USUM Creative and Underrated Sets

[decis]

sorry man, its not my intention to create a debate :(, i used this set a lot and for me is good, i find double psy a good way to create problems vs stall and non stall teams even without plotting, I'll never ruin a z on Azelf.
With psys and fthorw(example) you can touch all the tier expect hydre, muk and daunt ecc... so is ok not running 3 moves for meee.
Feel free to delete the post if the set goes against rules, just don't reply trying to convince me because you are wasting your time.
bbbbye

 

[Yung Dramps]

Hey, remember Honchkrow? Y'know, that one cool-looking mafia bird that used to be alright in ORAS but has fallen off a ton this gen?

Actually, it's still great. You've all just been running the wrong set this whole time.

Honchkrow (M) @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Insomnia
EVs: 44 HP / 252 Def / 212 Spe
Impish Nature
- Brave Bird
- Perish Song
- Mean Look
- Roost

Unlike the virgin offensive Honchkrow, this bad boy makes its home on stall teams as a way to ease the otherwise extremely painful stall vs stall/fat balance match-up. One look at the set itself should give you an idea of the game plan: In short, bait in the foe's Slowbro/Alomomola/Blissey/Suicune/Quagsire/Mega Steelix/Mega Aggron who think they can wall you and then laugh your ass off for 4 turns as they awkwardly flail around while the Perish Song timer ticks down and eventually kills them. Even once the initial high has worn off, you foe faces the prospect that should they make one slip-up, it could open a window for Honchkrow to come in and further buckle the chains of their defensive backbone. If you're facing something like a freshly switch-in Amoonguss, Celebi, weakened Scizors or Crawdaunt, you can fire off a Supersonic Skystrike to immediately wipe them out. The Speed EVs let you outpace Suicune and Crawdaunt, with everything else being pumped into the defenses to sponge attacks like the Mega Steel tanks' Heavy Slams and unboosted attacks from tankier Scizor sets.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-917999298 Here's a little replay to show off what Honchkrow can do VS. stall. Yeah, it's a pretty low ladder one with no shortage of misplays on both sides, but it gives you the basic idea of what it can accomplish. Perhaps I'll edit in more as I face stronger foes with it.

edit 1: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-918095173 even with the bulky spread, honch's offensive capabilities are still dangerous

edit 2: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-919303184 THETALUL replay from new meta tour

 

[pokemonisfun]

Rotom-Heat @ Ring Target
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Trick
- Overheat
- Toxic

Ring Target makes the holder lose all type immunities. Practically, this means things like Swampert and Gligar if holding it become weak to Electric and no longer block Volt Switch. It also means Rotom-H keeps its Ground immunity even when holding the item.

I've used this a couple times and I'm convinced it's very viable. It works best on Volt-Turn cores to really abuse the momentum. Toxic is filler but helps vs Hippowdon which annoys you even with the item.

 

[MrDetail]

It's a trap!

Klefki @ Eject Button
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Fairy Lock
- Light Screen / Spikes
- Recycle

I'm sure most people consider Fairy Lock to be a move only (barely) useful in doubles. But combined with my new favorite item, the Eject Button, it can create an extremely favorable situation.

The usage is simple: select Fairy Lock on an expected attack. If your opponent hits you and doesn't knock you out, you get the switch-in of your choice and your opponent will not be able to switch out next turn. This could net you an easy kill or 1-2 setup turns if played well. But in the absolute best of scenarios it could be the beginning of the end. This is particularly evident when the opponent is choice locked.

Imagine this: opponent uses choice Volt Switch, you fairy lock them in. You eject and bring in a ground type that knows a trapping move. Dragon dance to +6 right in their face and go on a rampage. Of course many of said volt switchers happen to have the Levitate ability so a ground type trapping move might not work so well, but there are other options. Some teammates that can work well with this strategy:

Masquerain enjoys a ground immunity and 2 double resistances, as well as intimidate to soften hits. It learns Infestation and Quiver Dance to trap and set up.

