Still, I've been playing UU for the past few days and have gotten to about 1700 before I started to test my NU team in UU (not a good idea) and went on immediate tilt. Before I introduce and explain the team though, let's go through some terminologies, so that if I plan to post more teams, it's easier to predict what the teams will be like just through the post title.
1. Balanced
A balanced team is a team with an equal and standard team distribution. Out of the 6 Pokemon, you will have 2 physical attackers, 2 special attackers, 1 defensive Pokemon and 1 specially defensive Pokemon. Since I won't post teams that never get pass the 1600s, the team will also have a Defogger/Rapid Spinner, a Heal Beller and more often than not, a Wish passer. Also, at least one Pokemon will have a momentum-setting move, e.g. Volt Switch, U-Turn.
2. Hyper Offense
A hyper offense team specialises in all out attacking and switching is uncommon. Hyper offense teams are generally very weak against teams carrying extremely defensive Pokemon that run recovery moves. Therefore, I will not be using hyper offense much in UU, due to the many defensive healers in the tier e.g. Suicune, Umbreon, Vaporeon, just to name some. The team is usually labelled 1 to 6, with each Pokemon checking the counters for the Pokemon before. For example, if Nidoking goes down, assuming it is to a super-effective hit, the next Pokemon that follows will be one that resists the STAB of the opponent and counters it effectively. These teams are meant for a fast and risky play style. I've never gotten past 1650 with one though.
3. Walling and Stalling
Play a walling and stalling team if you have too much time on your hands and just want to troll the shit out of your opponent. More often than not, your opponent will forfeit out of pure frustration. The main check to these kind of teams is set-up Pokemon, but you can check that easily with phasing moves, e.g. Whirlwind, Roar. The team is made up of extremely defensive Pokemon that all carry status moves and will slowly chip away at the health of the opponent. However, for higher ranks, I recommend carrying at least one mixed attacker, just to handle certain Pokemon that your bulky Pokemon cannot handle.
4. Gimmicky
Gimmicky teams are not meant for laddering. They are purely fun and experimental teams. Most of these teams will have a Pokemon with a field-changing move e.g. Rain Dance, Trick Room, Sticky Web. They are great teams for catching the opponent off-guard but at higher parts of the ladder, the more professional players will be able to deal with you. Still, I think in UU at least, Rain Dance is a great idea with Mega Swampert while Sticky Web and Trick Room are very effective in RU due to the existence of extremely slow but powerful Pokemon.
UU Balanced Team #1
1. Galvantula
Type: Bug/Electric
Item: Choice Specs
Ability: Compound Eyes
Moves: Volt Switch, Thunder, Bug Buzz, Giga Drain
Nature: Timid
EV Spread: 252 SpA, 252 SpD, 252 Spd
Roles:
- Lead against teams with no Ground resistant or non-offensive Ground leads
- Bluffs Sticky Web
- Momentum with Volt Switch
- Water type check, also able to deal with incoming Ground types
Overview
Galvantula is a great Pokemon to lead with, in my opinion, because most people expect every lead Galvantula to set up Sticky Web. If the lead of the opponent isn't a Ground type, it is easy to get off a powerful Volt Switch first turn and potentially cripple the opponent's lead. This gives rise to many other opportunities:
- If the opponent has an offensive Pokemon on the field, switch immediately to the wall that specialises in dealing with that Pokemon i.e. defensive walls for physical attackers, special walls for special attackers
- If the enemy Pokemon is a hazard setter, switch immediately to a Defogger/Rapid Spinner. Watch out for Defiant for the former, although Defiant is not commonly seen in UU.
Galvantula is also a very powerful special attacker and is very good at dealing with those bulky Water types in the tier e.g. Suicune, Vaporeon, Jellicent, Milotic. Also, if the opponent carries a Ground type, it is not difficult to just switch up to Giga Drain since it is super effective against those Water types anyway. In other words, this spider is amazing at keeping up offensive pressure on the opponent to try to predict around you.
However, one great weakness of this set is the Choice Specs, which is also what gives this Pokemon its power. I don't think Galvantula will be as good without its item, but there is the pressure on the user to predict properly. While Giga Drain is still super effective, if the opponent does not switch out, for example, his Jellicent, Giga Drain won't even do above half. Choice Specs locks you in and you have no choice but to switch out and switch back in, giving your opponent a chance to Recover and Scald something.
2. Crobat
Type: Poison/Flying
Item: Black Sludge/Sky Plate
Ability: Infiltrator
Moves: U-Turn, Brave Bird, Defog, Roost
Nature: Adamant
EV Spread: 248 HP, 252 Atk, 8 SpD
Roles:
- Potential lead
- Defogger
- Momentum with U-Turn
- Deals with Chesnaught (a big threat in UU)
- Deals with anything behind a Substitute because of Infiltrator
- Ability to remove Flying type weakness with Roost (against bulky Water types with Ice Beam)
Overview
While I give lead priority to Galvantula, Crobat is a great lead against teams with offensive Ground types. Its strength, however, lies in its ability to fire off a power attack with Brave Bird and heal the recoil back up with Black Sludge and/or Roost. It is also a check to a huge threat to another team member, Umbreon, as it is 4x resistant to Fighting type attacks. It can come in very easily against a bulky Pokemon and Defog away any hazards. Also, since this team does not run hazards at all, there is no need to worry about Defogging my own hazards away.
