Now for something completely different (UU Team)

[Farasha]

After battling for a little while in the OU tier, I thought it would be fun to put together a UU team and try the UU tier. I attempted to adapt the OU strategy I was already using for UU, but I do realize that what works in one might not necessarily work for another. But enough babble - on to the team!

Team Preview: *pokemonelite2000 image removed**pokemonelite2000 image removed* *pokemonelite2000 image removed* *pokemonelite2000 image removed* *pokemonelite2000 image removed* *pokemonelite2000 image removed*

Yukiko: SubSpiker
Froslass @ Leftovers
(4 HP/252 Sp.Atk/252 Spe)
Timid Nature - Snow Cloak
* Substitute
* Thunder Wave
* Ice Beam
* Spikes

Reason: I've worked very well in the past with a substitute/status lead. Yukiko also carries Spikes, which makes it easier for me to start throwing out hazards early in the game instead of having to wait for another hazard Pokemon. Because Yuki is so fast, if I really want to I can Sub+Spike over and over until there are like four layers of Spikes on the ground. Thunder Wave works as paralysis support and Ice Beam is a powerful STAB.

Levitas: MixNectric
Manectric @ Life Orb
(36 Atk/220 Spe/252 Sp.Atk)
Hasty Nature - Static
* Crunch
* Flamethrower
* HP Grass
* Thunderbolt

Reason: As far as mix sets go, Levitas has turned out to have a pretty good one. His base Special Attack and Speed aren't shabby at all. STAB Thunderbolts from this guy really hurt. Flamethrower >> Overheat because I always prefer accuracy over power - 140 power is all fine and good, but doesn't help you much if you miss. Crunch puts a fairly large dent in psychic and ghost-types, and HP Grass for rock and ground-type switch-ins.

Regina: Hazard
Nidoqueen @ Leftovers
(252 HP/4 Atk/252 Def)
Impish Nature - Poison Point
* Earthquake
* Roar
* Stealth Rock
* Toxic Spikes

Reason: I was hesitant at first to put two hazard specialists on one team, but poor Yuki is a little fragile. I felt that having Regina as a second Spiker in case Yuki only got a chance to throw out T-Wave before she was KOed gave me a better chance of using hazard to my advantage. And if she did get spikes out - well, the combination of Spikes, Stealth Rock and Toxic Spikes can make it nearly impossible for any Pokemon to switch in and keep more than 75% of their health. Regina's Roar can poison the opponent's whole team if she can keep it up, and Earthquake is a check to poison-types who absorb the Toxic Spikes.

Raposa: Specs
Ninetales @ Choice Specs
(252 Sp.Atk/4 Sp.Def/252 Spe)
Timid Nature - Flash Fire
* Dark Pulse
* Energy Ball
* HP Electric
* Overheat

Reason: SpecsTales is an absolutely punishing set. STABed Specs Overheat is brutal, an attack that I have had OHKO on occasion when combined with my hazard support techniques. Energy Ball hits rock and ground-types, HP Electric takes care of flying and water-types, and Dark Pulse isn't too shabby either. I bring Raposa out later in the game, because his powerful attack set combined with his Timid nature makes him able to mop up any messes left over from earlier.

Fei: Wall
Clefable @ Leftovers
(252 HP/152 Def/100 Sp.Def/4 Spe)
Calm Nature - Magic Guard
* Encore
* Seismic Toss
* Softboiled
* Thunder Wave/Light Screen/Reflect

Reason: Oh look, it's Blissey for UU - with Encore. Fei's Encore can be ridiculously annoying, EDIT: especially if I can force switches into the hazards the rest of my team places. Softboiled makes her tedious to KO, and any of the moves in her fourth slot provide good team support - I'm stuck on which one to choose, because I don't want to repeat Yuki's T-Wave coverage if Light Screen or Reflect can work better for this team. Seismic Toss works well as an attack, but I am open to it being replaced.

