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Metagame USM Ubers Metagame & Sets Discussion (Check Post #107)

Due to addition of Ultra Necrozma in Ubers, guess it's time for Choice Scarf Lunala again to show Ubers the phases of the moon.

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Lunala @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Shadow Shield
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moongeist Beam
- Ice Beam
- Focus Blast
- Psyshock / Toxic / Trick

Like in pre-Marshadow era, Choice Scarf Lunala serves its purpose in revenging E-Killer with Focus Blast (If it didn't have to run Chople Berry because of goddamn Marshadow that is!). Moongeist Beam hits super-effectively to all Necrozma forms and easily 3HKO's threats as bulky as Support Arceus forms and threatens Psychic Terrain builds. Ice Beam hits Dragons and Yveltal that is not Scarf and does not carry Sucker Punch.

Psyshock is to slide past specially defensive targets that Lunala have trouble dealing with such as Blissey. Toxic can be used to badly poison Support Arceus forms and Ho-Oh on the switch-in. Trick is an interesting option to restrain a certain threat with Choice Scarf making them adversely in performing their task if Lunala's revenging killing roles is no longer needed, but doesn't really work in most matchup against number of threats we have now who can't have their item removed.
 
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orch said:
Defog keys is a really nice set. Prankster defog is exactly what ho-oh needed to climb out of the abyss of c+ rank. I've been using this set with Marshadow:

Klefki @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Defog
- Play Rough
- Thunder Wave
- Swagger

You can swap out swagger for Toxic/Spikes/Flash Cannon/Screens.
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Why do you keep saying this?? It's not funny or clever at all. Ho-oh is not C+, never was and likely never will be until like gen 9 or 10. You say it on the VR too. It's not funny, i know your trying to be funny but it isnt working lol so just stop with the whole ho-oh C+ meme
 
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Necrozma-Dusk-Mane @ Leftovers
Ability: Prism Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Toxic
- Morning Sun
- Sunsteel Strike
- Stealth Rock / Heat Wave

Standard support Space Mufasa, but I've been using Heat Wave on this set as I had another member of my team setting up rocks already. Heat Wave is pretty hot (lol) on this set as it's enabling itself to better handle its matchup vs Ferrothorn, which is starting to increase in usage, I'm noticing. Even with an Adamant nature, Dusk Mane is still able to pick up the 2HKO vs Max SpDef Ferrothorn. Heat Wave also helps it vs Mega Scizor, weakened Celesteela, and the rare Skarmory (which you also 2HKO). Obviously if you have no rockers on your team, prioritize Stealth Rock on this set, but since I had Arceus-Fairy set up rocks on my A Tale of Two Nebbys team, I felt that having a secondary Ferrothorn answer outside of Overheat Primal Groudon was a good idea.
 
Vengeance417 said:
necrozma-duskmane.gif


Necrozma-Dusk-Mane @ Leftovers
Ability: Prism Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Toxic
- Morning Sun
- Sunsteel Strike
- Stealth Rock / Heat Wave

Standard support Space Mufasa, but I've been using Heat Wave on this set as I had another member of my team setting up rocks already. Heat Wave is pretty hot (lol) on this set as it's enabling itself to better handle its matchup vs Ferrothorn, which is starting to increase in usage, I'm noticing. Even with an Adamant nature, Dusk Mane is still able to pick up the 2HKO vs Max SpDef Ferrothorn. Heat Wave also helps it vs Mega Scizor, weakened Celesteela, and the rare Skarmory (which you also 2HKO). Obviously if you have no rockers on your team, prioritize Stealth Rock on this set, but since I had Arceus-Fairy set up rocks on my A Tale of Two Nebbys team, I felt that having a secondary Ferrothorn answer outside of Overheat Primal Groudon was a good idea.
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Stupid question, but why is the set Adamant? Wouldn't support want to run a more defensive nature?
 
