Competitive Team: Snazzy (UU) - Looking for Suggestions and Ideas

[SmashGood]

​

My first shot at a Under Used competitive team. And of course, I'm once again built it with the intent of Swellow being the center of attention. I'm looking for any ideas or suggestions as to bolstering the team's potential. I know the main thing I lack from knowledge of UU is what will be commonly seen and help to have a counter-acting plan for.

Summary:

Hitmonlee - Opener / Avenger
Probopass - Steel Trap
Miltank - Physical Sweep Counter
Nidoking - Physical Sweeper
Ninetales - Avenger / Status Inducer
Blastoise - Spinner / Status Absorber

----------HITMONLEE------------ Opener / Avenger

Hitmonlee (F) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Limber
EVs: 252 Atk / 216 Spd / 40 SDef
Nature: Adamant
-Close Combat
-Stone Edge
-Earthquake
-Reversal

My new opener as a response to Aerodactyl taking the spot as quickest opener. With the Speed EV setup there, the only thing that would outspeed him are fellow Scarfed pokes, bairly having more speed than that of a 252 speed EVed, Jolly, Aerodactyl, while Close Combat will proceed to OH KO Aerodactyl before it is even able to begin. Earthquake for annoying the annoying Poison types that resist the Fighting, Rock combo, namely Nidoking, Toxicroak and Nidoqueen.


-----------PROBOPASS------------- Steel Trap

Probopass (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 168HP / 252 SAtk / 88 Spd
Nature: Bold
-Magnet Rise
-Earth Power
-Taunt
-Flash Cannon

Magnet Rise to compensate for its glaring weakness. Earth Power to deal with enemy Steel types once I have them locked in. Taunt so there's no Roaring from Steelix. Flash Cannon gets switch-ins and helps with the new rock-birdy problem that I can see will be elevating.



-----------MILTANK------------ Physical Sweep Counter

Miltank (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 HP / 224 Def / 32 Spd
Nature: Impish
-Milk Drink
-Heal Bell
-Stealth Rock
-Body Slam

The new cleric of UU has found a spot on my team as a physical annoyance. I chose Scrappy so I'm not completely walled off by Rotom and allow him to setup or burn my Heal Bell PP.



-----------NIDOKING------------- Physical Sweeper

Nidoking (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Rivalry
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Nature: Adamant
-Sucker Punch
-Megahorn
-Stone Edge
-Earthquake

He made me smile in thinking, "I now have myself a tiny Tyranitar." He hits things hard and fast. Sucker Punch for finishing off the injured. The rest just as good type coverage needed in Sweeping. Rivalry adds a bit of fun to the mix (and was tempted to use attract with it, but resisted). Besides, it's fitting that a woman would be the thing to get in my way of winning.



-----------NINETALES------------ Avenger/Status Inducer

(Ended up changing the original Ninetales picture around
a bit to fit the shiny version. Original is from Veekun.com.)
Ninetales (F) @ Wide Lens
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Nature: Jolly
-Will-o-Wisp
-Hypnosis
-Energy Ball
-Fire Blast

She can take a fire hit, then dish it right back at'm with some nasty power, but she is mainly here for status inflicting. After absorbing a fire attack or just getting a good switch-in, Status away at the incoming foe's switch-ins. Wide Lens to help hit. Energy Ball for coverage and predicting against a certain slug.


-------------BLASTOISE--------------- Spinner / Status Absorber

Blastoise (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 136 Def / 122 SDef
Nature: Bold
-Surf
-Rapid Spin
-Sleep Talk/Haze
-Rest

Rapid Spin to get rid of Stealth Rocks which mess up Swellow's fun. Surf for a STAB. Rest and Sleep Talk to absorb status and keep him around to be annoying.

As always, thank you to all who lend a helping hand to the assembling of the team and corrections.

 

[Lalapizzame]

Infernape (M) @ Choice Band

Other Considerations:
Gengar (I do not really have a focused Special Sweeper and Gengar helps to counter some of the same things as Gliscor.)

Why are these 2 things in a UU team? :surprised:

 

[SmashGood]

My bad, lol. Copied my layout from my OU team, and I must have over looked not making those corrections. Fixed them now.

 

[Espy Psyche]

One more correction you might want to make. Why does Rapidash have 252 SAtk EVs, no speed, no special attacks, and a Jolly nature? That's like wasting EVs to the extreme. I'm going to assume you meant 252 Spd instead of 252 SAtk.