Drassomina: Dragon Dance
Altaria @ Life Orb
(72 HP/242 Def/184 Spe)
Adamant Nature - Natural Cure
* Dragon Dance
* Outrage
* Earthquake
* Roost

Reason: To round out the team, since I have a wealth of Ground weaknesses here, is Mina. I've never run a DD set before but I'm pleased with its results - after one DD, she outspeeds most things in UU, and after two, Outrage and Earthquake can tear things apart. Roost heals away Life Orb damage like it was never even there. Mina's downside is her unfortunate weakness to rock and electric types, something most other dragons don't have to worry about - but her base defense is halfway decent, and with EVs she might survive the hit.

Overall: The attackers in the team might not be the best on their own, but with the hazard and status support that the other members bring to the table they're able to hold their own. I've had about as many sucesses as failures with this team, but a lot of that has to do with my n00bish prediction problems (switching in on a Nidoking with Levitas for some reason... Earthquake... that wasn't pretty). I'm happy with it, but wanted to throw it out there for advice.
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[SkyPioneer]

First off, Bright powder is illegal in evasion clause. Get rid of it in favour of lefties or something.
Another thing. You're confusing overheat with fire blast. Over heat lowers your sp attack by two stages after you've used it. So if you have it on your ninetales, you'd need to switch to lose the negative effects. And let me tell you, that will be one predictable switch.

Another thing. On your Clefable, you think that you can just Encore someone and they'll just stay in? Encore is usually used for the purpose of forcing switches. Encore 'em on an attacking move and they're making themselves predictable. Encore 'em on a stataus move (like stealth rock) and they must switch, or they'd get hammered.

 

[Farasha]

First off, Bright powder is illegal in evasion clause. Get rid of it in favour of lefties or something.
Another thing. You're confusing overheat with fire blast. Over heat lowers your sp attack by two stages after you've used it. So if you have it on your ninetales, you'd need to switch to lose the negative effects. And let me tell you, that will be one predictable switch.

Another thing. On your Clefable, you think that you can just Encore someone and they'll just stay in? Encore is usually used for the purpose of forcing switches. Encore 'em on an attacking move and they're making themselves predictable. Encore 'em on a stataus move (like stealth rock) and they must switch, or they'd get hammered.

Any Poke I've ever run with a Choice item gets themselves switched in and out so often, to avoid counters and getting locked in on a move that isn't going to do anything, that the negative effects from Overheat aren't going to matter.

As for Encore... well, I knew something about my strategy was flawed. Thanks for pointing that out.

 

[.]

This team really has a hard time handling things like SD Absol or SD Toxicroak. Both of them get a free Swords Dance if they come in on Ninetales's Dark Pulse, and then proceed to OHKO the majority of your team. You can't play mind-games with them since Ninetales lacks Hypnosis, meaning Sucker Punch is going to OHKO easy. Cross Chop/Superpower handles Clefable, and Ice Punch/Psycho Cut destroys Nidoqueen. Altaria, Manectric, and Ninetales, although not hit for super effective by any of their moves, are easily picked off by Sucker Punch.

I'd reccomend something to revenge kill these two, perhaps a Hitmonlee. It outspeeds both of them with a Jolly nature, and only fears a SD Sucker Punch from Hitmonlee. You could go Hitmontop, since Mach Punch stops Absol cold, but Toxicroak laughs at it too easily. Hitmonlee with a Life Orb @ CC / SE / Mach Punch / Earthquake can make a decent check for them, although a bulky, speed oriented Hitmontop could work.

 

[Samson]

heeey. i really like the innovative usages on this team. well done.

but yeah, you do have quite the vulnerability her for physical sweepers like vance suggested. nidoqueen's EQ/ice punch weak can be a bummer for sure. it just can't switch in and think "LOL IMA TAKE UR HITS". i highly suggest two things:

-find something that can set up reflect as well as take a hit. claydol could do some good for your team. exeggutor is good for setting up reflect and finishing up with explosion, as well as putting incoming threats to sleep. solrock is in that same boat. if you're going to throw reflect on clefable, i suggest giving it a Chople Berry so that you can give a bit more protection from failed predictions. encore becomes SO much better on clefable when it can stick SD/BulkUppers without having to worry about being OHKOd (after Reflect is up). at that point, you can safely switch in a counter or predict their switch and just softboil/paralyze the switch-in.

