ORAS UU Another Reflection

Pak

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INTRODUCTION / BACKGROUND
Hello, in a shocking turn of events, we are back again to talk about more ORAS UU on smogon.com/forums. In my most recent team, I all but retired my old Mandiqueen type of playstyle I became known for, progressively opting more and more for some different approaches over the last couple years. The style was one of my favorites of course and will always hold a special place in my heart, but it is definitely past its prime in some capacity. The metagame has evolved in ways that were hard to foresee given how stagnant it was for years, and I for one could not be happier about it with all the time I've spent talking about this tier played by 12 people max. Historically, ORAS UU was well-known for its standard balance structures, featuring some combination of bulky Water/Steel/Fairy cores supplemented by some offensive core that makes the most of the framework. However, a new development over time but especially in the most recent UU snake was a general inclination toward offensive pressure above all else. A good example of old was of course my Mandiqueen Rose RMT; something that was unlike pretty much anything before its time when it came to team structure. With the team I intend to share today, it remains in that same general vein of offensive inclination, but the approach has seen iterations upon iterations over the years.

What I'm referring to with all this build up is the approach of Empoleon/Crobat/Seismitoad. Now, based off those Pokemon, it may not sound like all that much of an upbeat style, but these three are truly unparalleled when it comes to checking the right boxes alongside some of the tier's most devastating threats, whom find a natural home alongside them. There really is just so much you can do from this team foundation, and it took me this long to truly find a version I preferred above the others. Building in Pokemon is my favorite aspect of the game, as I've basically said at nauseum by this point, but something that has always bugged me with finding different routes for these established styles is the aspect of give and take, or tradeoffs. You will never ever have a perfect Pokemon team, as your six mons can only realistically cover so much, meaning certain combinations will be better versus x opposition and another may have a worse matchup against x and a better matchup versus y. These x and y placeholders could refer to another team style as a whole or simply a singular Pokemon. Because of this notion of tradeoff, despite making tons and tons of variations of this bat toad emp framework, there was never truly one that stood out above the rest. I did think they were all good for the most part, and that they were especially enticing in bo1s given how flexible it is despite often falling into some of the same building routes. However, this one variation I found may actually stand out above the others and honestly it may be my favorite of some of its counterparts seen below. For more background on the approach, I made an in-depth post about Empoleon here along with some excerpts about it in my other RMT here.
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IN-DEPTH

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Heracross (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Guts
EVs: 40 HP / 252 Atk / 216 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance​

I talked more about the specifics of this set in this post, but yeah he's pretty slick. Fighting-types find natural homes on this type of team, as Crobat easily gets them into favorable positions on Steels with U-turn, and they can help sponge some choice-locked Hydreigon Dark Pulses for Empoleon. The latter isn't super applicable here as it more so applies to Conkeldurr, but the main advantages of Heracross over that very steep competition lie in a few factors. The primary one is its ability to offensively check other Fighting-types like Conkeldurr and even things like Cobalion to some extent. This aspect alleviates a solid amount of defensive pressure off of Crobat, which traditionally runs an incredibly bulky Haze set to deal with the aforementioned mons, giving it more leeway and presenting the team with a solid midground given Crobat's susceptibility to get doubled on with rocks up etc. Additionally, Heracross is highkey much more immediately threatening than a traditional Bulk Up Conkeldurr you'd usually see on this structure, as it is much faster and has access to two super strong STAB moves along with Swords Dance. It doesn't have quite as many favorable one-on-one matchups as its broken competition for this team slot, but I'm a big fan of the bug for these reasons, as well as its ability to just dumpster Mandibuzz Slowking-reliant teams too.

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Hydreigon @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Flash Cannon
- Roost​

The true king of the tier. Life Orb Hydreigon's offensive attributes are essentially unparalleled in the tier, between its insane raw power, longevity, and Speed. Along with broken ass Bulk Up Conkeldurr, this thing has always been the other big reason teams often opt to plop on a defensive Fairy. There are hilariously few Pokemon in the tier that can reliably eat Draco Meteors otherwise, especially if rocks are up to mess with the Mandibuzzes of the world too. Its offensive prowess and defensive utility due to typing and natural bulk make it a fantastic option for this structure. Not that they hurt in any other setting, but winning those 1v1s early on against things like Mega Aerodactyl and Entei to deter their immense pressure on Seismitoad cannot be understated, among other applications I could go on all day about (and might in a post in my thread at some point). Ordinarily I'm a Life Orb hater as an item, but there could not be a better user in my mind, netting it a bunch of key rolls and it doesn't suffer too much from the chip, given its reliable recovery, unlike many other theoretical users. On that same note, considering how air-tight the team is against Krookodile between Hydreigon, Heracross, and Whismicott, I think this could feasibly be a Specs set, but I decided against it mostly because of the inherent lack of flexibility in-game. This mon and Heracross play a cool two-man-game in beating up on Florges, which admittedly is harder to pressure in comparison to Sylveon, which Empoleon could just Roar out for this type of classic Steel coverage Hydra + Fighting core. Hera can easily trade itself to remove or weaken Florges with its immediate offensive presence, and that naturally opens up Life Orb Hydreigon to a crazy extent. This mon is god.