Decidueye also traps, is immune to Fighting and Normal attacks, and could go for a Substitute/Swords Dance setup.

Klefki doesn't like fire very much, so the threat of a Flash Fire switch-in can help. There are other better options, but Ninetales is beautiful and it also learns Fire Spin and Nasty Plot.

Weaknesses

Knock Off: You can't Recycle an item that has been knocked off, so the Knock Off spam in the current meta will ruin your fun. Knock Off also doesn't trigger Eject Button; you will just sit there looking stupid while you're locked in battle next turn.

FIRE! Mega Manectric, Magmortar and Chandelure can all easily OHKO physically defensive Klefki. When testing this build, this was the most obvious problem I had and part of my team was chosen just to make up for it.

Dark / Ghost: Dark is immune to Prankster, and Ghost is immune to trapping. Still, setting up a Light Screen/Spikes then pivoting for free is a decent choice if they choose to attack.

 

[sasol]

Muk-Alola @ Figy Berry
Ability: Gluttony
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Knock Off
- Pursuit
- Toxic
- Recycle

hide

This is something i innovated a while ago in OU (actually someone might have done it before me who knows) and i realised muk alola is also in UU where things like chndelure, azelf, and latias plague stall teams. Because of its unique typing, Muk doesn't need the AV to beat these pokemon so its free so use the (imo) slightly better berry set which lets you switch in on moves and heal from them at the same time, which is invaluable for stall. It also doesnt need wish support at all and can now run a status move like toxic.

If you run some calcs it still has enough special defense to tank most of the things AV can. And the list of things it can beat for stall is unparalleled.

Poliwrath @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Circle Throw
- Scald
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

hide

Definitely not something I came up with, this has been around since the XY days, still proves to be a good counter to crawdaunt and is one of the only pokemon in the entire game that can beat sciz and daunt. Very good stall mon.

 

[pokemonisfun]

Alomomola @ Bright Powder
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 136 HP / 252 Def / 120 SpD
Impish Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Knock Off
- Toxic

I'm a bad person, trash player, ladder noob, whatever, etc. Still, Bright Powder is totally viable because Regenerator is such a strong ability it sort of minimizes your need for an item (and you're a Knock Off target anyways). So instead of getting marginal benefits from Leftovers, you can do things like rofl spinblock (although Rocky Helmet can do that too), get clutch Toxics off, interrupt U-Turn (although again Rocky Helmet does that too), and just have a chance in general where you would normally be lost.

I could show you replays of me haxing 1700 noobs on the ladder but whatever, that's not necessary. The point here is easy to understand, and usable, if also not particularly good.

 

[pokemonisfun]

pointy dointy (Bisharp) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Protect
- Torment
- Mean Look
- Substitute

The idea is to trap Pokemon because they usually only have one move that can seriously damage you. For example, if you lead with this versus Aggron and they set up SR, you Mean Look them. You Torment them as they EQ for 60% or so. You set up a free Substitute as they Heavy Slam you. Then you Protect and Substitute as necessary as Torment means they can never EQ twice in a row versus you. At the end, you Pressure stall them out.

It also works versus a Scarf Krook that switches in a Mean Look. You Torment as he EQs for like 70%. You Sub on the Struggle and then keep Protecting on all the EQs. Eventually he Struggles.

Keep in mind PS doesn't count Pressure for you on moves like SR, even though they are affected if you hover over their mon the PP count will be inaccurate.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-952919420

In this game, I trap Aggron and basically eliminate Aggron but I still lose because of team building issues (no hazard control to take advatage of the dead Aggron).

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-952926709

In the next game, I fix that and add Defog to Aero. Thus, trapping Aggron is a very serious threat that is very big on helping win the game. To be 100% honest, I think they made a big mistake by not realizing Hydreigon and Jellicent could endlessly U-Turn and switch around Bisharp. He needlelssly got Aggron trapped. But also, if I played better, I could have trapped Aggron earlier on (subbing on initial Dtail).

One big issue with this set if it ever becomes popular is that Pressure is immediately revealed so there is little element of surprise. But for now, I doubt most people notice or would think of this set.

