SV UU SV UU Reverse Sticky Webs; Any Suggestions?

striking zebra

striking zebra

I discovered the power of Contrary Leaf Storm Serperior a while ago, and was shocked by its potential while playing in OU. It was a very fast pokemon, only outsped by some. If I could pull off a reverse sticky web, it would finally be able to be a sweeper, as it doesn't have a lot of bulk. However, the amount of Clodsires and Dondozos that were walling my original Reverse Sticky Web team were incredibly annoying. However, the only way I knew how to make it happen was to set up webs and then Court Change with Cinderace. Even though Serperior and Empoleon were UU, Cinderace was the main problem, being only available in OU. I tried a lot of ways to make it happen, and eventually I figured it out. The team sets up webs by skill swapping magic bounce onto the opponent's lead and then switching to Ribombee and bouncing the sticky webs back onto my side. Although it seemed like a very good strategy, it rarely worked. Before I get into that, here's my team:

Espeon @ Focus Sash
Ability: Magic Bounce
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Skill Swap
- Morning Sun
- Alluring Voice
- Thunder Wave

Espeon as the Skill Swapping magic bounce pokemon, obviously Focus Sash to stay alive against faster pokemon before it used skill swap. Morning Sun to stay alive, alluring voice and thunder wave as backup later on in the game if Espeon is still alive. I found that if kept alive, Espeon can be a great wall to many threats. Tera Fairy to boost Alluring Voice and resist bug and dark. A lot of the time I come across a difficult choice: to hard switch into Ribombee or to let Espeon die and switch then. The first option risks Ribombee dying, and the second risks the opponent switching out. About 2/3 of the time I don't end up pulling off the trick.

Ribombee @ Mental Herb
Ability: Shield Dust
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sticky Web
- Bug Buzz
- Draining Kiss
- Quiver Dance

Ribombee as the sticky web setter. Mental Herb to stop Taunt and Encore. I could also go with focus sash to also keep it alive, but the amount of pokemon using taunt is a little annoying. Quiver Dance, Bug Buzz, and Draining Kiss to cause some problems after setting up webs, it can become really an issue for my opponent if left alone. Tera Ground to resist poison and rock. Ribombee is my favorite choice, as it is simply the fastest. There's really no bulky sticky web setter, so its better to go with a fast one.

Serperior @ Wide Lens
Ability: Contrary
Tera Type: Stellar
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Tera Blast
- Dragon Pulse
- Giga Drain

Serperior as the main sweeper of the team, only walled by priority moves in UU. Normally, he would run Timid, but I have modest, as sticky webs would ensure a fast speed stat. I know a lot will be saying to use Tailwind, but it's only four turns, and setting up with a different pokemon and switching out takes 2 turns, barely affecting Serperior at all. Wide Lens is quite controversial, but I use it because I keep missing leaf storm. It would be better to run Shell Bell or Sitrus Berry, but I'm not a very lucky person. Leaf Storm as the obvious, boosting sp. attack by 2. I recently discovered that upon terastallizing to the stellar type, tera blast becomes 100 power and lowers attack + sp. attack by 1, which is reversed by contrary. I usually only have to leaf storm once before stellar blasting my opponent's entire team.

Malamar @ Assault Vest
Ability: Contrary
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Superpower
- Psycho Cut
- Lunge

Malamar as another contrary sweeper if serperior is dethroned, tera fighting to power up superpower and resist bug. (fairy is still a problem) I run jolly nature, as even with +1 speed he is still quite slow. I don't really know if I should run Choice Band over Assault Vest, but I don't want to get absolutely stopped by a ghost type. Malamar hasn't shown as much success as Serperior, but they can both be very good sweepers.

Empoleon @ Leftovers
Ability: Competitive
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Grass Knot
- Roost

Empoleon as a special attacker, slow but competitive boost sp. attack by 2, which can lead to some decently fast sweeping. He normally runs swords dance, but I wanted to use a special attacking set due to his ability. He is not a very bulky pokemon, but his water-steel type can be very defensive. Tera Grass to resist ground and electric and boost grass knot. Roost heals, no idea why a penguin has roost. Leftovers to passively heal.

Passimian @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Defiant
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Earthquake
- Knock Off

Passimian is a rather surprising choice, not seen much in UU. However, a quick look at his base stats and move set told me he was the man for the job. Rocky helmet to completely stop physical attackers from chipping away at him. Bulk Up and Drain Punch as a good source of further stat boosts and healing. Earthquake as well, coverage and knock off to well, knock off items. Passimian is my go-to when I fail to pull of webs.

