UU Platinum: The UU Menaces

[ABYAY]

Okay, after my mass success at a D/P UU team, I decided to spend a night working on a new team that is unbeaten in UU thus far (someone used an OU team with Skymin and beat me >_>;...especially with hax.

Beachy, I do apologize, but I'm stealing your format, at least somewhat. (Why do people always apologize? I'm fine with it. XD; No worries) - BeachBoy

KO (Scyther) (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk/6 Def/252 Spd
Jolly nature

Aerial Ace - CB Scyther's main form of attack, this move rips apart things that don't outright resist it or have a lot of defense.

Brick Break - Brick Break smacks around Probopass, Aggron, and Bastiodon for a near KO (if not a KO), and is my only option vs. Steelix: Pairs well with Aerial Ace for coverage.

U-turn - Still a very powerful move with STAB and CB, this is also my means of scouting their counter to Scyther. It's my parting gift to say.

Pursuit - Technician must glitch up Pursuit because it's a consistent 80 base power dark move, whether they switch or not (as opposed to 60). Anyway, this is my response to frail ghosts on the brink of death.

Use on the team: Scyther's been a favorite UU Pokemon of mine for a long time, and it remains a consistent threat to a ton of UU teams. He's back for another round, and he's out to KO some things!

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Invertigo (Hitmontop) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP/4 Spd/252 SDef
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)

Bulk Up - Bulk Up is to boost Hitmontop's defense and attack. After one Bulk Up, I can OHKO Absol with Technician Mach Punch, but I may opt for Intimidate to allow an easier Bulk Up.

Mach Punch - SD Cacturne, who just literally swept me, here's my response. Since Cacturne occasionally doesn't invest in speed, I can take advantage with this.

Revenge - Technician boosts Revenge's power to 90 before STAB, making it a not-bad option. If I get hit, then the power skyrockets to 180 with STAB. Close Combat without defense drops!

Stone Edge - This is my backup attack to hit fliers with, as well as Rotom for average damage.

Use on the team: Hitmontop serves as a Dark-type suppressor to some extent, and then, it proceeds to pump iron. Mach Punch gives me good damage with Technician, as well as priority. If I add paralysis support, then Absol will have trouble with this.

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Totembird (Xatu) (F) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 62 HP/196 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature

Psychic - Need I say anything?

Shadow Ball - Pairs well with HP Fighting, Shadow Ball is my response to a weakened Claydol or ghosts not named Banette (who would just Sucker Punch me)

Wish - I didn't see another better option: Wish offers team support for nothing on my team can instantly heal itself.

Hidden Power [Fighting] - Pairs with Shadow Ball and it allows me to finish off weakened Steels.

Use on the team: Xatu looks cool, and on the battlefield, is an awesome addition. It can come in on Close Combats from the likes of Hitmonlee and instantly threaten it. The speed allows me to outpace Adamant C.Scarf Hitmonlee (I hit 411, while Hitmonlee only reaches 409.)

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O_O_O_O_O_O_O_O (Claydol) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/144 Def/114 Spd
Bold nature

Stealth Rock - Since nothing else on my team uses SR, Claydol is a good choice.

Rapid Spin - With two SR weaks, Rapid Spin is almost a necessity.

Earth Power - Yeah, this.

Psychic - Dual-STAB, Psychic is another instant-response to fighters. I might go with Shadow Ball though.


Use on the team: - You don't get a better fighting resist than this in UU. Claydol resists the ever-common Fighting/Rock combination, and is one of the only few that do. This is my first response to fighters. It also spins away all of the rocks and such, and sets up its own.

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Jolly Green Giant (Meganium) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 216 HP/148 Def/146 SAtk
Bold nature

Energy Ball - Simple enough

Aromatherapy - Pretty much standard here: Aromatherapy cleans my team of status.

Hidden Power [Ice] - I said I'd do it. HP Ice gives me some power against the likes of Cacturne *stares* and Altaria.

Light Screen - Light Screen is a useful move for the team. It soothes the hits from the likes of Gorebyss and Omastar, while I KO them back or Leech Seed the incoming Pokemon, depending on how I see it fit. The Surf then Ice Beam combination isn't too fatal and gives me time to set up.

Use on the team: Renown as being the "setup fodder of UU" by D_A, Meganium actually fills a useful niche on this team. It clears the team of its status, poses as a response to Kabutops (somewhat) and water-types, as well as some ground-types. However, I have to be careful of how I play Meganium.

