[UU] Team BPZ

[Banedon]

This is the team I used in this thread. It's not well playtested since, like I said in that thread, I don't play all that much ... but in the games that I've played with it it's served me very well.

My playstyle in general is fairly defensive - I usually don't like sacrificing Pokemon - hence all the bulky Pokemon in the team. The strategy with the team is fairly straightforward: put screens up, go to Ambipom, stat up as much as possible and pass to one of the sweepers.

Uxie @ Light Clay
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/160 Def/96 SDef
Careful nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
- Reflect
- Light Screen

There's nothing special about Uxie, it's just a standard dual screener. Ideally she gets up Stealth Rock, both screens and then U-Turns out to Ambipom. Much more likely the chain gets disrupted, which is when I rely on the other Pokemon in my team.

She's as bulky as possible because I've found that even with her titanic defenses lots of things can seriously hurt her, and she has neither Leftovers recovery nor Wish support. I've noticed some players run speed EVs on Uxie, but I never really understood the reason why.

Ambipom (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP/200 Def/56 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Baton Pass
- Agility
- Nasty Plot
- Taunt

It's the only Pokemon in UU who can Baton Pass both Agility and Nasty Plot, so it has to be in the team. Everything about him I took direct from the database. Under screens he can usually get off an Agility + Nasty Plot. If the first sweeper should fail, he might receive Lunar Dance from Cresselia to pass again.

Venusaur (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/4 SDef
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Sleep Powder
- Roar
- Energy Ball
- Sludge Bomb

The first of the two alternative receivers of Ambipom's boosts. I picked Venusaur because the receiver had to be fairly bulky, had to be able to absorb Toxic Spikes (otherwise a threat) and preferably attack from the special side. Being able to phaze and sleep was a bonus as well.

He's as physically defensive as possible because while most my team can handle special hits well, it's another story from the physical side. Also the strongest Fighting moves (to which Ambipom is weak to) are physical, so if Hitmonlee switches into Ambipom this Venusaur is the BP recipient.

Milotic (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Marvel Scale
EVs: 184 HP/72 Def/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Surf
- Dragon Pulse
- Recover
- Hidden Power [Grass]

The other alternative receiver of the BP chain. He's rather haphazard. Surf + Dragon Pulse is essentially unresisted in UU (only by Shedinja, if I remember right), but water types especially can take a long time to kill with a non-STAB'ed Dragon Pulse only, hence the HP Grass. Recover is great; it gives an already bulky Pokemon even more bulk. Together with Venusaur, Milotic is a crucial part of my defensive core - Uxie and Cresselia, while very defensive as well, can't hit back.

The EVs are such that Milotic has maximum bulk while having maximum SpA. The loss in speed hurts though, especially if Ambipom is unable to pass Agility.

Cresselia (F) @ Light Clay
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/6 Def/252 SDef
Calm nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Lunar Dance
- Light Screen
- Reflect
- Thunder Wave

The other dual screener in case Uxie fails, or is close to fainting. Paralysis is awesome no matter who it ends up on, hence Thunder Wave. Lunar Dance lets me revitalize any of my sweepers, or Ambipom, if I need it. Cresselia is maximally specially defensive because there are lots of nasty special sweepers in the game like Moltres and Porygonz, and I needed someone who can handle them.

One problem with Cresselia is that if I Thunder Wave a Pokemon and then Lunar Dance, the switch in gets hit instead of Cresselia. Not good, any ideas?

Porygonz @ Leftovers
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 HP/6 Def/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Tri Attack
- Substitute
- Recover
- Hidden Power [Water]

The primary Baton Pass recipient. If Porygonz receives an Agility + Nasty Plot boost it can usually 2HKO the entire tier. Substitute protects it from status and Sucker Punch. Normal / Water has perfect coverage except (again) on Shedinja, so I don't need a third attack. Recover helps if screens are still up when Porygonz enters play, and can scare a Chansey, but otherwise it's mostly filler. Since I'm anticipating at least Agility from Ambipom, I max out HP EVs, which can help a lot if I haven't had the chance to Substitute. Sometimes I miss the Life Orb power boost, but after having tried Porygonz with Life Orb I think Leftovers is superior. Run Life Orb and after a few attacks Porygonz might just get KOed by a priority move, but Leftovers ends such switching around.

