Hey smogon, panamaxis here with a UU team this time. I hadn’t played UU before so I decided to get into it when the suspect testing started. For those of you who remember the start of the test, stall teams were everywhere. I myself didn’t want to stall, i wanted to use the raw power of the new offensive pokemon. So the basic idea I had was to abuse broken pokemon as much as possible. Bold = suspect.
This team peaked at #1. So, without further ado...
At a glance:
In depth:
Frosslass @ Focus Sash ---Checkmate---
Snow Cloak: Raises the pokemon’s evasion by one stage during hail.
Timid, 4 Def / 252 Sp. Atk / 252 Spe
• Spikes
o Every offensive team needs entry hazards.
• Taunt
o Prevents the opponent from setting up their own entry hazards or whether. Combos well with Destiny Bond to force the opponent into killing frosslass
• Ice Beam
o I don’t use Ice Beam much its mainly for use against faster taunters like ambipom, crobat and Electrode. It’s also useful against weakened pokemon. A lot of people don’t expect frosslass to attack and consequently stay in with their honchkrow / staraptor, etc. only to be OHKOed.
• Destiny Bond
o Makes the opponent think twice before killing frosslass, often I get another layer of spikes just through the threat of destiny bond.
Description: Frosslass gets the ball rolling for me. I’m sure many of you have seen this set and know how it works. Basically the idea here is spike as much as possible, while taunting the opponent to prevent their set up. Taunt + Destiny Bond is “checkmate” for the opponent as their forced to kill frosslass and die or risk switching and letting me set up more entry hazards. Four Defence Evs instead of Hp to have a greater chance of surviving abomasnow's Wood Hammer + Ice Shard.
Staraptor @ Sharp Beak ---*raptor---
Intimidate: Lowers the opponents attack stage by one.
Adamant, 4Hp / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
• Brave Bird
o High power and STAB.
• Close Combat
o Hits everything that Brave Bird can’t.
• Substitute
o Eases prediction and prevents status
• Roost
o Staraptor is deceptively bulky, especially with intimidate, and with roost, staraptor should stick around for a while.
Description: Probably the best set of one of the best pokemon UU has to offer. Brave Bird and Close Combat nearly 2HKO the entire metagame (spikes support makes this even easier) and offer perfect coverage on everything except Rotom. Substitute prevents status and eases prediction, while roost lets Staraptor heal up and come back in later for another round.
Crobat @ Leftovers ---Taunt---
Inner Focus: Prevents flinching
Modest, 38 hp / 252 Sp. Atk / 220 Spe
• Nasty Plot
o Due to Crobats often-overlooked defeses, it is quite easy to get a Nasty Plot. After just one boost, crobat is capable of OHKOing many common physical crobat counters such as steelix.
• Sludge Bomb
o Highest special move on crobat due to STAB. I discussed this with raikoulover and decided that the extra base power of sludge bomb was better then the 30% chance of flinch on air slash, but I’m willing to change it.
• Heatwave
o Provides great coverage with Sludge Bomb and absolutely wrecks the steel types that are so intent to wall crobat.
• Roost
o Crobat can take many hits with those awesome defenses. I don’t really find the need for a third attacking move and the recovery is greatly appreciated.
Description: Ok, seriously, who expects Plotbat. This thing is great as it lures out Registeel and Steelix who are 2HKOed and OHKOed respectively after a nasty plot. Crobat is bulky too and makes a nice counter to roserade after someone has absorbed the sleep (most likely relicanth). It makes a nice fighting counter and revenge killer. I chose a modest nature because the UU tier is significantly slower then then OU, so the extra power is of more use then the extra speed. With the Evs Crobat just misses out on outspeeding +speed natured 115s, and outspeeds base 110s by two points (so he also ends up outspeeding pokemon that aim to outspeed them by one point). I tried life orb, and like shaymin, I felt I was wasting all that bulk and it died too quickly.