Alphanex20 said:
Stupid question, but why is the set Adamant? Wouldn't support want to run a more defensive nature?
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Adamant enables this vs standard GeoXern:

4+ Atk Necrozma-Dusk-Mane Sunsteel Strike vs. 72 HP / 0 Def Xerneas: 368-434 (89.5 - 105.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

vs

0 Atk Necrozma-Dusk-Mane Sunsteel Strike vs. 72 HP / 0 Def Xerneas: 336-396 (81.7 - 96.3%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

You don't really lose anything from going with Adamant over Careful because you're still comfortably tanking hits vs +2 Xerneas and support Arceus-Ground anyways:

+2 252+ SpA Xerneas Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Necrozma-Dusk-Mane: 215-254 (54 - 63.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

0 SpA Earth Plate Arceus-Ground Judgment vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Prism Armor Necrozma-Dusk-Mane: 168-199 (42.2 - 50%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
 
Ninjask @ Focus Sash
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Aerial Ace
- Leech Life
- Protect / Night Slash

I try to use Ninjask in Ubers with some success as it hit hard against Psychic mons and can threaten Marshadow / M-Lucario too. Pair it with Lele to ensure nobody can outspeed it. Removing the Rocks is the key here as Ninjask can be a late game sweeper if stay healthy
 
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Zygarde-Complete @ Leftovers
Ability: Power Construct
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Thousand Arrows
- Toxic
- Substitute
- Protect
This is a set i've used quite a lot lately and it's been p good, being able to stall out a lot of Pokemon because of its insane bulk is really nice, pairing this with a Pokemon that like Pokemon such as Arceus-Ground, Ho-Oh, and Arceus-Water weakened really appreciate this set.
 
Is Pdon good as it was? I feel like DM Necro can do some of its roll better. I thought it would drop to S or DM Necro would be S+ with it.
 
Yveltal @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Dark Aura
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Dark Pulse
- Oblivion Wing
- U-turn
- Foul Play

This isn't really a set showcase but I didn't know where else to post my thoughts on the set. I've been seeing this set quite a bit on ladder and I've seen players using it in the kickoff tour etc and it is honestly a really bad set from what I have seen. Its struggles vs any support arceus team so basically any balance/bo/stall team, and also has to worry about other threats such as blobs, ho oh, fairies on these playstyles. Its supposed strong suit is being good versus offense, but the threats it "handles" such as Marshadow/SD Groundceus basically get a kill before Yveltal comes in. Usually thats how it works in practice because Yveltal can't/doesn't really want to hard switch into these threats. Blocking Yveltal's stabs is also really easy with dark/fairy + steel. This means you get easy momentum whenever they lock themselves into dark/flying stab. SR dampers this set as well since it means Yveltal is chipped easily and forced to try and recover up with Oblivion Wing which isn't very reliable in practice. It isn't a strong Ground resist because it lacks bulk and solid recovery, yet if you run another flying type, you suffer from dual SR weakness. You also don't even outspeed rock polish users such as Groudon and Dusk Mane unless they run an absurd amount of bulk, but generally you see a lot of speed creep in SM and USM, so Timid doesn't even outspeed +2 threats. Basically you're a dead set vs any team with a defensive backbone and you don't handle offense very well in practice. I scratch my head as to why this set sees so much usage even though it was considered a really bad set in ORAS. What changed that made it good in practice? It still seems like the huge momentum killer that it always was. I went through Snake Draft games as well and this set won 3 of the 12 games it was featured in (games that i could confirm it was Scarf Yveltal). It had 5 wins in 14 games where it looked like it was probably scarf yveltal but couldn't confirm the set. 25% or 35% winrates are both really bad and I'm wondering what you guys think about the set.

edit: I post timid because thats the set that im seeing the most from scarf ygod users but modest ofc is also very common
 
The Trap God said:
Yveltal @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Dark Aura
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Dark Pulse
- Oblivion Wing
- U-turn
- Foul Play