Problems
Unlike some other RMTs I'm not going to list Pokemon and give answers, I feel things like Feraligatr are obviously handled well by this team ... so I'll just list the problems.

Toxic Spikes. Although rare, if it's on the field my entire strategy goes on hold until Venusaur absorbs it. It's even worse if Venusaur is dead.
Linoone. Again rare, but if it does manage to set up when Reflect is down I'm dead with no steel type.
Shedinja. Another rare threat, but unless SR is on the field I can't even hit it.
Chansey. If Ambipom can pass Nasty Plot to Porygonz, Chansey is dead, but if Porygonz should fail ... or if Ambipom can't pass Nasty Plot ... then Chansey is a massive problem. Venusaur and Milotic can't break through it at all. Chansey doesn't often show up (it has no reason to) until I finish the pass, but not so long ago Porygonz got Tricked a Choice Scarf on the Baton Pass and I couldn't use Tri-attack because my opponent had a ghost, and it was gg.
Hail / Sandstorm. I've only faced one Hail team and no Sandstorm team, but I believe the team should be able to handle them with massed Recovers.
Stacked entry hazards. I have no Rapid Spinner. Screens + bulk help me avoid sweeps pretty well, but I can't stop SR / Spikes from going up easily. There was one game where Steelix started shuffling my team and the only reason I pulled out a win was because Ambipom got dragged out, Taunted, and passed. If Ambipom hadn't been chosen I can see the team taking major damage.
No sleep absorber.
I lack immediate damage. I've got nothing to revenge with and no fast Pokemon. Once I lose momentum I'm on the back foot for a long time, and I'm usually forced to take a hit to kill whatever is threatening me. If it's bad enough, I might even have to put screens up just to get Venusaur / Milotic in safely.
Ambipom and Porygonz share the same weakness. This means it's tough if a Fighting type switches in to Ambipom. I can't pass to Porygonz, and Venusaur is a lot weaker a sweeper than Porygonz. For that I'm thinking of switching to different BP receivers, or even to passing Swords Dance instead of Nasty Plot.
I've got two dual screeners to one stat upper. At times it seems almost like a waste. One thing I did want to do when I made the team is to use the Venusaur / Milotic slot on a Pokemon that can benefit more from screens, but I don't know what to use. I thought of Mismagius, but that's asking to die vs. Dark attacks to which I already have no resistance to. Toxicroak is another option, but he dies fast with weak defenses. Raikou can replace one of Milotic or Venusaur, but that would punch a hole in my defensive core. Finally I can go physical instead of special, but physical sweepers like Drapion can't benefit from Ambipom's Baton Pass if it comes to it.

I think overall this team is decent, but can be significantly improved. Rather reflects my own skill at this game - decent enough, but still some way to go (especially at team building).

So ... advice, help, and RMT!

 

[Enzette]

Hey there, very interesting team. I used to have a similar team using a Dual Screen Uxie and Baton Pass Ambipom to set up for a Milotic sweep. It was more of a fun experiment though, rather than a serious team that you got here.

One suggestion I have is to run Chople Berry on Ambipom. With screens up, the only things that Ambipom would fear are strong Fighting-type hits. Chople Berry lets you take these hits with ease and set up more easily. Also, your opponent may take note of your Leftovers and consider the possibility of a Baton Pass set, while Chople Berry will make your opponent think that you're just running the standard Ambipom set outside of the lead position.

I would recommend Ice Beam over Dragon Pulse on Milotic. The combination of Surf, Ice Beam, and HP Grass hits everything for at least neutral as well, while allowing you to hit Grass-types for super effective damage. Also, you should run at least 8 Speed EVs on Porygon-Z so that you will be able to outspeed Jolly Scarf Hitmonlee when at +2 speed. Yes, they are rare, but you never know when you may come across one that will stop your sweep.