Gallade @ Life Orb ---Lucario ---
Steadfast: Raises speed one stage when flinched
Adamant, 60 hp / 252 Atk / 196 Spe
• Swords Dance
o Boosts Gallades attack to insane levels, so much that it can 2HKO pretty much everything in UU and OHKO many more.
• Close Combat
o Main sweeping move with high power.
• Stone Edge
o Makes staraptor and crobat think twice about switching in. Stone Edge also 2HKOs Spiritomb after a SD so it can’t switch in safely either.
• Shadow Sneak
o For use against fast and frail threats such as espeon, frosslass and mismaigus. Priority is always nice, especially with the abundance of sub - berry sweepers.
Gallade is a true monster. With that great Special Defense stat it can set up on many special attackers and then tear apart the opponents team after a Swords Dance. Life Orb grants many KOs. Gallade is like the lucario of UU, if it gets a Swords Dance up, not much can stand up to its hits. This is the standard spread, but I gave it four more speed Evs to outspeed other Gallade's that use that spread.
Shaymin @ Leftovers ---Gaymin---
Natural Cure: Heals the pokemon’s status condition upon switching out.
Timid, 4 hp / 252 Sp. Atk / 252 Spe
• Seed Flare
o Without a doubt the best grass move in the game. This is my main sweeping move and deals a TON of damage, even to pokemon that resist it. For example, staraptor is 2HKOed without Stealth Rocks (IIRC).
• Earth Power
o Hits fire types, registeel and is useful against raikou and before you say it yes, I do know neutral seed flare = super-effectiver earthpower, but raikou can pressure stall me if seed flare misses just once.
• Synthesis
o With those awesome defenses, recovery is obvious. So, you’re probably thinking why seed synthesis over rest? Weather screws synthesis over! True, but hail and sandstorm are the only everlasting weathers and hail is the only one of those common in UU. I think that most of you would agree with me that shaymin will never get a chance to rest when playing a good hail team, so synthesis is the logical option.
• Leech Seed
o Useful against chansey and registeel. Its also helpful to stall out pokemon such as mismagius and raikou if i can predict them using a move besides substitute. Definitely my least used move, so willing to change if there is a better option.
Description:The glue of my team, when in doubt, send shaymin out. With the same defenses as Celebi, shaymin can take quite a beating. Shaymin is my best shot against rain teams so I always fight to keep it alive. Seed flares Sp. Def drop is very handy and shaymin is a great switch into bulky waters that would otherwise plague my team. I've tried the life orb set and honestly it died too quickly and i was wasting all the bulk, so I just went with leftovers. With leech seed and synthesis it can also stall out a large portion of the metagame. I am honestly suprised shaymin isn’t a suspect...
Relicanth @ Leftovers ---ReliCANth---
Rock Head: Prevents recoil moves from damaging the user.
Adamant, 252 hp / 252 Atk / 4 Def
• Stealth Rock
o As I’m sure all of you know it’s a great move, but I’m not too disappointed if I fail to get it up, because I already have spikes.
• Head Smash
o Oh man, STAB headsmash is so insane. Deals around 40ish% to slowbro so if I have a couple of layers of spikes, not much is gonna like taking this, although it does miss quite a bit for me.
• Waterfall
o Secondary STAB with perfect accuracy, which is nice not always having to rely on head smash’s shaky accuracy.
• Earthquake
o I’d be willing to replace this as a neutral Head Smash is more powerful than a super-effective Earthquake, but its nice not to have to rely on head smash’s accuracy so much. Maybe Toxic could work?
Description: Relicanth ties up all the loose ends, countering many choiced fire users and checking staraptor and swellow. It can also take a STAB fighting attack and live, to give you an idea of its considerable bulk. Stealth Rock is always nice to have, but not necessary due to spikes support. It also stops Sunny Day teams from screwing my over with its 4x resistance to fire attacks (shaymin can take solar beams).