 

[DiscoDucky]

View attachment 188085

pointy dointy (Bisharp) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Protect
- Torment
- Mean Look
- Substitute

The idea is to trap Pokemon because they usually only have one move that can seriously damage you. For example, if you lead with this versus Aggron and they set up SR, you Mean Look them. You Torment them as they EQ for 60% or so. You set up a free Substitute as they Heavy Slam you. Then you Protect and Substitute as necessary as Torment means they can never EQ twice in a row versus you. At the end, you Pressure stall them out.

It also works versus a Scarf Krook that switches in a Mean Look. You Torment as he EQs for like 70%. You Sub on the Struggle and then keep Protecting on all the EQs. Eventually he Struggles.

Keep in mind PS doesn't count Pressure for you on moves like SR, even though they are affected if you hover over their mon the PP count will be inaccurate.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-952919420

In this game, I trap Aggron and basically eliminate Aggron but I still lose because of team building issues (no hazard control to take advatage of the dead Aggron).

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-952926709

In the next game, I fix that and add Defog to Aero. Thus, trapping Aggron is a very serious threat that is very big on helping win the game. To be 100% honest, I think they made a big mistake by not realizing Hydreigon and Jellicent could endlessly U-Turn and switch around Bisharp. He needlelssly got Aggron trapped. But also, if I played better, I could have trapped Aggron earlier on (subbing on initial Dtail).

One big issue with this set if it ever becomes popular is that Pressure is immediately revealed so there is little element of surprise. But for now, I doubt most people notice or would think of this set.

 

[pokemonisfun]

Mega Arceus (Type: Null) @ Eviolite
Ability: Battle Armor
EVs: 228 HP / 252 SpD / 28 Spe
Careful Nature
- Swords Dance
- Return
- Flame Charge / Iron Defense
- Rest

Generally speaking, this set faces huge competition from the Recycle Snorlax sets since 50% Berry + Recycle is so much better than Eviolite + Rest but there are a few benefits.

You're never going to get crit because Battle Armor but more importantly, you are sometimes a bigger offensive threat because SD + Return is a lot stronger than Curse + Facade (which is the norm on Snorlax). Granted, Snorlax can run Belly Drum to good effect but at that point Type Null's extra bulk really shines, as it is now, this set is quite a bit bulkier than AV Muk and second only to Blissey in terms of common UU Pokemon.

The EVs let you outspeed Primarina and Adamant Bisharp after a Flame Charge boost.

This game https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-957588602 shows you do what a Snorlax could not, with your extra bulk you survive the rain onslaught that Snorlax likely would not (assuming if it got para haxed because Snorlax couldn't get rid of paralysis unlike Type Null).

The big problem is Fighting types - luckily Scizor takes x4 damage from Flame Charge so it's a problem but not an insurmountable one. I think Doublade is one of the best partners because of this and its ability to Toxic Quagsires. Sylveon also goes well and provides Wish support for both Doublade and Type Null, plus Heal Bell support.

Another weakness is reliance on Eviolite, so Mega Altaria is a decent partner to Heal Bell and absorb Knock Off/Trick.

If you're satisfied with Snorlax, consider Type Null too.

I find this set shines best versus balance teams since you set up on most balance staples and they rarely use Quagsire

 

[Hilomilo]

This thread isn't too active so I thought I'd provide some sets I've been messing around with a bit lately. Hope y'all enjoy!

Nasty Plot + Taunt Infernape

Infernape @ Fightinium Z
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Fire Blast
- Focus Blast
- Taunt

This one may seem iffy at first but I think Taunt is a great option on NP Ape under the right support conditions. Infernape is still an excellent balance breaker, but its stall matchup has suffered a bit as SpDef Pyukumuku sets have grown to near staple status on a lot of stalls it once broke through excellently. Taunt allows it to shut Pyuku down while providing some other goodies, like ensuring Blissey can't land a Toxic on it (this gives you more freedom to use Z on Quagsire in stall matchups), only allowing lead Froslass to get one Spike up, and also preventing some of Ape's checks, like Tenta, Chandy, and Mantine, from using utility moves should they expect it switches out, making them a lot easier for its other teammates to work around. I've liked using this set a lot on Screens offenses since it circumvents Ape's poor bulk to help it set up more while also allowing it to more easily circumvent its lack of priority for scarfed Drei/Krook. Adequate Knock Off support can also help circumvent its inability to take on Dark-type scarfers as well. Overall a solid set that I think deserves more exploration and can fix some of the issues standard NP runs into in the current meta.

