacking offense team which is something that you generally don't want to have because Florges isn't able to pressure your opponents enough to prevent them from spinning/defogging. To remedy this I would try out Slurpuff over Florges. Slurpuff is quickly becoming one of my favorite set up sweepers in this tier and I think it will replace Florges nicely due to their same typing and Slurpuff's potent ability to sweep through teams with the help of spikes. Slurpuff does the thing that Florges was unable to do and that is keep up offensive pressure. Obviously the lack of Cleric and Wish support is going to suck, but with the offensive nature of your team, you don't really want to lose momentum by being forced to wish/aroma.

Next I'll cover some sets that could use some brushing up. Earth Power doesn't really hit anything relevant on Hydreigon so I would use Roost/Superpower over Earth Power. Roost provides you with some reliable recovery which lets you switch into Scalds more reliably since you'll be able to roost off any burn damage. Superpower is there to hit those dedicated special walls such as Blissey and Umbreon which would otherwise wall your current set. On Entei, there used to be a ton of debate over the last move, but now there is a pretty clear option as to which should be used and that is Flare Blitz. Bulldoze doesn't really hit anything relevant much like Earth Power on Hydreigon and Flare Blitz provides a great secondary STAB that you can use if Sacred Fire runs out of PP. Not to mention that it's actually stronger than Sacred Fire!

I don't really have too much experience on Honchkrow, but I'm looking at your team right now and you have a pretty big weakness to Curselax, so I'd run Superpower Honch so that you can do big damage to it without nearly killing yourself. But honestly, the weakness is big enough that I'd consider running a Lucario somewhere, probably over Honch, but that's up to you.

Hope I helped! Good luck with your team in the future.

 

[dodmen]

Hey, I like this team a lot and think it has a lot of potential. Froslass offense is a powerful playstyle in UU but I think there are a couple changes you could make to your team to make it better.

First thing is that while Spikes are a great way to rack up damage, every competitive team needs Stealth Rock, which has no immunities unlike Spikes and will really make your life easier when you're up against things like Crobat, Mega Aerodactyl, and Entei. The combination of Stealth Rock and Spikes puts huge pressure on opposing teams. Currently your team has no Stealth Rock setter, so I'm gonna suggest that you use Nidoqueen over Hydreigon. This is quite a drastic change, but Nidoqueen not only sets Stealth Rock, but also provides you with a second Fairy-resist to switch into things like Florges and Whimsicott in case Entei gets worn down. She also gives you a valuable Fighting resist, which will become even more important once you change Florges. Nidoqueen also threatens to do huge damage, if not straight OHKO, every potential spinner and Defog user in the tier, meaning that your team will have an easy time keeping your Spikes and Stealth Rock on the field. Her moves should be Stealth Rock/Sludge Wave/Ice Beam/Earth Power, with Life Orb, Sheer Force, 252 SpAtk EVs, and a Modest nature. The amount of Speed you'd like to run is up to you :].

Next up, I completely agree with Hairy Toenail's suggestion of using Slurpuff over Florges. Florges has very limited offensive presence, and sending her out will mean that your opponent will have an easy time healing up, clearing your hazards, or setting up with a Pokemon of their own. Slurpuff discourages the opponent from revenge killing one of your teammates with Scarf Hydreigon, Salamence, or Mienshao, as a free turn of setup for Slurpuff can often end the game in your favor. Slurpuff is a really fun setup sweeper that fully takes advantage of Froslass's Spikes. Slurpuff should run Belly Drum/Play Rough/Drain Punch/Return with max Attack, Mac Speed, and a Jolly nature to outspeed every relevant Scarfer after an Unburden boost.

As for movesets, Toenail is right that Entei should be running Flare Blitz over Bulldoze. As for Honchkrow, I think that the best moveset for your team would be Brave Bird/Sucker Punch/Superpower/Pursuit. Superpower somewhat alleviates the CurseLax weakness that Toenail pointed out. Pursuit is a great move for Honchkrow: it lets you get valuable chip damage on special walls like Blissey, which can otherwise give Nidoqueen and Sceptile some trouble. It also lets you revenge kill a slower, weakened Pokemon to get an early Moxie boost. All of Heat Wave's targets are demolished by Entei and Nidoqueen, so you shouldn't miss it too much. And due to its frailty, Roosting with Honchkrow can be pretty difficult. You're better off doing as much damage as you possibly can to let Slurpuff and Entei clean up weakened teams. This also means you can switch back to an Adamant nature.

