HG/SS UU Team

[blazheirio889]

Decided to try my hand at making a UU team. It's gone through testing (admittedly only with one friend) and I'm pretty satisfied with how it works, except for a few small factors. They'll be listed at the end. Of course, criticism and critique is very welcome.


Mesprit @Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 52 HP/204 Atk/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Trick
- Stealth Rock
- U-Turn
- Zen Headbutt

I'm a bit iffy with this as the lead, but I tried a Uxie with a similar set before and my current one seems to work better. Either set up a fast Stealth Rock (before things can Taunt it) and switch out to an appropriate counter, Trick the Choice Scarf onto a Pokemon, U-Turn if I need to switch straight away, and Zen Headbutt if I think I can kill the opposing Pokemon in two or so hits. More often than not I don't Trick the Choice Scarf onto the lead and switch Mesprit out, then switch it back in to cripple something later in the match.
Also, I'm not quite sure what's going on with the EVs. I just snatched it right off of Smogon. Then again, I'm not sure how much those extras EVs in attack would do...
Suggestions for a better lead? If possible, though, I'd like it to be able to Trick a Choice item into the opponent.


Swellow @Toxic Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk/252 Spd/4 SpDef
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- U-Turn
- Facade
- Brave Bird
- Protect

Standard Guts-abusing Swellow. When I can, I switch Swellow in, Protect to activate the Toxic Orb if need be, and proceed to seriously maim things. Toxic Orb over Flame Orb because Swellow finds itself switching out a lot. U-turn is, of course, for switching/damaging purposes. Facade and Brave Bird for STAB and monstrous damage. I chose Protect over Quick Attack because I don't find many things faster than Swellow, and I often find myself needing Protect to let the Toxic Orb kick in. Also, once the Orb has been used, Swellow becomes my status absorber. Rock and Electric handled by Aggron and Quagsire, respectively, while I've had little to no problem with Ice. Usually I outspeed them, but I'm fairly sure Aggron could handle an Ice Beam or two.


Aggron @Life Orb
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Rock Polish
- Head Smash
- Aqua Tail
- Low Kick

Aggron switches in on the Rock moves that Swellow and Moltres (which will be covered later) seem to attract. Or anything it can shrug off easily, which is basically any physical move that isn't super-effective. Rock Polish while the opponent switches, and then kill stuff with Head Smash. The other two attacks are there for coverage, but honestly I don't use them much; basically only when Head Smash hits for not-very-effective damage, since Head Smash would do more damage anyway. Its gigantic weaknesses in Fighting and Ground are covered by Venusaur and Moltres/Swellow, respectively, and Quagsire handles Water.


Moltres @Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP/84 Def/176 Spd
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Roost
- Substitute
- Toxic
- Flamethrower

Ah, Moltres. One of the main reasons why I wanted to build a UU team. Anyway, I chose the stall set over the offensive one because my team often has Leech Seed going, courtesy of my Venusaur, and I've found this set to be immensely useful. Maybe I just like being an annoying ass. Either way, I found myself gravitated to this set, and it has not disappointed me. Flamethrower packs enough firepower for me, and if I can squeeze a Toxic on the opponent (usually not a difficult task), they're more or less doomed in the face of Roost and Substitute. Forms a defensive duo with Quagsire, and can usually scare away the Pokemon it attracts, giving me time for Substitute or Toxic.


Quagsire @Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP/4 Atk/252 SpDef
Careful nature (+SpDef, -SAtk)
- Curse
- Earthquake
- Recover
- Ice Punch

Quagsire gives my team essential immunities to Electric and Water. It also shrugs off Rock moves easily, making it a great partner for Moltres. In return, Moltres takes the grass-type hits that Quagsire despises. Anyway, Curse up on the switch, or if I have a good idea on what's coming out, I strike with the appropriate attack. Recover for longevity. Overall, Ice Punch has proved more useful to me than Waterfall.


Venusaur @Leftovers
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 252 HP/4 Def/252 SpDef
Calm nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Sleep Powder
- Leech Seed
- Sludge Bomb
- Energy Ball

Additional absorber of waters and electrics after Quagsire's gone down. Also resists Fighting, as I find Technitops to be very irritating, and is an additional switch-in to grass. Sleep Powder as I come in, then Leech Seed whatever happens to be out. After that, I may switch to heal my other team members a bit, or outright KO the Leech Seeded and/or sleeping Pokemon with either attack. Energy Ball for STAB, Sludge Bomb for the grass-types that say "no" to Leech Seed. Flying and Psychic covered by Aggron (Mesprit may also switch in on Psychics), Fire by Moltres, Ice by I don't know. Hm.