This isn't really a set showcase but I didn't know where else to post my thoughts on the set. I've been seeing this set quite a bit on ladder and I've seen players using it in the kickoff tour etc and it is honestly a really bad set from what I have seen. Its struggles vs any support arceus team so basically any balance/bo/stall team, and also has to worry about other threats such as blobs, ho oh, fairies on these playstyles. Its supposed strong suit is being good versus offense, but the threats it "handles" such as Marshadow/SD Groundceus basically get a kill before Yveltal comes in. Usually thats how it works in practice because Yveltal can't/doesn't really want to hard switch into these threats. Blocking Yveltal's stabs is also really easy with dark/fairy + steel. This means you get easy momentum whenever they lock themselves into dark/flying stab. SR dampers this set as well since it means Yveltal is chipped easily and forced to try and recover up with Oblivion Wing which isn't very reliable in practice. It isn't a strong Ground resist because it lacks bulk and solid recovery, yet if you run another flying type, you suffer from dual SR weakness. You also don't even outspeed rock polish users such as Groudon and Dusk Mane unless they run an absurd amount of bulk, but generally you see a lot of speed creep in SM and USM, so Timid doesn't even outspeed +2 threats. Basically you're a dead set vs any team with a defensive backbone and you don't handle offense very well in practice. I scratch my head as to why this set sees so much usage even though it was considered a really bad set in ORAS. What changed that made it good in practice? It still seems like the huge momentum killer that it always was. I went through Snake Draft games as well and this set won 3 of the 12 games it was featured in (games that i could confirm it was Scarf Yveltal). It had 5 wins in 14 games where it looked like it was probably scarf yveltal but couldn't confirm the set. 25% or 35% winrates are both really bad and I'm wondering what you guys think about the set.

edit: I post timid because thats the set that im seeing the most from scarf ygod users but modest ofc is also very common
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I agree the set sucks donkey against most competitive balance / stall teams, but I can still see Choice Scarf Yveltal's usefulness.

First of all I view scarf Yveltal as a phenomenon of many people trying to adapt to presence of new Pokemon introduced in USUM. With Ultra Necrozma and Dusk Mane joining the party, probably the first thing people decided to look for when building a team is a check to these threats. Life Orb Sucker Punch Yveltal OHKOes the former and beats the latter one on one for obvious reasons, but they can obviously play around that. Choice Scarf Yveltal on the other hand can just outright eliminate both (latter has to be weakened) and depending on how well you predict, you can gain momentum with U-turn. But again, I agree this set sucks because prevalence of Yveltal earlier in USUM made people creep scarf variants and this is evident from ladder and DM analysis from Minority / Pdon analysis from Nayrz (ev creep in double dance sets).

Also Choice Scarf Yveltal has at least decent level of role compression when it is used in hyperoffensive teams. If we were to go over Pokemon that give massive headaches to any offensive teams, it would be things like Marshadow, Rayquaza, Yveltal, and Extreme Killer Arceus depending on its moveset. Yveltal soft checks all of the mentioned Pokemon; Marshadow has to think twice before mindlessly pressing Spectral Thief / Shadow Sneak against boosted / weakened targets, Rayquaza fails to outspeed Yveltal after a Dragon Dance and falls prey to Foul Play, and SD Arceus faces the same fate. Scarf Yveltal obviously doesn't check Yveltal from the other side but at least it discourages Dark Pulse spam and this alone is notable considering that not many Dark resists barring Xerneas can fit into hyperoffense.

I still think Choice Scarf Yveltal is inferior to more standard sets like Life Orb but it has its own strength. It is a bummer that hyperoffensive teams it fits on can't have good hazard control (unless you run exca ho) and Yveltal stacks Stealth Rock weakness if there is another bird in your team but it can work as a safety net against threats that bother HO. If you still think scarf Yveltal is bad run Choice Scarf Kartana
 
my problem with scarf ygod on HO especially is that its a momentum drain. it doesn't pressure the opposing team enough for example to keep hazards up. the only way you can pressure support arceus from defogging for example is to uturn on switchin or flinch it to death. other yveltal sets like taunt toxic or offensive (lorb/specs) can abuse hazards a little more and pressure defensive mons. But when you think about HO, you have a lead hazard setter or a hazard setter that won't stick around too long even if its bulky (for example support pdon will find a time to get rocks up and then sack itself to get damage, you don't usually switch out and try to preserve it). bearing this in mind, you have 5 other slots that need to synergize and break the other team. scarf ygod is attempting to be a defensive measure but lacks the ability to pressure (think marshadow/mgar/mence etc that can defensively deal with things but also constantly pressure the opponents team). scarf ygod lacks that component always and will never be a better fit on HO builds imo than something like a marshadow/mence/mgar to deal with SD arcs. even geoxern can be an offensive threat while soft checking things like marshadow if thats your concern when running scarf ygod. and if you're thinking under the assumption that scarf ygod is not a suitable fit for HO because of its inability to pressure, is it supposed to fit on a more passive playstyle? does it have strong enough defensive qualities such as the ability to switch into things multiple times/gain momentum when switching in/use reliable recovery to prolong its longevity? the answer is no. it lacks the ability to pressure on offensive teams and it lacks the strong defensive qualities that are needed to be an integral part of a defensive team structure.