Super Fang Crobat

Crobat @ Flynium Z / Sky Plate
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Roost
- Brave Bird
- Super Fang
- Taunt

This mon's hate is mostly necessary but this set isn't mentioned on its analysis and I think it's Crobat's best niche in the current meta. With Super Fang it can shut down a ton of commonly used Flying-type switch-ins, like Agg/Lix, Empoleon, Rotom, Rhyperior, and Diancie. It can also do a number to more offensive mons like Aerodactyl, Manectric, and Nihilego. Taunt lets it shut down defensive mons that need recovery to consistently check this set, like Unaware waters, non-Psyshock Mega Bro, and Jellicent while preventing Doublade from using it as setup bait. I like using HP investment since you can still revenge kill Infernape and Celebi after minimal chip while more easily checking Altaria (which this set can beat fairly well), come in on Knock Off if running Fly Z, and tank Scizor's Bullet Punch. This set isn't amazing but it's definitely Crobat's best option and works really well alongside stuff that likes Steels chipped down, like Altaria and Celebi, or Flying-types like Molt and Togekiss, since a lot of their checks are weakened pretty significantly with Super Fang.

That's all I've got for now since there's other stuff I wanna test before posting here. Now that I posted here I guess it's time for Amane Misa to hit up the vr thread with some noms :eyes: Thanks for reading!

 

[DiscoDucky]

NP Grassium Azelf

Azelf @ Grassium Z
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpAtk / 4 SpDef / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Energy Ball
- Fire Blast
- Psyshock

Set

• Frail Pokemon with limited set-up opportunities, but can sweep and wallbreak with proper teambuilding
• Moves catered towards breaking a number of stall variants and pressures Double Unaware compositions
  • Calculations
    • 252 SpA Azelf Bloom Doom (175 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Pyukumuku: 224-264 (71.3 - 84%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
    • 252 SpA Azelf Energy Ball vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Pyukumuku: 114-136 (36.3 - 43.3%) -- 98.6% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
    • 252 SpA Azelf Bloom Doom (175 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Quagsire: 1048-1236 (265.9 - 313.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
  • Only boosting wallbreaker in UU (bar Haxorus) that can beat both Unaware walls
• Outpaces relevant non-Scarf S and A+ Pokemon and can potentially clean house late game

Drawbacks

• Stallbreaking variant shown above cannot hurt Latias or Hydreigon without Dazzling Gleam. Slotting in D-Gleam hurts Azelf's stall-breaking capabilities
• Gets murdered by every priority move bar Vacuum Wave and Mach Punch; however, all three moves KO relevant priority users in UU (Crawdaunt, Scizor, Mamoswine, Doublade)
• Aerodactyl stall shits on this set for breakfast
• Mimikyu is a bitch

 

[Corthius]

Hi, so...im not the best of an player (hanging around at like 1400 in UU) and my english is kinda bad but i will try my best.

Im not even sure, if this is something new or underrated, but i never saw it on the ladder so I wanted to show it.
The set I'm talking about is this one:

click here

I'm guessing its not hard to tell, where this set is going. This set lures Alolan-Muk cause it can normaly take any standard hit from Lati and pursuit-trap it or knock of its item in return. The goal is to surprise ur opponent with the tectonic rage. If u clicked draco on the switch to AV Alolan-Muk, the z-eq always ohko's if it has no physical investment. Even if it has any investment it has to run less attack or spdef so I think ur good.