The team as a whole seems quite good, but my strategy of setting up reverse sticky webs usually fails and results in a loss. I can't use one of Cinderace's previous evolutions, as they don't get court change. Does anyone have any suggestions? (I might simply use this team in OU with Cinderace and accept the Clodsires)
 
I don't play UU, but Passimian and Empoleon seem like odd choices when Pokemon like Galarian Zapdos, Bisharp and Galarian Articuno are around to abuse stat drops much better.

Choice Scarf Galarian Zapdos can be used as a revenge killer/sweeper when Sticky Webs aren't set up, and another slow sweeper if they are, however, it is more specially bulky, faster and stronger than Passimian.

https://pokepast.es/5221abeb992a9322 (Standard Galarian Zapdos set)

Bisharp could replace Malamar, but I'm not as set on attempting to change it, Bisharp is tanky, has priority, has good damage output (especially with Defiant!) and doesn't need time to set up, as it gets to +2 Attack on entry. However, it is slow, 4x weak to Fighting, and requires a free turn to set up with Swords Dance.

https://pokepast.es/3d04f979b8b8a583 (My Bisharp set)

Galarian Articuno has better average bulk, better Special Attack and better Speed than Empoleon, it still gets access to a recovery move and leftovers, but now it can use Calm Mind to boost itself further

https://pokepast.es/4ed7b1b53b597937 (My Galarian Articuno set)
 
Serperior and Empoleon have had a lot of success, so I think I will keep them on the team. Malamar and Passimian are only good in certain situations where they have time to set up with bulk up/superpower. The lack of steel types in UU renders fighting types a little bit inadequate. At first, Galarian Articuno + Galarian Zapdos seemed like the obvious choice, but flying types are immune to sticky web, as I did find out. Bisharp looks like a good choice, with tera ghost to wall fighting. As mentioned, fighting types are very rare in UU, so it seems like a good choice to replace Passimian.

On your Bisharp set, why are a lot of EVs put into special defense? Fighting type moves are usually physical, with only very few being special (such as aura sphere or focus blast). Vacuum wave can be a problem, but I've never seen it actually in use. Ground type attacks are commonly physical, and a lot of pokemon happen to have earthquake. Earth power is much less common. Fire attacks, however, are mostly special attacks, but they are a little rarer and are not used as commonly as ground type attacks and are less problematic than fighting type attacks. Heatran, a very common UU sweeper, with 252 special attack EVs will already OHKO an eviolite bisharp at 252 EVs in special defense. Even a torch song Skeledirge can OHKO the same bisharp. Instead, I would use a tera-water bisharp (only weak to electric and grass) with simply 252 points into defense. Here's my bisharp set:
https://pokepast.es/d8a1db463ee2f1ff

As for the Malamar replacement, I think I will go with Heatran. Instead of going with a fast and physical sweeper, I will take advantage of Heatran's bulk. He can do good with or without the reverse sticky webs set up. Stealth Rock as an entry hazard (you can't go wrong with stealth rock), Magma Storm to do damage slowly, Earth Power as coverage, and Protect to let magma storm do its work. I also put some EVs into both defenses. This time, tera ghost to have an immunity to fighting. Here's my Heatran set:
https://pokepast.es/ee4818bd3970eae9
 
I've noticed that Empoleon has been actually pretty bad on this team, given that Bisharp, Heatran, and Empoleon are all weak to ground. I discovered this and changed Heatran to tera flying to counteract this. Empoleon, without sticky webs, is actually very useless by itself. Unlike Serperior, it doesn't have a use other than after webs are out. Instead, I realized that in UU, Serperior is a little common and Aqua Jet Huge Power Belly Drum Azumarill is very common. From my past experience with the sheer amount of stall teams in OU, I know that Clodsire is a complete wall to both. Gunk Shot destroys both Azumarill and Serperior, and earthquake stops steel types. I use toxic to slowly chip away at other pokemon and recover to heal. For the EVs, I put 252 into HP and special defense, as Clodsire excels in special defense. This is good because Serperior leaf storm can still do a lot of damage. I gave it tera grass to resist the common ground type moves, Azumarill's aqua jet, and Serperior's leaf storm. It also resists both STAB moves of incredibly common Rotom-Wash. Here's the full team:
https://pokepast.es/bafa18f5ed804724
P.S. Clodsire has 0 Speed EVs to make sure he moves last, just makes it easier to use and not have to worry about the possibility of moving first.
 
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