to address your points about scarf ygod being strong vs marshadow/rayquaza/ekiller:

+2 252+ Atk Arceus Extreme Speed vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Yveltal: 283-334 (72 - 84.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 Atk Life Orb Marshadow Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Yveltal: 259-305 (65.9 - 77.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

+1 252+ Atk Life Orb Rayquaza Extreme Speed vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Yveltal: 217-256 (55.2 - 65.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

as you can see, it is hardly a solid revenge killer when SR are up vs the likes of ekiller/rayquaza. It also cannot reliably switch into marshadow. this means in practice, you sack a pokemon, then go to your yveltal in attempts to pressure out these pokemon. You're also forced into foul play to kill them if they stay in, so a switch to your own ygod/xern is free. Then you haven't healed and by the next time you try to come in, you're at 50% and die to boosted priority. my above point still stands about using pokemon like Marshadow as a revenge killer/priority user that also has type immunities and being a much stronger pseudo offensive/defensive pokemon for HO.
 
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Xerneas @ Electrium Z / Fairium Z
Ability: Fairy Aura
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Thunder
- Hidden Power [Fire] / Focus Blast
Probably not my initial invention, fun effective set that I have been trying out recently, Geomancy sets are losing some traction in USUM, mainly due to the main steel-types being either Dusk Mane or Magearna on teams at the moment, therefore Choiced sets such as Specs and Scarf are more ubiquitous than before.

I feel Calm Mind sets are actually pretty good right now and are somewhat comparable to the Choice Specs set, but giving the leeway and freedoms of not being choice locked, you do lose out on some immediate power however, but unlike Geomancy, provides possible opportunities to set up more than once per game and with Primal Groudon's becoming more offensive / running less bulk more players are dedicating steel slots to mainly take on Xerneas making the +2 Power from Geomancy slightly unnecessary, you do lose out on the speed boost which is a downside.

I've mainly been using Electrium as the Z-Crystal . +1 Gigavolt Havoc is actually ridiculous and out damages Modest +2 Geomancy Thunder, allowing you to lure in and OHKO standard defensive Ho-Oh at full without the risk of missing, OHKO Water Arceus, Lugia if Multiscale is broken, really dent Necrozma Dusk Mane. (Modest Nature OHKO's Offensive variants) and do about 60 to Magearna, I prefer Timid Nature to outspeed Rayquaza and tie with Yveltal, but a modest nature is definitely usable and provides extra power. Fairium Z is also worth considering as it OHKO's Support Arceus formes at +1 which is useful and does insane amounts of damage to Primal Groudon for a resist.

+1 252+ SpA Fairy Aura Xerneas Twinkle Tackle (175 BP) vs. 248 HP / 200 SpD Groudon-Primal: 279-329 (69.2 - 81.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+1 252 SpA Xerneas Gigavolt Havoc (185 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Necrozma-Dusk-Mane: 282-332 (84.1 - 99.1%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+1 252 SpA Xerneas Gigavolt Havoc (185 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Magearna: 198-234 (54.3 - 64.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+1 252 SpA Fairy Aura Xerneas Twinkle Tackle (175 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Arceus: 490-577 (110.3 - 129.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
+1 252 SpA Xerneas Gigavolt Havoc (185 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Lugia: 418-492 (100.4 - 118.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Leftovers recovery (Multiscale broken)
+1 252 SpA Xerneas Gigavolt Havoc (185 BP) vs. 252 HP / 52 SpD Ho-Oh: 402-474 (96.6 - 113.9%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO after Leftovers recovery
 