So to recap, I suggest using Life Orb Nidoqueen over Hydreigon as a Stealth Rock setter and Fairy/Fighting check, Slurpuff over Florges as a late-game sweeper, and changing Honchkrow and Entei's movesets to the ones listed above.

Hope this rate helped man, good luck with the team!

 

[Shirozaru]

Hey, I like this team a lot and think it has a lot of potential. Froslass offense is a powerful playstyle in UU but I think there are a couple changes you could make to your team to make it better.

First thing is that while Spikes are a great way to rack up damage, every competitive team needs Stealth Rock, which has no immunities unlike Spikes and will really make your life easier when you're up against things like Crobat, Mega Aerodactyl, and Entei. The combination of Stealth Rock and Spikes puts huge pressure on opposing teams. Currently your team has no Stealth Rock setter, so I'm gonna suggest that you use Nidoqueen over Hydreigon. This is quite a drastic change, but Nidoqueen not only sets Stealth Rock, but also provides you with a second Fairy-resist to switch into things like Florges and Whimsicott in case Entei gets worn down. She also gives you a valuable Fighting resist, which will become even more important once you change Florges. Nidoqueen also threatens to do huge damage, if not straight OHKO, every potential spinner and Defog user in the tier, meaning that your team will have an easy time keeping your Spikes and Stealth Rock on the field. Her moves should be Stealth Rock/Sludge Wave/Ice Beam/Earth Power, with Life Orb, Sheer Force, 252 SpAtk EVs, and a Modest nature. The amount of Speed you'd like to run is up to you :].

Next up, I completely agree with Hairy Toenail's suggestion of using Slurpuff over Florges. Florges has very limited offensive presence, and sending her out will mean that your opponent will have an easy time healing up, clearing your hazards, or setting up with a Pokemon of their own. Slurpuff discourages the opponent from revenge killing one of your teammates with Scarf Hydreigon, Salamence, or Mienshao, as a free turn of setup for Slurpuff can often end the game in your favor. Slurpuff is a really fun setup sweeper that fully takes advantage of Froslass's Spikes. Slurpuff should run Belly Drum/Play Rough/Drain Punch/Return with max Attack, Mac Speed, and a Jolly nature to outspeed every relevant Scarfer after an Unburden boost.

As for movesets, Toenail is right that Entei should be running Flare Blitz over Bulldoze. As for Honchkrow, I think that the best moveset for your team would be Brave Bird/Sucker Punch/Superpower/Pursuit. Superpower somewhat alleviates the CurseLax weakness that Toenail pointed out. Pursuit is a great move for Honchkrow: it lets you get valuable chip damage on special walls like Blissey, which can otherwise give Nidoqueen and Sceptile some trouble. It also lets you revenge kill a slower, weakened Pokemon to get an early Moxie boost. All of Heat Wave's targets are demolished by Entei and Nidoqueen, so you shouldn't miss it too much. And due to its frailty, Roosting with Honchkrow can be pretty difficult. You're better off doing as much damage as you possibly can to let Slurpuff and Entei clean up weakened teams. This also means you can switch back to an Adamant nature.

So to recap, I suggest using Life Orb Nidoqueen over Hydreigon as a Stealth Rock setter and Fairy/Fighting check, Slurpuff over Florges as a late-game sweeper, and changing Honchkrow and Entei's movesets to the ones listed above.

Hope this rate helped man, good luck with the team!

Thank you for the advice! Anything else?

 

[Christo]

Hey, the team looks really could with the suggestions Toenail and dodmen made! Just one thing to point out is to run 28 Evs in HP on Slurpuff as a tad of added bulk. The EVs taken out of speed are irrelevant as it does not under-speed anything 252 speed would in the tier.