...and I don't know how well Porygon-Z's moveset is working for you, but since you're taking the effort to pass boosts to it, you might as well go all out offensive with it. I doubt a +2 Tri Attack or HP Water would hit things like Registeel hard enough. I believe a set of Tri Attack / HP Ground / Dark Pulse would work better. Alternatively you can use Tri Attack / Thunderbolt / Ice Beam for the BoltBeam combo. The fourth slot can perhaps be used for another attacking move, or for Substitute or Recover. Your choice. I would also put Life Orb on it but if you think that it leaves you vulnerable to priority, then stick with Leftovers. You can also consider Lum Berry to counter the walls who are bulky enough to survive a +2 hit and try to status you.

All in all, nice team. Hope I helped somewhat.

 

[SlottedPig]

Small nitpick:

Ambipom and Porygonz share the same weakness. This means it's tough if a Fighting type switches in to Ambipom. I can't pass to Porygonz, and Venusaur is a lot weaker a sweeper than Porygonz. For that I'm thinking of switching to different BP receivers, or even to passing Swords Dance instead of Nasty Plot.

Use Moltres > PZ.

EDIT: Also works against Shedinja. And Cresselia can ~kinda be a status absorber.

 

[Aircraft Cemetery]

I really like the idea of your team. Instant Baton Passing is something I also have played many times before and was quite successful with it. Now to your team:
Uxie as a lead is okay, but only if you mostly get up both screens +SR with it. All those 3 moves are absolutely essential for your attempt to sweep as without screens no Ambipom will have the bulk to set up and without SR every random Sash user will Revenge your recipient.
Now to your teams problems:
First, you just can't pass from Ambi to PoryZ. I've used BP Ambi before and there is one common move in UU which will ruin you each time, namely Brick Break. It shatters your screens and Mostly Ohkos Ambi AND PoryZ. If you want to keep BP Ambi, go for Blaziken as Recipient (thats at least what I used). He will at least live through 1 Brick Break. Also PoryZ is Hit hard by those many Fighting priorities inUU.
Blaziken@Leftovers
Modest-252SpAtk,252Spe,4Hp
-Flamethrower
-HP Grass/ HP Electric
-Superpower/ Focus Blast
-Vacuum Wave/ Focus Blast
VacuumW for fast scarfers like Sceptile and for priorities, Superpower for Chansey, Focus Blast as a Kill All option if you feel lucky with the accuracy.

Second, your 2 alternative Recipients don't really have the potential to sweep as they just don't pack real power. If Chansey comes in on +2/+2 Milo, youre done. Your Venusaur can at least sleep its counter but a respectable player will switch in let's say Registeel, switch out to take the sleep Powder and send in registeel again to completely wall you. And Chansey+ Registeel are just everywhere.
Your Cresselia set as secondary Screener is fine but I would change TWave to Magic Coat. TWave won't help your sweep as you'll try to pass +2 speed anyway. Magic Coat can bounce back Taunts and Sleep Moves, which will ruin your screening strategy completely once Uxie is gone (which will often be the case due to uxie being your lead).

Hope these suggestions helped. Good Luck

 

[thedarklord33]

hello there.

its rare when i see a team thats walled by a shedninja, but you got one. you also have a rock polish torterra, rock polish rhyperior, and a fighting type weakness. i also saw as one of your problems that you dont have a revenge killer. do you believe that every single one of these weaknesses can be checked with just 1 pokemon? drop Cress for molters with this set:

Molters@Choice Scarf
Pressure
Modest Narture. 252spa/252spe/6hp
Overheat
Air Slash
Hidden Power Ice
U-turn/ "Whatever else You want to Put here"

This Set Checks all of those weaknesses alone. Hidden Power ice 2 hit ko's rhyperior, and ohko's torrerra, air slash kills all fighting types in uu, overheat is for stab (and murdering shedninja.) u-turn is used for scouting, but its mostly a filler. if molters can learn it, and you can benefict from it, by all means.