With the suspects being removed on UU it's time to retire this team. It's performed very well and I hope that I have inspired some of you to try offense in UU, it's very fun.
So, RMT.
This team peaked at #1. So, without further ado...
At a glance:
In depth:
Frosslass @ Focus Sash ---Checkmate---
Snow Cloak: Raises the pokemon’s evasion by one stage during hail.
Timid, 4 Def / 252 Sp. Atk / 252 Spe
• Spikes
o Every offensive team needs entry hazards.
• Taunt
o Prevents the opponent from setting up their own entry hazards or whether. Combos well with Destiny Bond to force the opponent into killing frosslass
• Ice Beam
o I don’t use Ice Beam much its mainly for use against faster taunters like ambipom, crobat and Electrode. It’s also useful against weakened pokemon. A lot of people don’t expect frosslass to attack and consequently stay in with their honchkrow / staraptor, etc. only to be OHKOed.
• Destiny Bond
o Makes the opponent think twice before killing frosslass, often I get another layer of spikes just through the threat of destiny bond.
Description: Frosslass gets the ball rolling for me. I’m sure many of you have seen this set and know how it works. Basically the idea here is spike as much as possible, while taunting the opponent to prevent their set up. Taunt + Destiny Bond is “checkmate” for the opponent as their forced to kill frosslass and die or risk switching and letting me set up more entry hazards. Four Defence Evs instead of Hp to have a greater chance of surviving abomasnow's Wood Hammer + Ice Shard.
Staraptor @ Sharp Beak ---*raptor---
Intimidate: Lowers the opponents attack stage by one.
Adamant, 4Hp / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
• Brave Bird
o High power and STAB.
• Close Combat
o Hits everything that Brave Bird can’t.
• Substitute
o Eases prediction and prevents status
• Roost
o Staraptor is deceptively bulky, especially with intimidate, and with roost, staraptor should stick around for a while.
Description: Probably the best set of one of the best pokemon UU has to offer. Brave Bird and Close Combat nearly 2HKO the entire metagame (spikes support makes this even easier) and offer perfect coverage on everything except Rotom. Substitute prevents status and eases prediction, while roost lets Staraptor heal up and come back in later for another round.
Crobat @ Leftovers ---Taunt---
Inner Focus: Prevents flinching
Modest, 38 hp / 252 Sp. Atk / 220 Spe
• Nasty Plot
o Due to Crobats often-overlooked defeses, it is quite easy to get a Nasty Plot. After just one boost, crobat is capable of OHKOing many common physical crobat counters such as steelix.
• Sludge Bomb
o Highest special move on crobat due to STAB. I discussed this with raikoulover and decided that the extra base power of sludge bomb was better then the 30% chance of flinch on air slash, but I’m willing to change it.
• Heatwave
o Provides great coverage with Sludge Bomb and absolutely wrecks the steel types that are so intent to wall crobat.
• Roost
o Crobat can take many hits with those awesome defenses. I don’t really find the need for a third attacking move and the recovery is greatly appreciated.
Description: Ok, seriously, who expects Plotbat. This thing is great as it lures out Registeel and Steelix who are 2HKOed and OHKOed respectively after a nasty plot. Crobat is bulky too and makes a nice counter to roserade after someone has absorbed the sleep (most likely relicanth). It makes a nice fighting counter and revenge killer. I chose a modest nature because the UU tier is significantly slower then then OU, so the extra power is of more use then the extra speed. With the Evs Crobat just misses out on outspeeding +speed natured 115s, and outspeeds base 110s by two points (so he also ends up outspeeding pokemon that aim to outspeed them by one point). I tried life orb, and like shaymin, I felt I was wasting all that bulk and it died too quickly.
Gallade @ Life Orb ---Lucario ---
Steadfast: Raises speed one stage when flinched
Adamant, 60 hp / 252 Atk / 196 Spe
• Swords Dance
o Boosts Gallades attack to insane levels, so much that it can 2HKO pretty much everything in UU and OHKO many more.