There is quite a lot of type synergy between my 'mons, as I rarely find myself without an appropriate switch-in. Also, despite the slow and steady nature of my team, I find myself with enough firepower to do a fair amount of sweeping. There are three major problems I have with my team, though: one, my lead. Mesprit is very useful during the beginning of the game, what with SR and Tricking the Scarf, but after that it becomes fairly useless, I find. Also, I don't have enough special attacking, as I often find myself having trouble with Cursers. Finally, I don't have a sure-fire way of checking Ice-types.

Since I haven't really tested this team in the real UU metagame, I have no idea what threats I should really be watching out for and what my team has yet to counter, so thoughts in that department are much appreciated as well.

 

[Togetic]

Huh, UU. I like that tier. Just a quick rate here, not too detailed, since I don't have too much time at the moment.

Decided to try my hand at making a UU team. It's gone through testing (admittedly only with one friend) and I'm pretty satisfied with how it works, except for a few small factors. They'll be listed at the end. Of course, criticism and critique is very welcome.


Mesprit @Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 52 HP/204 Atk/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Trick
- Stealth Rock
- U-Turn
- Zen Headbutt

I'm a bit iffy with this as the lead, but I tried a Uxie with a similar set before and my current one seems to work better. Either set up a fast Stealth Rock (before things can Taunt it) and switch out to an appropriate counter, Trick the Choice Scarf onto a Pokemon, U-Turn if I need to switch straight away, and Zen Headbutt if I think I can kill the opposing Pokemon in two or so hits. More often than not I don't Trick the Choice Scarf onto the lead and switch Mesprit out, then switch it back in to cripple something later in the match.
Also, I'm not quite sure what's going on with the EVs. I just snatched it right off of Smogon. Then again, I'm not sure how much those extras EVs in attack would do...
Suggestions for a better lead? If possible, though, I'd like it to be able to Trick a Choice item into the opponent.

Mesprit is an excellent lead, and from my experiences in UU (Which is next to nothing, mind you) it can either run away from or lay down Stealth Rocks from a lot of common leads. If you want another one, I'd probably suggest Scarf Houndoom, although I can see that has horribad synergy with your team. Or, you could ditch the scarf in favour of lefties and Yawn. Although Uxie is much more suited to that job.


Swellow @Toxic Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk/252 Spd/4 SpDef
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- U-Turn
- Facade
- Brave Bird
- Protect

Standard Guts-abusing Swellow. When I can, I switch Swellow in, Protect to activate the Toxic Orb if need be, and proceed to seriously maim things. Toxic Orb over Flame Orb because Swellow finds itself switching out a lot. U-turn is, of course, for switching/damaging purposes. Facade and Brave Bird for STAB and monstrous damage. I chose Protect over Quick Attack because I don't find many things faster than Swellow, and I often find myself needing Protect to let the Toxic Orb kick in. Also, once the Orb has been used, Swellow becomes my status absorber. Rock and Electric handled by Aggron and Quagsire, respectively, while I've had little to no problem with Ice. Usually I outspeed them, but I'm fairly sure Aggron could handle an Ice Beam or two.

Nothing wrong here, and I'm a fan of Guts Swellow myself.


Aggron @Life Orb
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Rock Polish
- Head Smash
- Aqua Tail
- Low Kick

Aggron switches in on the Rock moves that Swellow and Moltres (which will be covered later) seem to attract. Or anything it can shrug off easily, which is basically any physical move that isn't super-effective. Rock Polish while the opponent switches, and then kill stuff with Head Smash. The other two attacks are there for coverage, but honestly I don't use them much; basically only when Head Smash hits for not-very-effective damage, since Head Smash would do more damage anyway. Its gigantic weaknesses in Fighting and Ground are covered by Venusaur and Moltres/Swellow, respectively, and Quagsire handles Water.

Frankly, Rock Polish seems like a lost cause here. Don't get me wrong, Aggron is an excellent pokemon, but to me, it just seems like a Wallbreaker on this team. You aren't overly scared of anything Rock Polish lets you outspeed, and kill. If it's to serve as a lategame cleaner, Quagsire is much better for it than that, as it's moves don't run the risk of a miss as Head Smash does. Choice Band would be better here imo


Moltres @Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP/84 Def/176 Spd
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Roost
- Substitute
- Toxic
- Flamethrower

Ah, Moltres. One of the main reasons why I wanted to build a UU team. Anyway, I chose the stall set over the offensive one because my team often has Leech Seed going, courtesy of my Venusaur, and I've found this set to be immensely useful. Maybe I just like being an annoying ass. Either way, I found myself gravitated to this set, and it has not disappointed me. Flamethrower packs enough firepower for me, and if I can squeeze a Toxic on the opponent (usually not a difficult task), they're more or less doomed in the face of Roost and Substitute. Forms a defensive duo with Quagsire, and can usually scare away the Pokemon it attracts, giving me time for Substitute or Toxic.