second thing: you do not need 2 screeners on 1 team. on baton passing teams, ive noticed that you need to clear away certain pkmn before you can begin setting up for baton pass. on this specific team if you want milotic to sweep, the 3 that should be doing this are porygon z, venasaur, and Molters (if you add it), as steels, electrics, and chansey are your biggest problem. to combat this, switch porygon z to this set:



Porygon z @Life Orb
Adaptability
Timid Nature. 252spa/252spe/6hp
Nasty Plot
Tri Attack
Hidden Power Fighting/Hidden Power Ground
Dark Pulse

Tri attack after a nasty plot 2 hit ko's the most specially bulky chansey possible, while hidden power fighting takes care of steels. Hidden Power Ground is an option here, as it does murder Electric types types (namely raikou,) and you still have the steel coverage from it in uu. if ambipom passes over to porygon, gg. nothing is going to stop it.

hope my rate helps.

 

[sLiniss]

Porygon z @Life Orb
Adaptability
Timid Nature. 252spa/252spe/6hp
Nasty Plot
Tri Attack
Hidden Power Fighting/Hidden Power Ground
Dark Pulse

Tri attack after a nasty plot 2 hit ko's the most specially bulky chansey possible, while hidden power fighting takes care of steels. Hidden Power Ground is an option here, as it does murder Electric types types (namely raikou,) and you still have the steel coverage from it in uu. if ambipom passes over to porygon, gg. nothing is going to stop it.

I have to agree with this. Porygon Z with leftovers with max HP EV's seems very situational. If you don't get off the agility, Porygon Z would most likely get hit hard on the switch in and/or get substitute off second (making it take more damage). By using this set, you will be able to handle things more immediantly, but also have the option of getting a nasty plot off if the situation allows for it.

 

[Banedon]

Thanks for the rates -

Ice Beam over Dragon Pulse is like the most obvious fix ever possible. How could I miss that? >_<

+2 PorygonZ can't 2HKO Registeel, but Registeel usually can't threaten PorygonZ much either - Recover + Substitute blocks Explosion / Thunder Wave / Registeel's weak attacks. I can see the value of having three attacks though. Perhaps I can switch out the HP to HP Fire, which should still be enough to 2HKO all the ghosts? Rock would resist both attacks though. I did run 3 attacks at one point, but I can't remember why I dropped one for Recover. I might give it another try.

Blaziken sounds like a good recipient but without Substitute it can get neutered by Pokemon like Cresselia / Thunder Wave. And finally I did think about Moltres, but using a Pokemon quad weak to Stealth Rock without Rapid Spin support seems rather suicidal. I could add a spinner but then I would have to give up Venusaur, which means no phazing + absorbing Toxic Spikes.

Thanks for rates, I'll try out some changes soon.

 

[Rama]

Uxie-you may want to switch stealth rock fr thunder wave, it could really heighten your chances of bp succesfully
Milotic-ice beam over over dragon pulse seems to the better choice, as it still hits dragons SE and gives you a way to deal with grass pokes
PorygonZ-you might not want to rely to heavily on bp from ambi, so maybe change leftovers to life orb, and switch substitute for agility and hp or recover for ice beam or thunderbolt.

hope i helped in any way :]

 

[franky]

Hi Banedon, wall of text coming because this team captured my attention

Looking at this team right now, your downright walled by Chansey and your only source of damage to it is boosted Porygon-Z, which is unreliable at best. I'd like you to distribute Power Whip over Energy Ball on Venusaur so you actually smack around Chansey for the 2HKO. Power Whip ultimately allows you to smack special walls for good damage - 2HKO for the most part. With that being said, there is no reason to go physical with Venusaur with Milotic around. I'd like you to shift those EVs to Special Defense and change its nature to Careful so you can capitalize on checking Raikou - a threat to your team. In addition to checking Raikou, the added bulk on the special spectrum allows you to switch in on Water-types more recklessly (the ones who predict Ice Beam/Psychic at the start).