• Close Combat
o Main sweeping move with high power.
• Stone Edge
o Makes staraptor and crobat think twice about switching in. Stone Edge also 2HKOs Spiritomb after a SD so it can’t switch in safely either.
• Shadow Sneak
o For use against fast and frail threats such as espeon, frosslass and mismaigus. Priority is always nice, especially with the abundance of sub - berry sweepers.
Gallade is a true monster. With that great Special Defense stat it can set up on many special attackers and then tear apart the opponents team after a Swords Dance. Life Orb grants many KOs. Gallade is like the lucario of UU, if it gets a Swords Dance up, not much can stand up to its hits. This is the standard spread, but I gave it four more speed Evs to outspeed other Gallade's that use that spread.
Shaymin @ Leftovers ---Gaymin---
Natural Cure: Heals the pokemon’s status condition upon switching out.
Timid, 4 hp / 252 Sp. Atk / 252 Spe
• Seed Flare
o Without a doubt the best grass move in the game. This is my main sweeping move and deals a TON of damage, even to pokemon that resist it. For example, staraptor is 2HKOed without Stealth Rocks (IIRC).
• Earth Power
o Hits fire types, registeel and is useful against raikou and before you say it yes, I do know neutral seed flare = super-effectiver earthpower, but raikou can pressure stall me if seed flare misses just once.
• Synthesis
o With those awesome defenses, recovery is obvious. So, you’re probably thinking why seed synthesis over rest? Weather screws synthesis over! True, but hail and sandstorm are the only everlasting weathers and hail is the only one of those common in UU. I think that most of you would agree with me that shaymin will never get a chance to rest when playing a good hail team, so synthesis is the logical option.
• Leech Seed
o Useful against chansey and registeel. Its also helpful to stall out pokemon such as mismagius and raikou if i can predict them using a move besides substitute. Definitely my least used move, so willing to change if there is a better option.
Description:The glue of my team, when in doubt, send shaymin out. With the same defenses as Celebi, shaymin can take quite a beating. Shaymin is my best shot against rain teams so I always fight to keep it alive. Seed flares Sp. Def drop is very handy and shaymin is a great switch into bulky waters that would otherwise plague my team. I've tried the life orb set and honestly it died too quickly and i was wasting all the bulk, so I just went with leftovers. With leech seed and synthesis it can also stall out a large portion of the metagame. I am honestly suprised shaymin isn’t a suspect...
Relicanth @ Leftovers ---ReliCANth---
Rock Head: Prevents recoil moves from damaging the user.
Adamant, 252 hp / 252 Atk / 4 Def
• Stealth Rock
o As I’m sure all of you know it’s a great move, but I’m not too disappointed if I fail to get it up, because I already have spikes.
• Head Smash
o Oh man, STAB headsmash is so insane. Deals around 40ish% to slowbro so if I have a couple of layers of spikes, not much is gonna like taking this, although it does miss quite a bit for me.
• Waterfall
o Secondary STAB with perfect accuracy, which is nice not always having to rely on head smash’s shaky accuracy.
• Earthquake
o I’d be willing to replace this as a neutral Head Smash is more powerful than a super-effective Earthquake, but its nice not to have to rely on head smash’s accuracy so much. Maybe Toxic could work?
Description: Relicanth ties up all the loose ends, countering many choiced fire users and checking staraptor and swellow. It can also take a STAB fighting attack and live, to give you an idea of its considerable bulk. Stealth Rock is always nice to have, but not necessary due to spikes support. It also stops Sunny Day teams from screwing my over with its 4x resistance to fire attacks (shaymin can take solar beams).
With the suspects being removed on UU it's time to retire this team. It's performed very well and I hope that I have inspired some of you to try offense in UU, it's very fun.
So, RMT.