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: ) (Quagsire) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP/98 Atk/160 Def
Impish nature

Earthquake - Standard fare here: STAB move

Ice Punch - I find Ice Beam useless, so Ice Punch is the way to go. I have coverage of UU grounds anyway, so I can afford to use this to smack Altaria and such.

Yawn - I can't decide between this and Toxic. Yawn gives sleep support, but Toxic is useful to wear down bulky Pokemon that Quaggy can't hurt. At least it gives me a use against Venusaur coming in nearly every time.

Protect - Protect is essential here: It allows Yawn to put the foe to sleep, lets me recover a little with Leftovers, stall a turn of weather, and scouts the next move to see any awkward movesets.

Use on the team: Quagsire on this team is a first for me. I thought since G/S/C, it was just a bad Pokemon with bad stats and no use, but it's actually the best underused bulky water/ground. (I had always loved Whiscash). He has proper stats in correct places to become an essential wall.

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I'm still new with Platinum's metagame, and I do see some weaknesses: Ninetales, Froslass, Scyther, even Armaldo gave me some trouble. Anyway, I do need some help. I want to hopefully keep my field clear of status, so I'll need some sort of Cleric. Having a Rest-talker just isn't cutting it for me.

Special note to Dark_Azelf: Thanks for adding pictures.

 

[.]

https://www.pokecommunity.com/showthread.php?t=146963

Gay >.>

No safe into MixTops, at all. It 2HKO's everything on your team with the rain up, and outspeeds all of them quite easily. Meganium is your best bet, and that's 2HKO'd by X-Scissor. It can be stopped, but still, it'll rip a lot of your team apart in the process.

ScarfPrimeape poses a rather uncomfortable threat; outspeeding Xatu and dealing 66.43%-78.32% with Ice Punch or 88.11%-104.20%
with Stone Edge.

Claydol is a decent means of defense, but with the influx or Pursuit users I've been seeing, you better be careful.

I also noticed; Absol weak. SD Absol to be specific. Swords Dance / Superpower / Sucker Punch / Psycho Cut or X-Scissor really poses a problem. After a single Swords Dance, it easily OHKO's Claydol with Sucker Punch, and Xatu has no hope whatsoever. Scyther is doomed against Sucker Punch as well. Meganium takes a hefty 98.59%-116.06% by +2 LO X-Scissor. Quagsire isn't going to like taking 56.60%-66.75% from Psycho Cut, and this all forgetting about Psycho Cut's immense critical hit ratio, which'll OHKO easily.

Probopass is absolutely murdered by Superpower, even Max/Max versions take 255.56%-301.23% from Superpower.

Ninetails weak as well, gee, a Sub/NP/Flamethrower/Energy Ball versions actually REALLY hurts this team, since Sub prevents Scyther from revenge killing it.

 

[ABYAY]

Yeah, I needed to know my weaks; do you have any suggestions on how to help ease the pain from each?

 

[AluminumKnight]

I would suggest dropping Probopass. Steelix really isn't that hard to get rid of; special attacks really put the hurt on him. In fact, I should think that Claydol could take care of him with Earth Power.

Now, what to replace him with...

I should think Drapion would do well as your physical wall and Absol counter. I haven't run calcs, but Drapion can even use X-scissor if necessary, and that should be more than enough to deal with Absol. Not sure how well he stands up to Primeape, but he might be useful against Ninetales, being bulky and able to throw Earthquakes around.

If you're looking for something against mixTops (which, TBH, I haven't seen much of, most are pure physical), I should Blastoise is your best choice.

 

[ABYAY]

Vance was telling me about Drapion too, seeing that it literally tears a hole through me. It'll also help take blows from the off-attacks of Primeape (Ice Punch, Punishment) that would rip Claydol. What I COULD do is use a CB Drapion that's defensive to obtain power while still dishing out blows. However, with an unreliable Wisher, it might not last too long.

When I was first constructing the team, I actually considered Drapion in there, but it wasn't over Probopass. I guess I'll get a use out of it after all.

 

[.]

Be careful, as even Max/Max Drapion is 2HKO'd by SD LO Superpower.

 

[ABYAY]

.......FFFFFFFFF Move that thing out of UU now. You can't stop it with anything unless you face some idiot that Sucker Punches 8 times in a row while you use Toxic 8 times. If I ever see anyone do that, not only will I murder them in the match, but...yeah.

The team still has revisions to be done, but seriously...wow, my team-creating skills have definitely hit the dumps as of late.

Edit: Hopeful change to help suppress damage from dark-types.