If you plan on running Moltres, a spinner is almost essential. Since you don't have an anti-lead, chances are SR will be up on your side of the field. Losing 50% just to scare something that counters Quagsire and maybe get a Sub up is hardly worth it.


Quagsire @Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP/4 Atk/252 SpDef
Careful nature (+SpDef, -SAtk)
- Curse
- Earthquake
- Recover
- Ice Punch

Quagsire gives my team essential immunities to Electric and Water. It also shrugs off Rock moves easily, making it a great partner for Moltres. In return, Moltres takes the grass-type hits that Quagsire despises. Anyway, Curse up on the switch, or if I have a good idea on what's coming out, I strike with the appropriate attack. Recover for longevity. Overall, Ice Punch has proved more useful to me than Waterfall.

Nuthin' wrong here


Venusaur @Leftovers
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 252 HP/4 Def/252 SpDef
Calm nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Sleep Powder
- Leech Seed
- Sludge Bomb
- Energy Ball

Additional absorber of waters and electrics after Quagsire's gone down. Also resists Fighting, as I find Technitops to be very irritating, and is an additional switch-in to grass. Sleep Powder as I come in, then Leech Seed whatever happens to be out. After that, I may switch to heal my other team members a bit, or outright KO the Leech Seeded and/or sleeping Pokemon with either attack. Energy Ball for STAB, Sludge Bomb for the grass-types that say "no" to Leech Seed. Flying and Psychic covered by Aggron (Mesprit may also switch in on Psychics), Fire by Moltres, Ice by I don't know. Hm.

Well, this guy seems really unnecessary, and I reckon something like a Spinner could go in his place. Hitmontop is a good idea, it shares roughly the same weaknesses, so there won't be any ruin to your synergy, and it could probably support Moltres better anyway. Apart from that though, its a solid pokemon.

There is quite a lot of type synergy between my 'mons, as I rarely find myself without an appropriate switch-in. Also, despite the slow and steady nature of my team, I find myself with enough firepower to do a fair amount of sweeping. There are three major problems I have with my team, though: one, my lead. Mesprit is very useful during the beginning of the game, what with SR and Tricking the Scarf, but after that it becomes fairly useless, I find. Also, I don't have enough special attacking, as I often find myself having trouble with Cursers. Finally, I don't have a sure-fire way of checking Ice-types.

Since I haven't really tested this team in the real UU metagame, I have no idea what threats I should really be watching out for and what my team has yet to counter, so thoughts in that department are much appreciated as well.

I reckon everything that I need to say is covered above in each pokemon, and its a fairly solid team anyway.

 

[blazheirio889]

Frankly, Rock Polish seems like a lost cause here. Don't get me wrong, Aggron is an excellent pokemon, but to me, it just seems like a Wallbreaker on this team. You aren't overly scared of anything Rock Polish lets you outspeed, and kill. If it's to serve as a lategame cleaner, Quagsire is much better for it than that, as it's moves don't run the risk of a miss as Head Smash does. Choice Band would be better here imo

The only problem I really have with Aggron is his lack of speed. According to Smogon, after a Rock Polish, Aggron can pretty much outspeed everything. He doesn't seem to miss out on a lot of essential KOs, either. Basically, Aggron is more of a sweeper than a wallbreaker. But if my team needs a wallbreaker more than a sweeper (little help here?) then I'll try that Choice Band.

If you plan on running Moltres, a spinner is almost essential. Since you don't have an anti-lead, chances are SR will be up on your side of the field. Losing 50% just to scare something that counters Quagsire and maybe get a Sub up is hardly worth it.

Yeah, forgot to mention my SR weaknesses in the end part :/ Roost somewhat remedies the HP loss, but the only three UU spinners I could think of were Blastoise, Hitmontop, and Donphan, all of which somewhat ruin my synergy.

Well, this guy seems really unnecessary, and I reckon something like a Spinner could go in his place. Hitmontop is a good idea, it shares roughly the same weaknesses, so there won't be any ruin to your synergy, and it could probably support Moltres better anyway. Apart from that though, its a solid pokemon.

Venusaur actually works wonders for my team, and I'm not sure how well it'd function without the sleep and Leech Seed support. Also, without him, I'd have nothing to deal with bulky Waters, so I'd really rather not cut Venusaur out. However, I sorely need a spinner. :/ It's just who I should cut out.

My best bet at the moment is probably replacing Quagsire with Blastoise, but then I lose my electric immunity, and given that my team already has two Pokemon weak to electric and I only have one electric resist, I'm not sure how well that'd fly. I could use Donphan instead of Quagsire, but then I gain a massive Water weakness and, once again, with only one Pokemon to check those Water Pokemon. I could use Hitmontop instead of Aggron (both have resistence to Rock, after all), but then I lose my physical sponge.

As an alternative, I'm now leaning towards the idea of a Taunt lead. Not sure if the prevention of entry hazards is worth the support of Tricking, though.