Lati also benefits from this, when facing an specially-defensive steel typ like Empoleon; u also have now a way to touch Stakataka. I know Lati can use many different options against those steel types like gigavolt havoc for Empoleon or hp fire for Scizor but the goal of this set is to wipe out Alolan-Muk so u can play ur Lati way more freely.
I recommend using a good Scizor-answer/-trapper (i mean.....u should always have something like that) because this set gets easily trapped by the banded set.

To mention the other moves, draco and psyshock are pretty self explanatory; obvious STAB-Attacks. Recover is just a filler, calm mind works as well or u could run hp fire for scizor, but i like to keep lati healthy cause with Alolan-Muk gone it has a decent offensive present.

I hope i didn't forgot anything. Please give me advice if u think my set is garbage :).

Calcs

4 Atk Latias Tectonic Rage (180 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Muk-Alola: 274-324 (77.8 - 92%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+
244 SpA Latias Draco Meteor vs. 4 HP / 252 SpD Assault Vest Muk-Alola: 100-118 (28.4 - 33.5%) -- 0.2% chance to 3HKO

252 Atk Tough Claws Aerodactyl-Mega Pursuit vs. 0 HP / 8 Def Latias: 126-150 (41.8 - 49.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

244 SpA Latias Draco Meteor vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Bisharp: 125-147 (46.1 - 54.2%) -- 56.3% chance to 2HKO
+
4 Atk Latias Tectonic Rage (180 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Bisharp: 216-256 (79.7 - 94.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

 

[Moutemoute]

Mimikyu @ Life Orb
Ability: Disguise
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Sneak
- Play Rough
- Wood Hammer

Wood Hammer is an outstanding and underrated move on Mimikyu. While I do believe that SD Z-Shadow Claw is a great set, I definitively think that Wood Hammer is a way better option on LO Mimikyu since Shadow Claw is a pretty weak STAB (only 70 BP sucks tbh).

Wood Hammer allows Mimikyu to nuke Quagsire but also Water-types and Ground-types which is huge. Since Wood Hammer has a great BP (120), it's also a great move to hit foes for neutral damages such as Tentacruel, Empoleon, Nido[king/queen]. I think that Wood Hammer is most of the time more useful than Shadow Claw.

If you want to see replays of Wood Hammer Mimikyu in action, just check my RMT : here

252 Atk Life Orb Mimikyu Wood Hammer vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Quagsire: 426-504 (108.1 - 127.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Life Orb Mimikyu Wood Hammer vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Swampert: 411-484 (101.7 - 119.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Life Orb Mimikyu Wood Hammer vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Seismitoad: 463-546 (111.8 - 131.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

+2 252 Atk Life Orb Mimikyu Wood Hammer vs. 252 HP / 80+ Def Hippowdon: 390-460 (92.8 - 109.5%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Mimikyu Wood Hammer vs. 40 HP / 252+ Def Alomomola: 442-520 (91.8 - 108.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Mimikyu Wood Hammer vs. 252 HP / 160+ Def Suicune: 372-439 (92 - 108.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

+2 252 Atk Life Orb Mimikyu Wood Hammer vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 356-421 (90.3 - 106.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Mimikyu Shadow Claw vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 312-369 (79.1 - 93.6%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

+2 252 Atk Life Orb Mimikyu Wood Hammer vs. 252 HP / 76+ Def Slowbro-Mega: 276-325 (70 - 82.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Mimikyu Shadow Claw vs. 252 HP / 76+ Def Slowbro-Mega: 242-283 (61.4 - 71.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

+2 252 Atk Life Orb Mimikyu Wood Hammer vs. 252 HP / 112 Def Tentacruel: 321-378 (88.1 - 103.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock and Black Sludge recovery
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Mimikyu Shadow Claw vs. 252 HP / 112 Def Tentacruel: 282-333 (77.4 - 91.4%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock and Black Sludge recovery

 

[Corthius]

Mega-Abomasnow is in my opinion underrated. It has pretty great bulk (a bit more than Malt) and can threaten many pokemon in the UU-tier.