 

[Shirozaru]

Hey, the team looks really could with the suggestions Toenail and dodmen made! Just one thing to point out is to run 28 Evs in HP on Slurpuff as a tad of added bulk. The EVs taken out of speed are irrelevant as it does not under-speed anything 252 speed would in the tier.

Thanks for the tip!

 

[I_Derpy]

Hey the team looks very cool but one thing i noticed its looking pretty weak to mega aerodactyl, So i would suggest either weakening the aero and revenge killing it with Honchkrow or set up with puff before the aero comes in.
Hope i helped!

 

[Shirozaru]

Hey the team looks very cool but one thing i noticed its looking pretty weak to mega aerodactyl, So i would suggest either weakening the aero and revenge killing it with Honchkrow or set up with puff before the aero comes in.
Hope i helped!

Hello. This forum is for rating teams. If you want to rate, you can make a comment on a change in moveset/EV/Nature/Pokemon, but saying what you should do with which Pokemon is not a team rate. If you have a change to the team that you think should be at least looked at, please let me know.

 

[I_Derpy]

Hello. This forum is for rating teams. If you want to rate, you can make a comment on a change in moveset/EV/Nature/Pokemon, but saying what you should do with which Pokemon is not a team rate. If you have a change to the team that you think should be at least looked at, please let me know.

oh sorry im kinda new to the RMTs

 

[Shirozaru]

oh sorry im kinda new to the RMTs

No problem. For example, if I had a Blaziken with SuperPower, Ember, Aerial Ace, and Toxic, the choice of ember is underwhelming, especially taking in for STAB and the possible ability of Blaze, so it would be better changing it to either Overheat to deal with walls with low SpD, Or Blaze Kick to compliment EV's in Atk, which would be there because of aerial ace and superpower. See what I mean?

 

[I_Derpy]

No problem. For example, if I had a Blaziken with SuperPower, Ember, Aerial Ace, and Toxic, the choice of ember is underwhelming, especially taking in for STAB and the possible ability of Blaze, so it would be better changing it to either Overheat to deal with walls with low SpD, Or Blaze Kick to compliment EV's in Atk, which would be there because of aerial ace and superpower. See what I mean?

Yeah thank u for the advice and sorry for bothering you once again

 

[Lilligant for OU]

Actually lonely nature increases attack and lowers defense so i thought it would be more suitable.

I dint quite understand the purpose of keeping your special attack unlowered while also lowering what little bulk you have, could you elaborate?

 

[MZ]

I dint quite understand the purpose of keeping your special attack unlowered while also lowering what little bulk you have, could you elaborate?

It used to be lonely when it ran heat wave, it's now adamant.

Anyway, cool team you got here. Slurpuff can be running 228 speed, as that outspeeds everything you were already going to outspeed while maximizing bulk, which can occasionally be useful. The extra points can go into hp. Bulldoze is also a fairly mediocre move to run on entei, even with adamant band it isn't very strong. Flare blitz is a god option if you find sacred fire's 8 pp running out a lot, otherwise toxic can be run to cripple swampert and hippowdon on the switchin, or even sleep talk for the occasional roserade with sleep powder or amoonguss.

 

[Shirozaru]

It used to be lonely when it ran heat wave, it's now adamant.

Anyway, cool team you got here. Slurpuff can be running 228 speed, as that outspeeds everything you were already going to outspeed while maximizing bulk, which can occasionally be useful. The extra points can go into hp. Bulldoze is also a fairly mediocre move to run on entei, even with adamant band it isn't very strong. Flare blitz is a god option if you find sacred fire's 8 pp running out a lot, otherwise toxic can be run to cripple swampert and hippowdon on the switchin, or even sleep talk for the occasional roserade with sleep powder or amoonguss.

Entei had Flare Blitz on it already, I had just forgotten to update this, haha. I am planning on changing Slurpuff's speed to 228 and exchanging the excess points to HP, as you had said. Bulldoze doesn't do well on this Entei with this team and does better with Flare Blitz.