-specs ninetales is absolute fail. trust me, i've tried everything to make ninetales an offensive stronghold. don't fool yourself into thinking the same thing, it's just easy to take care of in this metagame, hence why it dropped down from BL to UU so quickly. i'd suggest trying subWoW tales. basically, it's sub/wow/fire blast/x @ leftovers/wide lens. X can be whatever you feel is necessary, however Roar is the best option you have. this set gives you the ability to punish a LARGE variety of pokemon than you usually could. priority move sluts get burnt in fear of Ninetales' speed. stallers/bulky waters get burnt/roared for extra damage. other fires get raeped by spikes damage. fragile sweepers get owned by STAB fire blast. destiny bond variants get burnt and roared to oblivion.

subWoW is the new design for limited fire types.

 

[Syaoran]

This team gets completely raped by Rain Dance.. Personally I don't see stall working with fast sweepers in the same team. If you replaced Manectric or Ninetales with possibly Claydol / Mantine / Toxicroak, it would look more like a stall team and you won't be having much trouble with scarfers like Hitmonlee or Rain Dance sweepers. On the other hand you could go offensive and lead with a scarf user (Hitmonlee for example) to threaten other leads like Electrode so they can't set up Rain Dance. I think the metagame is currently entirely offensive or defensive, no middle ground.

 

[coolkidmitch]

I have always loved this team, your Froslass combo is awesome, perfect to bring in. But after reading the battle log you did, I dunno how many spikes you can get in before your substitute is complete destroyed from the start. Once you get this team together, let me know, I'd love to test the waters with ya. My ghost team should be relativlty done by sping break.

Also...IDK about Ninetails, and you know how much I love her. I really think you should take a look at Magcargo and Torkal, because of their high defensives they can prove great for a type coveage on fire. Just take a look at them.

 

[Pokedra]

Review

Yukiko: SubSpiker
Froslass @ Leftovers
(4 HP/252 Sp.Atk/252 Spe)
Timid Nature - Snow Cloak
* Substitute
* Destiny Bond
* Ice Beam
* Spikes​

Reason: I've worked very well in the past with a substitute/status lead. Yukiko also carries Spikes, which makes it easier for me to start throwing out hazards early in the game instead of having to wait for another hazard Pokemon. Because Yuki is so fast, if I really want to I can Sub+Spike over and over until there are like four layers of Spikes on the ground. Thunder Wave works as paralysis support and Ice Beam is a powerful STAB.​

Destiny Bond helps it take other Pokemon down with it. Apart from that it's a good set.​

Levitas: MixNectric
Manectric @ Life Orb
(36 Atk/220 Spe/252 Sp.Atk)
Hasty Nature - Static​

* Crunch
* Overheat
* HP Grass
* Thunderbolt​

Reason: As far as mix sets go, Levitas has turned out to have a pretty good one. His base Special Attack and Speed aren't shabby at all. STAB Thunderbolts from this guy really hurt. Flamethrower >> Overheat because I always prefer accuracy over power - 140 power is all fine and good, but doesn't help you much if you miss. Crunch puts a fairly large dent in psychic and ghost-types, and HP Grass for rock and ground-type switch-ins.

You'd do better with Overheat, it nets some KO's that Flamethrower might not be able to do and since this is fragile usually consider power>accuracy.