For greater offense, run Sky Plate over Black Sludge, but in my case, I prefer Black Sludge. While Sky Plate is great for bluffing a Choice Band, as it boosts Brave Bird by about the same amount, Black Sludge is essential because Crobat takes 1/4 damage from Stealth Rock. I need my Crobat to be still functional after a few switch ins. My team relies a lot on early game momentum and keeping the pressure on the opponent and even if having a more powerful attack may seem better, Crobat's U-Turn allows it to switch out against potentially bad match ups. If you were wondering about the weird EV Spread, it is to get an odd HP number to maximise Stealth Rock switch in.
3. Mega Pidgeot
Type: Normal, Flying
Item: Pidgeotite
Ability: No Guard
Moves: Hurricane, Heat Wave, U-Turn, Roost
Nature: Hasty
EV Spread: 4 Atk, 252 SpA, 252 Spd
Roles:
- Powerful late game sweeper, with no need for set-up
- Ability to heal off damage
- Deals with Chesnaught very effectively (no damage taken against Spiky Shield)
- Lack of resistance to Flying type in UU
Overview
If I'm not wrong, RU is running a suspect test for Mega Pidgeot right now, but do I care? No. Mega Pidgeot has proved itself worthy to be used in both UU and OU, as a very fast and powerful special attacker, running Hurricane that is both devastating and can confuse. Regular Pidgeot is also unexpectedly fast, allowing Pidgeot to mega evolve against some powerful offensive Pokemon. This is important because the ability to mega evolve safely is what kicked Mega Glalie to the lower tiers. It is powerful, but it's too slow to mega evolve and not get killed immediately.
Mega Pidgeot, like most Megas, should not be used early game and with its speed and special attack stat, this makes Mega Pidgeot a beast. It is wonderful at cleaning up teams and while Galvantula and the physically attackers chip away from the opponents bit by bit, Mega Pidgeot can clean up with Hurricanes...that can never miss. Also, watch the frustration unfold as you confuse your opponent with a Hurricane and get confusion first turn. It's horrible. Mostly because most things get 2HKO by Hurricane.
4. Darmanitan
Type: Fire
Item: Choice Scarf
Ability: Sheer Force
Moves: Flare Blitz, U-Turn, Rock Slide, Superpower
Nature: Jolly
EV Spread: 252 Atk, 4 SpD, 252 Spd
Roles:
- Powerful physical attacker
- Revenge killer
- Momentum with U-Turn against obvious switches
Overivew
Choice Scarf Darmanitan is a standard Pokemon in UU and doesn't need much explanation. Flare Blitz fired off by this Pokemon is so destructive that most of the time, if you switch in a Darmanitan, expect the opponent to switch out. Since the switch is so obvious, in the lower ladders, just U-Turn out to get a favourable match up. Remember, this team is all about momentum and pressurising the opponent with having to switch a lot.
There's really not much to explain for Darmanitan, but you can also try to run the Choice Band set. However, since my other physical attacker, Crobat, is not running Speed, I think that Choice Scarf is needed. You can also run Sheer Force + Life Orb, but if that's your style, I recommend a Nidoking (in my other team).
5. Suicune
Type: Water
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
Moves: Scald, Calm Mind, Rest, Sleep Talk
Nature: Bold
EV Spread: 252 HP, 252 Def, 4 SpA
Roles:
- Physical wall that is also able to set up
- Can become very dangerous if allowed to set up
- Ability to heal off status and damage with Sleep Talk
- 50% chance of favourable move selection with Sleep Talk
Overview
This set for Suicune is a pain for many people. Suicune itself is a very physically defensive Pokemon and without a special attacker with an Electric/Grass move, it can be disastrous to go up against a Suicune. Here also lies the reason for my many checks to Chesnaught - Chesnaught is one of the only viable bulky checks against a set up Suicune. You can run Galvantula, etc, but after setting up, those things cannot handle Suicune because Suicune can take a hit and kill with Scald. The exception is Chesnaught, which is checked by 3 other Pokemon on the team.
Once the checks to Suicune are gone, simply switch into it on a physical attacker and start setting up. At lower parts of the ladder, the opponents are usually quite stupid and will try to damage Suicune a few more times before deciding to switch out to their special attackers. Too late, the beast is ready to go. Also, one great check to Suicune, which is not normally ran in UU, believe it or not, is Toxicroak. Of course, I do have Crobat and Mega Pidgeot for that too.
6. Umbreon
Type: Dark
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Synchronise
Moves: Wish, Toxic, Foul Play, Heal Bell
Nature: Careful
EV Spread: 252 HP, 4 Atk, 252 SpD
Roles:
- Special wall that prevents physical attackers from setting up
- Ability to pass status effects to opponent through Synchronise and then heal it off with Heal Bell
- Wish support for the rest of the team
Overview
Umbreon is extremely annoying to deal with and although some may argue that Blissey is more effective as a special wall, I would like to argue back that Blissey can't do anything against set up. The only reason you should run Blissey is if you have a very powerful Mega that you want to heal with Healing Wish. Other than that, Blissey can be a huge burden on your team if it allows setting up.
Umbreon on the other hand is brilliant at its job. While Blissey can heal off its status with Natural Cure, you need to switch out. Umbreon on the other hand can take a Toxic, Synchronise the Toxic onto the opponent and then heal it off. While its Wishes are not as powerful, it is still effective at it. Foul Play is amazing at dealing with Pokemon that thinks they can set up against Umbreon while Toxic chips away at their health. However, if you have your Umbreon up against a physical attacker, don't stay in, unless there's no other better alternative. Umbreon's healing takes 2 turns and while you can run Protect, it decreases Umbreon's usefulness to the team while increasing its own survival. Once again, this team revolves around momentum and teamplay is important.
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