Looking at this team once again, I can't help but see the weakness to special walls. Simply going to Power Whip on Venusaur won't patch up this issue. I'll suggest an incredibly physical trapper that can help you overcome these special threats and help Porygon-Z sweep in general. I'd go for CB Dugtrio over Cresselia at the moment because Uxie is solid enough at doing his job. Cresselia feels pretty redundant because they are practically similar. Uxie won't go down that fast I can guarantee you that because it is notoriously bulky behind screens. Anyways, CB Dugtrio traps Chansey, Aggron, Steelix, Registeel, Encore Clefable with relative ease provided that they don't run Shed Shell (very rare). With all of the aforementioned threats removed, you can be sure that Porygon-Z will sweep sufficiently easier. By the way the set is Earthquake / Stone Edge / Sucker Punch / Night Slash with the EVs 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe and the nature Jolly. The moves are self-explanatory, but you'll be spamming Earthquake for the most part.

I'd personally capitalize on Ambipom's Speed so nothing prevents you from passing. Go for 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe with a Jolly nature. With that being said, I always like to run some form of resist berry on semi-frail passers so they can successfully pass it. I'd go for Chople Berry to increase your chances on passing.

Going defensive on Milotic won't hurt you, it broadens your threat coverage as it allows you to form a sweet defensive core with Venusaur. I'd personally stick to one receiver and Milotic is ultimately poor at sweeping and it lacks the raw power like Pz has. Going for a defensive set helps you check a myriad of physical threats, namely Blaziken, Azumarill, and Feraligatr. Go for Bold Milotic with the EVs 252 HP / 252 Def / 6 SpD with the movesets Surf / Hp Grass / Haze / Recover. A standard set. Haze allows you to blow away any possible boosts from the opponent.

As for other option(s), you can really benefit from Lum Pz while you can replace Substitute with Hidden Power Fighting to broaden your coverage. Although Hidden Power Water wouldn't be needed, you can go for Dark Pulse in that slot to smack bulky Ghost-types around. Just a thought. overall gl.

 

[Banedon]

Hi Franky, thanks for the rate!

Yes Cresselia is the most replacable Pokemon in the team, but ... Uxie takes rather a beating in lead spot. She might have to eat Pursuits, absorb Fake Outs, suffer Explosion and maybe even take unexpected super effective hits to put up the screens. I've had games where one screener was enough, and others where I needed both (and still failed to cover Ambipom when he Baton Passed >_<). Another threat to Uxie is Trick; if Uxie gets hit with a Choice Scarf then if I don't have Cresselia the entire strategy is in danger of falling apart. I honestly don't know how RT survived with just one screener in his team.

Trapping Chansey with Dugtrio is a nice idea, with one problem ... I usually don't give Chansey any reason to switch in. Registeel does switch in sometimes, but usually not Chansey. Since Registeel is rather less a threat than Chansey, I don't think it's worth slotting in Dugtrio to take it out. Steelix and Aggron are both easily KO'ed with the super effective HP Water on their weaker defensive stat, and finally Encore Clefable isn't that big a problem (Taunt > Encore, and I'd Taunt Clefable if she switches into Ambipom anyway because she's got so many dangerous moves to use).

I think it might be worth it to go physical on Venusaur, with Swords Dance. Given max attack, SD / EQ / Power Whip / Synthesis or Sleep Powder, it would be able to break through Chansey as well as make use of the screens I'm bound to set up at some point. This would tie in with Milotic going full defensive per your suggestion, and Haze to replace Roar. Also, if Porygonz should fail to sweep, I'd have another decent sweeper to finish the job.

Not sure about the Lum Berry since Ambipom can Taunt any attempt to status him, and once Porygonz is in it has Substitute to block status. I have been outpredicted before and got Toxic'ed on Porygonz, but it still managed to sweep 4 Pokemon before dying. The coverage might not be needed as well. From experience so far the only Pokemon that can survive a +2 Porygonz running the moveset above are Registeel and Chansey(countered by Recover / Substitute), Spiritomb (tough), and Cradily. I actually recently discovered I have a Cradily weakness actually. In sand, I'd need a +4 Porygonz to break through. HP Fighting will definitely help here.

Do you think of switching some EVs from HP to Speed on Porygonz? Since Porygonz is pretty fast naturally, it would help a bit with the team being slow.