Regina: Hazard

Nidoqueen @ Leftovers

(252 HP/4 Atk/252 Def)
Impish Nature - Poison Point
* Earthquake
* Roar
* Stealth Rock
* Toxic Spikes​

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Reason: I was hesitant at first to put two hazard specialists on one team, but poor Yuki is a little fragile. I felt that having Regina as a second Spiker in case Yuki only got a chance to throw out T-Wave before she was KOed gave me a better chance of using hazard to my advantage. And if she did get spikes out - well, the combination of Spikes, Stealth Rock and Toxic Spikes can make it nearly impossible for any Pokemon to switch in and keep more than 75% of their health. Regina's Roar can poison the opponent's whole team if she can keep it up, and Earthquake is a check to poison-types who absorb the Toxic Spikes.

Nothing wrong with her.

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Raposa: Specs

Ninetales @ Choice Specs

(252 Sp.Atk/4 Sp.Def/252 Spe)

Timid Nature - Flash Fire​

​

* Dark Pulse

* Energy Ball

* HP Ice​

* Overheat

Reason: SpecsTales is an absolutely punishing set. STABed Specs Overheat is brutal, an attack that I have had OHKO on occasion when combined with my hazard support techniques. Energy Ball hits rock and ground-types, HP Electric takes care of flying and water-types, and Dark Pulse isn't too shabby either. I bring Raposa out later in the game, because his powerful attack set combined with his Timid nature makes him able to mop up any messes left over from earlier.​

I don't have much problems with this set but I'd say use HP Ice as it hits flying types and dragon types(Too bad there's only one). Energy Ball covers your water weakness anyway.

Fei: Wall

Clefable @ Leftovers

(252 HP/152 Def/104 Sp.Def)
Calm Nature - Magic Guard​

* Encore

* Seismic Toss
* Softboiled
* Thunder Wave​

Reason: Oh look, it's Blissey for UU - with Encore. Fei's Encore can be ridiculously annoying, EDIT: especially if I can force switches into the hazards the rest of my team places. Softboiled makes her tedious to KO, and any of the moves in her fourth slot provide good team support - I'm stuck on which one to choose, because I don't want to repeat Yuki's T-Wave coverage if Light Screen or Reflect can work better for this team. Seismic Toss works well as an attack, but I am open to it being replaced.



Slap that 4 Spe EV's in SpD, it's no outrunning anything soon. Thunder Wave works well as it lets her go first and helps the team.

​

Drassomina: Dragon Dance

Altaria @ Life Orb

(72 HP / 252 Atk / 184 Spe)
Adamant Nature - Natural Cure
* Dragon Dance
* Outrage
* Earthquake
* Roost​

Reason: To round out the team, since I have a wealth of Ground weaknesses here, is Mina. I've never run a DD set before but I'm pleased with its results - after one DD, she outspeeds most things in UU, and after two, Outrage and Earthquake can tear things apart. Roost heals away Life Orb damage like it was never even there. Mina's downside is her unfortunate weakness to rock and electric types, something most other dragons don't have to worry about - but her base defense is halfway decent, and with EVs she might survive the hit.



Stick with Smogon EV's. Altaria is pretty weak offensively so those EV's help her. Altaria is relatively bulky even without the EV investment. With 252 Atk EV's you can net more KO's after a DD.




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Comments in bold.

Decent team but the huge Ground-weakness and Rock weakness should be a worry. Personally I'd replace Manetric with Raikou. It's faster much bulkier and the CM set poses a huge threat. Not to mention a Rain Dance team would rape this team which Water-attacks OHKO'ing Ninetales and Nidoqueen and Ice Beam OHKO'ing Altaria.

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[Dark Azelf]

I have always loved this team, your Froslass combo is awesome, perfect to bring in. But after reading the battle log you did, I dunno how many spikes you can get in before your substitute is complete destroyed from the start. Once you get this team together, let me know, I'd love to test the waters with ya. My ghost team should be relativlty done by sping break.

Also...IDK about Ninetails, and you know how much I love her. I really think you should take a look at Magcargo and Torkal, because of their high defensives they can prove great for a type coveage on fire. Just take a look at them.

So why did you bump a thread over a month old ?

If i have to link people to THE RULES again, which state you do not post in threads over month old again, then i am going to actually flood peoples pm inbox with them lol =/



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