For exemple:

-Many Ground-types like Hippo or Gligar
-Some Water-types like Suicune
-Grass-types like amoonguss
-Flying-types (be aware that you are also weak to flying)


The varirity of moves it can run also speaks for it. For exeple, it has access to:

-blizzard which cant miss in hail
-synthesis for recovery
-leech seed and giga drain for additionally recovery
-ice shard for priority
-wood hammer as an strong grass STAB-attack
-hidden power fire, focus blast and earthquake for steel types
-rock slide and earthquake for fire types
-sword dance for set up
...and many more.



Im aware that Abomasnow has many common weaknesses in fire, flying, steel, bug, rock and fighting so switching in on attacks is always risky. In the end i want to give my final opinion about it.
It is not the best mega in the tier and you would often be better with another mega-pokemon but i think it has potential.

Some Calcs

132+ SpA Abomasnow-Mega Hidden Power Fire vs. 164 HP / 0 SpD Scizor: 324-384 (100.6 - 119.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO

88+ Atk Abomasnow-Mega Ice Shard vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Latias: 144-170 (47.8 - 56.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after hail damage

252+ SpA Abomasnow-Mega Hidden Power Fire vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Beedrill-Mega: 176-208 (64.9 - 76.7%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock and hail damage

252+ SpA Abomasnow-Mega Giga Drain vs. 252 HP / 40 SpD Suicune: 236-278 (58.4 - 68.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock, hail damage, and Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Abomasnow-Mega Ice Shard vs. 252 HP / 156+ Def Eviolite Gligar: 148-180 (44.3 - 53.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and hail damage



252+ Atk Choice Band Technician Scizor Bullet Punch vs. 192 HP / 0 Def Abomasnow-Mega: 312-368 (84.5 - 99.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252+ Atk Bisharp Iron Head vs. 192 HP / 0 Def Abomasnow-Mega: 270-318 (73.1 - 86.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 SpA Life Orb Latias Hidden Power Fire vs. 192 HP / 0 SpD Abomasnow-Mega: 291-348 (78.8 - 94.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 SpA Gengar Sludge Wave vs. 192 HP / 0 SpD Abomasnow-Mega: 300-354 (81.3 - 95.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 SpA Nihilego Sludge Wave vs. 192 HP / 0 SpD Abomasnow-Mega: 294-348 (79.6 - 94.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

 

[Moutemoute]

You can't compare the bulk of Mega-Abomasnow and the bulk of Mega-Altaria because they don't have the same typing at all. Mega-Abomasnow's typing is awful (weak to fire, flying, bug, rock, steel, fighting and poison) + it's weak to Stealth Rock and doesn't have a good move to heal itself (Hail + Synthesis = big brain tech). Mega-Abomasnow is also slow af..

Mega-Abomasnow is in my opinion a pretty trash Pokemon which have a way too small niche to be legit. It also has a terrible 4MSS (Ice Shard / Giga Drain / Wood Hammer / Earthquake / Blizzard / Hidden Power [Fire] etc..).

 

[Corthius]

Thanks for the criticism! I accept that it is more a niech pick than an underrated mon. It just did pretty good for me so i thought it would ne worth sharing.

 

[Moutemoute]

Raikou @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Protect
- Thunderbolt
- Toxic

Recently I've been using this infamous set of Raikou with SubProtect + Toxic. It works pretty well and it can pressure a lot of teams that lacks Gligar or Mega-Steelix. It's a pretty cool set which is able to pressure and/or PP Stall some defensive threats. Toxic is useful and allows Raikou to wear down some Pokemon which may be useful for its teammates. Overall, it's fun to use !

