Uxie (Lead Cleric)

[timetwister]

This is my first write-up here. I hope I did everything alright; I must admit, I didn't come up with this set completely, but the final moveset was my idea as it was an adaptation of Negator's Uxie that he used in the Under the Bridge UU Wi-Fi tournament.

Uxie's analysis page

[SET]
Name: Lead Cleric
Move 1: Stealth Rock
Move 2: Thunder Wave
Move 3: Heal Bell
Move 4: U-Turn
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Jolly
EV: 252 HP / 4 ATK / 252 SPE

Why this set deserves to be on-site:
-Uxie is known as an incredibly bulky pokemon with its 75/130/130 defenses, but one stat that is often overlooked is its base 95 Speed.
-Surprising speed combined with Thunder Wave allows for your slower sweepers to reap the benefits of a crippled team.
-Very reliable in getting Rocks up.
-Still very useful as a cleric after it's done getting Rocks up, something most other leads cannot do.

Additional Comments:
-Toxic could be used over Thunder Wave, I suppose, but spreading paralysis is a large draw for this set.

Teammates and Counters:
-As a lead, it's very difficult to 'counter' what Uxie is designed to do, namely get Rocks up and spread paralysis, however, three leads come to mind that are a bit of trouble for Uxie: Ambipom, Rhyperior, and Torterra.
-Ambipom is a problem because it is faster and can taunt, but the damage taken from Fake Out is not too large. The best strategy for Ambipom also lends itself to a good teammate for this Uxie: Swellow. The key to beating Ambipom is to anticipate the Taunt and U-Turn to Swellow right away, who can easily dispatch of Ambipom and then let you set up. It may seem counter-intuitive to have a cleric on the same team as Swellow, but it can ease prediction if you accidentally switch into a Thunder Wave which normally renders Swellow useless for the rest of the match.
-The other two are less of a problem than Ambipom, but deserve to be mentioned. Uxie's goal of spreading paralysis isn't going to work if you can't paralyze the lead and force the switch so the strategy is just set up rocks and get out of there.

Teammates of note: Moltres, Rhyperior, any slow(ish) sweeper.
-Moltres is probably the best of these, because with you spreading paralysis, you allow yourself to run Modest without fearing too much, which turns LO Moltres in to a real monster, even more so than most already consider it; also, you can abuse Air Slash on stuff you can't OHKO knowing you have the ParaFlinch possibility.

 

[Darkmalice]

What's the point of Uxie having max Speed? If anything, this set would have less need for Spe than other sets due to Thunder Wave. I have no idea why you're stating that Speed helps to spread paralysis and helps allied slower sweepers. Even then, less Speed is better so Uxie can take the damage before U-turning to an ally. Uxie really has no need for the Speed. I much rather have the Defence. And assuming the EV spread does get changed to the standard max HP/Def Bold, it becomes the standard set with Heal Bell slashed in place of an attacking move, and functions very similarly to the on-site Support set (Uxie didn't use that attacking move much anyways, and would rather U-turn out in the event of a Taunt.) I rather just slash Heal Bell in the on-site set or give it set comments mention.

 

[Heysup]

If you want your opponent to get at least two layers of entry hazards up against your team feel free to use this. I reject this on the basis that the other leads do a far better job then this one...Heal Bell does not deserve a slot over Psychic or any other attack move.

 

[timetwister]

If you want your opponent to get at least two layers of entry hazards up against your team feel free to use this. I reject this on the basis that the other leads do a far better job then this one...Heal Bell does not deserve a slot over Psychic or any other attack move.

I respectfully disagree and if you're so worried about entry hazards, a Foresight/Rapid Spin Blastoise/Hitmontop or a Poison type for Toxic Spikes would make a great partner. Nevertheless, I suppose this should be locked if no one wants to give this a chance.

What's the point of Uxie having max Speed? If anything, this set would have less need for Spe than other sets due to Thunder Wave. I have no idea why you're stating that Speed helps to spread paralysis and helps allied slower sweepers. Even then, less Speed is better so Uxie can take the damage before U-turning to an ally. Uxie really has no need for the Speed. I much rather have the Defence. And assuming the EV spread does get changed to the standard max HP/Def Bold, it becomes the standard set with Heal Bell slashed in place of an attacking move, and functions very similarly to the on-site Support set (Uxie didn't use that attacking move much anyways, and would rather U-turn out in the event of a Taunt.) I rather just slash Heal Bell in the on-site set or give it set comments mention.

I was informed by Bearsfan092 that the analysis page already says this:

In any set, you can opt to use 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Speed with a Jolly nature to outspeed base 90s and Speed tie with base 95s like Houndoom and Drapion.