 

[SmashGood]

Yes, I was meaning for Speed EVs to be there. Thank you for bringing it to attention.

Other than less typos, what might the team need?

 

[Syaoran]

You will have trouble against Swellow, nothing on your team resists its attacks, while it can switch in on many situations - practically Meganium and Claydol can't do anything to it, Nidoking locked into EQ is also a chance to switch in, while Hypno and Rapidash invite Swellow in if using status moves (or Wish).

Nidoking is usually better with a Life Orb (and Rivalry, considering no one really pays attention to their pokemon gender) and could revenge kill swellow with Sucker Punch (beware of the occasional Quick Attack though).

I would suggest Ninetales over Rapidash because you seem to be hitting hard on the physical side already. With Ninetales, pokemon like Steelix won't be as problematic and you can attempt a sweep with Hypnosis + Nasty Plot.

To fix the Swellow weak, you could opt for a mixed wall like Probopass. It can also trap steels and leave the road open for your own Swellow sweep.

 

[TP-BigWill]

You will have trouble against Swellow, nothing on your team resists its attacks, while it can switch in on many situations - practically Meganium and Claydol can't do anything to it, Nidoking locked into EQ is also a chance to switch in, while Hypno and Rapidash invite Swellow in if using status moves (or Wish).

Nidoking is usually better with a Life Orb (and Rivalry, considering no one really pays attention to their pokemon gender) and could revenge kill swellow with Sucker Punch (beware of the occasional Quick Attack though).

I would suggest Ninetales over Rapidash because you seem to be hitting hard on the physical side already. With Ninetales, pokemon like Steelix won't be as problematic and you can attempt a sweep with Hypnosis + Nasty Plot.

To fix the Swellow weak, you could opt for a mixed wall like Probopass. It can also trap steels and leave the road open for your own Swellow sweep.

I would completly agree with the ninetails replacement, but Rapidash is a rather reliable pokemon as well. As for the nidoking, I would easily recomend slaping on toxic spikes over a move(perhaps sucker punch) that way if the match came down to a battle of walls(which you have plenty of by that point) you would have a clear cut advantage.

I would try to add onto the suggtion syaron made about being swellow weak. I would most likely add Pikachu w/light ball, Raichu or manectric to try to step away from the flying bastards. I personaly perfer Manectric cause few Uus can match both it's speed and sp.atk on an even battlefield. Here's mines.

Manectric @ Focus Sash
T-Bolt
T-Wave
Flamethrower
Hp- ground 65

before you say anything, I'm a terrible HP breeder and Ground came as an unexplained gift. I would easily perfer HP-ice, but I'll take a counter against Golems and Nidos.

Also, Trick might as easily become your downfall. But thats on a more advanced UU play field.

 

[Syaoran]

Toxic Spikes in UU is something I'd never recommend seeing that poison pokes are roaming in almost every battle to absorb the spikes. Sucker Punch is always nice to have as a priority.. being locked on it is another issue because it can easily turn you into a set up fodder (which is why I recommended Life Orb).

Pikachu, Raichu or Manectric are far from being Swellow counters.. remember Facade is its main move and all of them are outsped and OHKO'd. If SR is on the field, Focus Sash is useless (unless you use it as your lead, but you already have a great lead). Bulky Sleep Talk Rotom is another suggestion over Hypno if you need something to absorb sleep. With T-bolt and Will-O-Wisp it can be very effective for countering the Hitmons and even Swellow.

 

[SmashGood]

Thank you both for the insight and tips. I was leaning to much on the physical side, and Ninetales made the change easy. The Probopass suggestion was a great idea, but for some reason I had it stuck in my head he was BL. But he definitely helps take care of steels and scaring Swellow. I find it ironic that I did not even think of oppositions using Swellows and how much it would hinder my team.

I chose on putting in Cloyster to help against a foe's Swellow and to keep Rapid Spin on the team.

And thank you for the suggestion on Manectric, he really does look like a powerhouse, I'm just not sure what would he would need to replace. And I do not like the idea of Nidoking with Toxic Spikes because my team has status inflicting already down.

 

[Skip Shot]

I don't think Hidden Power Rock is a good choice for a Rock-move here. Yes, probo does have special attack, but I would go with stone edge because it has more power.