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Necrozma-Dusk-Mane @ Leftovers
Ability: Prism Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 8 Def / 248 SpD
Careful Nature
- Sunsteel Strike
- Stealth Rock
- Morning Sun
- Toxic

Hello I have recently a good success with this Dusk mane set. It can put in a solid amount of work. It is a p bulky variant. It has a rly high amount of special defense to survive hits from scarfed yveltal and to check geoxern.
252+ SpA Dark Aura Yveltal Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 248+ SpD Prism Armor Necrozma-Dusk-Mane: 195-231 (48.9 - 58%) -- 55.9% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252+ SpA Fairy Aura Xerneas Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 248+ SpD Necrozma-Dusk-Mane: 155-183 (38.9 - 45.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 Atk Necrozma-Dusk-Mane Sunsteel Strike vs. 72 HP / 0 Def Xerneas: 336-396 (81.7 - 96.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
I like this set alot, because it has not only the good specially defensive measure in it, it also is p good for bulkier team variants which lack aromatherapy or heal bell and can pressure them with toxic. morning sun guarantees the longevity alongside with leftis for dusk mane. Rocks are p good for it to pressure mons to defog for stuff like ho-oh.
Also 0 spatt invested arceus fairy cant pressure it with e-power: 0 SpA Arceus-Fairy Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 248+ SpD Prism Armor Necrozma-Dusk-Mane: 78-93 (19.5 - 23.3%) -- possible 6HKO after Leftovers recovery
I had alot of success and i think in the current metagame it is really effective as a rocks setter and toxic spreader. Also i find this pkmn fantastic as a rocks setter cause i think pdon is able to "concentrate" on other things it can do imho.
 
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Katy said:
View attachment 100151

Necrozma-Dusk-Mane @ Leftovers
Ability: Prism Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 8 Def / 248 SpD
Careful Nature
- Sunsteel Strike
- Stealth Rock
- Morning Sun
- Toxic

Hello I have recently a good success with this Dusk mane set. It can put in a solid amount of work. It is a p bulky variant. It has a rly high amount of special defense to survive hits from scarfed yveltal and to check geoxern.
252+ SpA Dark Aura Yveltal Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 248+ SpD Prism Armor Necrozma-Dusk-Mane: 195-231 (48.9 - 58%) -- 55.9% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252+ SpA Fairy Aura Xerneas Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 248+ SpD Necrozma-Dusk-Mane: 155-183 (38.9 - 45.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 Atk Necrozma-Dusk-Mane Sunsteel Strike vs. 72 HP / 0 Def Xerneas: 336-396 (81.7 - 96.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
I like this set alot, because it has not only the good specially defensive measure in it, it also is p good for bulkier team variants which lack aromatherapy or heal bell and can pressure them with toxic. morning sun guarantees the longevity alongside with leftis for dusk mane. Rocks are p good for it to pressure mons to defog for stuff like ho-oh.
Also 0 spatt invested arceus fairy cant pressure it with e-power: 0 SpA Arceus-Fairy Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 248+ SpD Prism Armor Necrozma-Dusk-Mane: 78-93 (19.5 - 23.3%) -- possible 6HKO after Leftovers recovery
I had alot of success and i think in the current metagame it is really effective as a rocks setter and toxic spreader. Also i find this pkmn fantastic as a rocks setter cause i think pdon is able to "concentrate" on other things it can do imho.
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You just have to worry about Naganadel running Fire Blast. Even worse if it manages to boost with Choice Specs or Nasty Plot. Even with the high Sp. Def you're gonna have a hard time since Naganadel is immune to Toxic.
 
What are some of the most versatile Pokemon in the tier? Mostly what can counter Groudon-Primal, Xerneas, and most Acres forms.
 
The Solgaleo discussion thread and the SM Ubers Sets being locked, I didn't find another place for an interesting set (though probably not viable anymore), and since I thought about it a year and a half ago as soon as the SM leaks were out, and that a Google search still showed noone as of today thought of it, here it is, Metal Burst Solgaleo:
solgaleo.png

SolMetal (Solgaleo) @ Choice Band
Ability: Full Metal Body
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Adamant Nature
- Sunsteel Strike
- Zen Headbutt
- Metal Burst
-

It is a carefully crafted set to hard counter both Xerneas and EKiller, that were two of the biggest threats in ORAS. I don't pretend it achieves anything else. It is probably not as useful now that the metagame evolved and EKiller's useage is down, but in early SM it could have been interesting.