I've been thinking of a good explanation, and I think I've come up with a good argument (because as I said, I didn't come up with the EV's myself, I've only been using them and have been impressed): I think that max speed is very important for getting off a Thunder Wave because Uxie lives in a very populous speed tier. Arcanine, Drapion, Absol, Sharpedo, and Houndoom are just some of the threats that have the same base speed as Uxie, and what's worse, Houndoom and Arcanine are threats from the special side (as well as the physical side, but I'm just emphasizing special as you advocated for Bold 252 HP / 252 Def. However, there is one other threat that I believe deserves mention: Moltres. As we all know, Moltres is a very powerful sweeper dangerous threat in UU, however, it has base 90 speed, and being hit with a Thunder Wave really helps you stay in the match and avoid being swept by it. Another option, which I haven't tested personally, but it may be worth it, is instead of running 252 SPE, you run enough to outspeed Timid Moltres (216 SPE EV), guarenteeing you get it Thunder Waved, and reallocate the 40 points among the defenses. So, maybe you're right that all I'm asking is to slash Heal Bell onto the support set, but I'd rather leave that decision up to someone else as I don't know enough about how stuff like this is maintained to know if using this as a lead is enough to merit it's own listing in the analysis page, or if it should be mentioned in the comments (of which I would be glad to write if deemed appropriate).

 

[Eo Ut Mortus]

I've used Heal Bell Uxie in the past and have found it moderately effective, although I don't see why it warrants an additional set rather than just a slash or mention in the support set or lead set.

 

[timetwister]

I've used Heal Bell Uxie in the past and have found it moderately effective, although I don't see why it warrants an additional set rather than just a slash or mention in the support set or lead set.

As I mentioned above in my edit, I think I understand that now. I thought (originally) that the different EV spread and the usage as a lead merited it being listed as a different set, but it may just as well be mentioned as an option.

 

[Darkmalice]

I've been thinking of a good explanation, and I think I've come up with a good argument (because as I said, I didn't come up with the EV's myself, I've only been using them and have been impressed): I think that max speed is very important for getting off a Thunder Wave because Uxie lives in a very populous speed tier. Arcanine, Drapion, Absol, Sharpedo, and Houndoom are just some of the threats that have the same base speed as Uxie, and what's worse, Houndoom and Arcanine are threats from the special side (as well as the physical side, but I'm just emphasizing special as you advocated for Bold 252 HP / 252 Def. However, there is one other threat that I believe deserves mention: Moltres. As we all know, Moltres is a very powerful sweeper dangerous threat in UU, however, it has base 90 speed, and being hit with a Thunder Wave really helps you stay in the match and avoid being swept by it. Another option, which I haven't tested personally, but it may be worth it, is instead of running 252 SPE, you run enough to outspeed Timid Moltres (216 SPE EV), guarenteeing you get it Thunder Waved, and reallocate the 40 points among the defenses. So, maybe you're right that all I'm asking is to slash Heal Bell onto the support set, but I'd rather leave that decision up to someone else as I don't know enough about how stuff like this is maintained to know if using this as a lead is enough to merit it's own listing in the analysis page, or if it should be mentioned in the comments (of which I would be glad to write if deemed appropriate).

Paralysis makes the need for Speed EVs unnecessary. You'll outspeed anything that's paralysed.

What's the point of outrunning base 90s when Uxie does jack to all of them? Firing a Thunder Wave before a Pokemon attacks means nothing unless that Pokemon would otherwise KO you, in which case you would not leave Uxie in on that Pokemon, barring the rare situational flinch and a haxy Thunder Wave paralysis - your opponent will still do his attack, and you'll still fire off your Thunder Wave, which achieves its go of providing team support. Going faster could be useful to U-turn out, but in such a situation (knowing your opponent will attack), the damage inflicted is very minimum. Nor would I risk a speed-tie if it means major damage (say from Sharpedo's or Drapion's Crunch). (Absol doesn't speed-tie with Uxie btw, and Absol has Sucker Punch against U-turn).

If the extra Speed EVs are mentioned in the current Uxie analysis, leave it at that. Uxie with no attacking move (U-turn doesn't count) has very little hope of finishing a weakened sweeper; outspeeding threats is largely useless.

 

[whistle]

I agree with what darknessmalice said about the Speed EVs and Thunder Wave, but would like to add that the one situation where the Speed would be useful despite not having attacking moves is if you want to sacrifice Uxie. that's not a very ideal choice if you're running Heal Bell on Uxie, though, since the fact that you bothered to put Heal Bell on it means it is probably important for your team and also means you probably have a hard counter to Moltres.

I don't think this needs to be slashed since Heal Bell is a pretty team-specific move. the Uber section of Uxie's Other Options mentions Heal Bell but the UU section doesn't, so this can be added there. maybe it can also get mentioned in the set comments for Uxie's support set (doesn't have to get slashed to get mentioned).

 

[whistle]

moving to locked analyses because three QC members said the same thing; the OP also seems to agree that putting it in optional changes is a decent idea. I SCMSed a Heal Bell mention into the UU Other Options section (since Optional Changes isn't on that analysis yet).