Edit 09/28 :
• Little replay which shows how effective and troublesome this Raikou can be even vs a team with Gligar : here

 

[avarice]

fake smile (Celebi) @ Colbur Berry / Psychium Z
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Giga Drain
- Psychic
- Nasty Plot
- Thunder Wave

Celebi has a surprising amount of options with its NP set and one of the underrated ones imo is Thunder Wave over additional coverage/recover. Thunder Wave lets celebi support other breakers that lessen the need for Celebi to run recover for fat. Latias, Aerodactyl, etc. all hate losing their speed tiers. Colbur is default so another can run Z, but if there's room it defo works. Colbur can also catch scarf hydreigon with Thunder Wave ofc.

replay

 

[Smallsmallrose]

(Remember that cool as heck looking pre-Alpha Latias?)
Latias (F) @ Psychium Z
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stored Power
- Refresh
- Calm Mind
- Recover

A set I've used a little as well as seen some other players experiment with in reply to the variety of and overall difficult preparation for stalls but has mostly stayed under the radar otherwise. Psychium Z is used if an immediate punch is needed, able to easily KO pokemon like Terrakion and Infernape unboosted, and can KO various other pokemon without needing to boost to obscene levels of Special attack. The idea of this set is that against more passive teams, you can boost easily with CM and shrug away status with refresh. Stalls without a bulky Scizor or a dark will severely struggle with this variant, and teams with those factors can still lose with minimal support from Lati's team, making it one of the few consistent picks in the face of this matchup. It can also battle teams that lean on more passive Latias checks, such as balances that attempt to chase it off with toxic throwing steels and general special walls that can't deal with it without status. There's probably variations you can do on the spread too. Max HP gives it a slew of setup targets and lets it handle certain pursuiters, but more special attack might open up more targets to kill with Psychium at unboosted or +1.

 

[Taso]

Huge fan of Delphox, but unfortunately UU is a tier filled to the brim with a bunch of Pokemon that usually counter it. The biggest threats are dark types with pursuit. I've spent the past month trying to come up with a set that could face UU. At a point the best thing I could come up with was a full HP and full defense weakness policy set. It definitely lured in usual switch-ins (Krook/Hydreigon) and killed them, but there wasn't enough speed afterwards to continue a sweep, she would just get killed right after. I've finally came up with a set that can work in UU.

Delphox
Ability: Magician
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 SpD
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Fire Blast
- Psyshock
- Dazzling Gleam

Yup, that's right. This set does Not run an item. Magician is an ability that I thought was completely gimmicky for the longest time, but it will actually ensure kills against common Delphox counters, hear me out. A lot of teams will have a Krookodile or Hydreigon, and this set successfully lures them out. Don't be tempted to use calm mind until all threats are gone. Usually you will have Delphox out on something weak to fire so you might as well send out a fire blast. If Krookodile or Hydreigon switch in on the fire blast, you will steal their item (usually scarf), and at that point you will always be faster than them. You can then immediately dazzling gleam for the kill. If they have any other item, you will still be faster due to Delphox's higher speed.

This strategy also works against chandelure but you would want to send out psyshock instead of fire blast if you see an opposing chandelure (Psyshock 2 hit kills Chandelure). Delphox should take no damage from these threats. After the threats are gone, you will either become a choice scarf Pokemon, or if you don't catch a choice item then you will now be a calm mind sweeper. Against teams that don't have a threat, you can set up with calm mind and then potentially steal a choice scarf, choice specs, or assault vest with your next attack.

This set has the added benefit of not being completely prediction based like a choice scarf set would be. It's best to be consistent, especially against pursuit users.

Alolan Muk will mess with this strategy as the first fire blast won't do too much damage. The second fire blast will hurt it though. Generally it's better to have another Pokemon help against Alolan Muks. If choice band Crawdaunt switches in, you will steal its choice band and be able to survive 1 aqua jet (w/o stealth rock damage) and retaliate with a dazzling gleam to kill. This play is risky and will neutralize Delphox with choice band for the rest of the match, but if the usual Crawdaunt counter on your team is dead then this is a last resort option.

Some great teammate choices include Krookodile, Seismitoad, Bisharp, or Togekiss, as these all synergize well with Delphox. Considering this set does not run grass knot (grass knot is not able to kill the bulky water types of this tier), water absorb Pokemon and poison type Pokemon (to avoid toxic) are great to have. Also, from my testing at least, this set seems to work best on offensive teams.