The Nature and EVs guarantee that it survives any hits from any common variants of Xerneas, at +2 or +3, and most EKillers, except the ones that are Adamant + Life Orb (remove one of these, this Solgaleo survives any hit at +2, for example from the Jolly ones, the Silk Scarf ones, the Lum Berry ones, etc.). Actually even from this specific Adamant+LO variant it still has 43.7% chance of surviving the +2 EQ, and the Shadow Claw has to get the crit to have (81.3%) chances to OHKO. So yeah.

The Nature is here to guarantee that Sunsteel Strike obliterates Xerneas in one hit (up to 216 EVs in Def, it's pretty rare to see more than 172 anyway), and then Metal Burst OHKOs the EKiller that tried to either EQ or Shadow Claw you.

The usage is pretty simple : when Xerneas is sent, send it while it Geomancies and OHKO it with Sunsteel Strike. And same with EKiller, send Solgaleo when it is sent and does its Swords Dance, then Metal Burst it into oblivion. The catch of course is that if for some reason it doesn't SD, you won't kill and then it can SD and kill you without you being able to do any damage.

I left the last slot empty, so you can add any coverage move needed, since it is Adamant with Choice Band, it will do a decent amount of damage.

This set is here more to give ideas to anyone interested in trying something with Metal Burst + Solgaleo than for its current use, and for posterity.
 
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Since our team is sadly out of UPL, I'll share some sets i've used and been experimenting with to help develop the metagame.


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Magearna @ Choice Specs
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fleur Cannon
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Fire] / Focus Blast
- Heal Bell

I actually don't like how Specially defensive Magearna functions in today's metagame, it feels like a do nothing reactive cleric, Specs Magearna sounded interesting to me and I didn't get to show it off as much as I hoped, it functions similar to Specs Xerneas. Fluer Cannon actually out damages specs moonblast from Xerneas, being able to 2HKO Primal Groudon, it is able to still provide the cleric support like specs Xerneas, what made Magearna stand out to me as a whole was it's durability against Yveltal, being able to switch in multiple times, unlike specs Xerneas which can get rolled over by Life Orb Oblivion Wing. It's Steel typing also meant it opened avenues in teambuilding for me, meaning I could allow for the use of Ultra Necrozma which a Specs Xerneas team can't really get away with.

zygarde-complete.gif

Zygarde-Complete @ Earth Plate
Ability: Power Construct
EVs: 80 HP / 228 Atk / 200 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Thousand Arrows
- Glare
- Substitute

The idea behind this set is simple, I used it on a team with Mega Gengar to increase the potency of Hex, Glare can allow for free set up turns, Zygarde also lures common support arcs in, allowing you to paralyse them, making either Gengar's or Zygardes time much easier of breaking opposing teams. I opt'd for Earth Plate for the increased damage output and this also allows for freedom of the Z Crystal, I'm not really a fan of Leftovers Zygarde unless its running Protect, which I didn't feel was the most optimal choice for the teambuild.

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Arceus-Water @ Splash Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Def / 144 SpA / 96 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Judgment
- Ice Beam / Toxic
- Recover
- Stealth Rock

Not a new set at large in all honesty, but I feel this is what should be one of the main sets and deserves more traction. Defog Arceus-Water is unviable right now. I used this as a team glue numerous times through UPL, I feel it can bring a lot more to a team than Arceus-Fairy and allows for more teambuilding fluid, since Arceus is comfortably able to check some threats that Arceus-Fairy doesn't actually cover such as Ho-Oh, and I see some players overlapping with for example, Arceus-Fairy + Yveltal structures in teams, which is something Im not a fan of, as it can lead to holes or forced teammates. Having as much teambuilding freedom was a good contributor to my successes, only downside is you have to run special attack EVs to ensure you can get Stealth Rock up vs M-Sableye teams, EVs are benchmarked to 2HKO M-Sableye.