 

[SmashGood]

I prefer HP Rock because I want to hit on the SpDefense side with my 252 SAtk EVs. Missing is a bane to me too. There would be a 20 Base power difference as well (55 compared to 75). Also the lack of PP with the move on a Wall would bother me.

I just saw HP rock as better suited.

And I still want a base Special Wall so I decided against the Bulky Rotom Resttalk. Also I just cannot see it withstanding to much abuse to really utilize rest to much. I know I would miss Wish passing as well.

 

[.]

I see a Choice Scarf Hitmonlee weakness here. It outspeeds Swellow, OHKO's with Stone Edge. It can also destroy Nidoking with Earthquake as well as Probopass with Close Combat. Ninetails cannot take an Earthquake or even a STAB Close Combat well, and Cloyster gets ripped by Close Combat. Hypno is your only reliable counter to it, and even still, most carry Limber meaning Thunder-Wave won't be affecting it. Reflect can only do so much.

In conclusion: Watch out for Scarfed Hitmonlee.

 

[SmashGood]

Okay, so that think walks all over the team, and my idea of a solution is Leafeon over Cloyster. But Blaze Kick on him would even ruin that... I'm welcome to help on that one.

 

[.]

It's a hard set to counter, especially since Hitmonlee has a nice movepool to work with. I really don't know what could effectively beat it. Claydol can take any set and OHKO it with Psychic. I'd use that. Of course, you could use Solrock or Lunatone, since the former makes an excellent Baton Passer.

 

[Espy Psyche]

Lotus Leafeon can easily take non-STAB Blaze Kicks from Scarf Hitmonlee and OHKO back.

Leafeon @ Leftovers
EVs: 252 HP / 136 Def / 122 Atk
Nature: Impish (Def+/SAtk-)
- Curse
- Wish
- Leaf Blade
- Aerial Ace

252 Atk Adamant Scarf Hitmonlee Blaze Kick vs Lotus Leafeon (0 Curses up) is a 3HKO.
Lotus Leafeon Aerial Ace (0 Curses up) vs 4 HP / 0 Def Adamant Hitmonlee is an OHKO almost every time, guaranteed with SR out.

 

[Syaoran]

Leafeon most important asset is its speed. You could try the Swords Dance set or even a bulky Wish set with Leaf Blade (which already does enough damage to fragile pokes Hitmonchan and Hitmolee).

 

[ThePlaya]

I'm guessing you made another typo on the Ninetails part. You put 252 Atk instead of 252 Sp. Atk

 

[ABYAY]

Yeah, ThePlaya makes a point. You might wanna fix it. lol

As TTar said, you're troubled by Scarf'd Fighters. Claydol or a Bulky Leafeon help soothe this, but CBers can at least be revenged easily.

I like your style of posting a team too. The team overall looks pretty nice (Watch for Water Pulse Specs Glaceon!)

 

[SmashGood]

Awesome, I'll edit in some new changes here soon, and correct that typo for Ninetales to SAtk. Also, with Leafeon around now with Wish, and Probopass around for SpDef, I feel the need to find a replacement for Hypno. Resttalk Blastoise is what I see will help the most to absorb sleeps/status and spin. I do not like the fact that when sleeping it would become risky that I would do noticeable damage.

And Espy Psyche, I always see you posting insightful calculations, and they are extremely helpful; I'm sure they help with building good EV sets the most when creating a certain counter. Is there a tool I could use to find out all of what you come up with on my own? Or do you figure out the calculations on your own? Either way, I am impressed and thankful you helped out.

And thank you ABYAY, I have fun with it.

 

[ABYAY]

To be honest, Aerial Ace doesn't do much here. Leaf Blade is...90 base power I believe? 90 x 1.5 = 135. Aerial Ace that is super effective is 60 x 2 = 120. I can see one use, and that is against grass/poison types that switch in. You COULD opt for Return if you like for more average coverage.

On Ninetales, you can still consider Fire Blast because that way you have near the same initial power as Overheat without the sp.atk drop, just in case they switch in a Rock Type, your sp.atk won't be shot to death.

Oh yeah, on Blastoise, you may have to drop either Toxic or Spin because you have to have that Sleep Talk to be an effective status absorber. You have no cleric.

One last note, on the top, it says "Meganium - Physical sweep counter". I think you mean "Leafeon - Physical sweep counter".