At some point I'll probably my teams / more sets, but I'd like to see UPL conclude before I do that, these are probably one of my few favourites, there's some small changes out there like Outrage Ultra Necrozma, but i didn't feel it was enough of a change to be worth showcasing.
 
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Diancie-Mega @ Diancite
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 68 HP / 252 SpA / 188 Spe
Timid Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Explosion
- Earth Power
- Moonblast

This Diancie set is one that I frequently use on webs teams as my stealth rock setter. Even with the implementation of Dusk mane into the meta i still find Diancie incredibly difficult to switch into, but thats not really the purpose of this set. What this set functions to do on webs team is anti lead Mega sab while also blocking defog with explosion. I find that webs teams are generally more focused around having ample sweepers when in reality as long as you keep your hazards up it only takes 2 or 3 of your sweepers to do the job properly.

Necrozma-Dusk-Mane @ Ultranecrozium Z
Ability: Prism Armor
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Sunsteel Strike/Cm/stealth rock
- Heat Wave
- Photon Geyser
- Power Gem

Currently in the meta I find that ultra necrozma is extremely underprepared for. I especially like special variants because of their ability to bait certain mons like skarm,ferro,celes etc... The reason i have sunsteel on this set is one to better handle xernes and to hit chansey with something, as well as to better bait in certain pokemon. Cm variants are also extremely threatening although i often do not see a need for cm i would rather use 4 attacks or rocks.

Serperior @ Leftovers
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Glare
- Leech Seed
- Leaf Storm
- Substitute

I'm not entirely sure if everyone is aware of how stupid para spam is in the current meta but if you are not you might want to become familiar with it. I have used this set in numerous ssnl games and find it to be extremely effective at spreading status as well as just being a nuisance with sub seed. It also checks zyg to some extent and can be an issue for common support arcs like water and ground. It does have issues with common mons like yvel and ho-oh but as i said its primary job is to status them, it is even possible to 1v1 those mons with contrary sub seed and para's depending on how lucky you are.
 
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Zesty43 said:
Necrozma-Dusk-Mane @ Ultranecrozium Z
Ability: Prism Armor
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Sunsteel Strike/Cm/stealth rock
- Heat Wave
- Photon Geyser
- Power Gem
Click to expand...

Ultra Necrozma is absolutely worth exploring and I'm glad people are going outside the Swords Dance set, Calm Mind techs are looking quite effective in the meta, something I considered using in UPL is the below set:

necrozma-ultra.gif

Necrozma-Dusk-Mane @ Ultranecrozium Z
Ability: Prism Armor
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Photon Geyser
- Moonlight
- Heat Wave

This set looks really good on paper and works well in practice. Cleric support such as Xerneas / Magearna works well with this set. it functions in the similar vain that a Calm Mind Arceus does , but is absurdly stronger and faster, I don't feel CM Ultra Necrozma needs to dedicate 3 slots to attacks to work. Moonlight is interesting because it gives Ultra Necrozma durability and what's pulls it's gravity away from the Swords Dance set; usually being relied on once it has setup for a game-breaking sweep. This Necrozma can function in the early-mid game and still remain around in the late game, it can also utilise the Dusk Mane base forme more effectively, thanks to prism armour and it's general immunity to Toxic and capable to Moonlight any damage off and set up Calm Minds before evolving into Ultra. What also makes this mon worth considering over say, CM Mega Mewtwo-Y, is that it doesn't cost the Mega slot, which is a huge toll on Mega Mewtwo Y's viability and therefore allows for more flexibility in the teambuilder; has the ability of Neuroforce to abuse coverage moves, meaning it would be stronger than MMY against Super-effective targets. Ultra Necrozma also avoids being revenged killed by Mega Gengar Shadow Ball and Hex thanks to the +1 Special defense boost, which takes away one of it's most prominent revenge killers.

Last move coverage depends entirely on the team options to help deal with the check(s) it usually wouldn't be able to get past, though I feel most teams should be running dual stabs, Dragon Pulse is strong for Zygarde / Mega Salamence / etc. A strong team option to consider would be offensive Ho-Oh to punish the steel type(s) that would obviously wall it, if lacking Heat Wave and give good typing and offensive synergy, Fairies are also strong to consider because of the Yveltal issues this set may possess.
 
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