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Whimsicott @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 68 SpA / 192 Spe
Timid Nature
- Moonblast
- Giga Drain
- U-turn
- Stun Spore​

Because I spent a paragraph gassing up Hydreigon, naturally I had to offset it with the next mon being absolute dog shit. I've said it many many times by this point, but the only reason Whimsicott is ever used is its typing and maybe its Speed. The list basically ends there. Now, its typing is great for sure, which is how it somehow found a good fit on perhaps my favorite varation of Bat/Toad/Emp. As I mentioned a bit with both Heracross and Hydreigon, a big aspect of this setup is the crazy flexibility in-game in comparison to a more traditional Conkeldurr version. What Whimsicott does is it presents the team with an another pivot, whether it is for opposing Hydreigon, Mega Swampert, Mega Sceptile, Fightings, Krookodile, etc. In that same vein, it isn't overly relied upon in any of these matchups, which is generally where you run into problems with this piece of shit puff ball. Additionally, it can easily get Heracross and Hydreigon into fantastic offensive positions versus Steels or other good matchups that wall Whimsicott (half the tier). It really just fits the vibe the team was going for, being relentless momentum along with the two roided goons up top and the reliable rocks presented by Seismitoad. Lastly, I really liked the fit of Stun Spore, as it can slow down Crobats and Mega Aerodactyls and stuff, further enabling them, especially since Heracross can boost up and easily OHKO bats with Stone Edge and go crazy from there.

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Crobat @ Sky Plate
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 112 HP / 252 Atk / 144 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- U-turn
- Taunt​

Whew. I've talked time and time again about Haze Crobat more than anything else, mostly due to the fact that it is one of the few true counters to Bulk Up Conkeldurr. However, the way this team is set up, there is enough leeway that the bat can feasibly go in a more offensive direction. Whimsicott, Heracross, and Roost Hydreigon go a long way in taking pressure off of it in dealing with Pokemon like Conkeldurr and Krookodile like it ordinarily would. This set is suuuper slept on in my opinion. It also plays off that same general assumption that Crobat is running a super bulked out Acrobatics set, so a boosted, full-invested Brave Bird can swing the momentum early on in more ways than you'd think. Another cool thing is you can use that assumption to prevent rocks early with Taunt, where as otherwise it would be free rocks fodder. Taunt also lets it actively pressure Florges, which is especially crucial alongside Hydreigon and Heracross. Speaking of, this mon gives another avenue of getting them in good spots to kill shit, as its only real answers are Steel-types if rocks are on the opposing side. The lack of defensive utility compared to its usual Haze counterpart makes things like Cobalion and of course Conkeldurr more threatening than they would be otherwise, but the offensive tradeoff more than makes up for it given the support system around it on the team. The Speed is pretty arbitrary, but bats are going bulkier and bulkier, and I figured this would outpace the vast majority to maximize that 1v1 matchup.

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Empoleon @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 76 Def / 180 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Signal Beam
- Defog
- Toxic / Roar​

Again, I wrote 2000+ words on the role this Pokemon plays in the tier here, btw shameless second plug, so I'm not going to go super in-depth in this rendition. In its essence, the rest of the team couldn't function as it would without Empoleon chilling in the middle. Crobat couldn't hold a candle to the effectiveness of its current set it if it had to run Defog on its own set, where it loses to seemingly every rocker as well as being forced to spam Roost as a result since it can never keep them off for itself. Additionally, Whimsicott is a notoriously bad Hydreigon check on its own, but in combination with Empoleon, the two form one of the more formidable non-Florges + Mandibuzz tandems possible when it comes to dealing with it. It also presents Heracross with a strong answer to things like Fairy- and Flying-types which give it problems in pure one-on-ones. Empoleon is simply the glue that lets bulky offense teams like this work in any capacity, and it is weirdly one of the most awkward Pokemon to deal with around. The set is pretty standard, with the one real exception being its EV spread. Maximum HP investment with 76 Defense EVs guarantee that it lives Entei CB Flare Blitz after Stealth Rock and an unboosted Cobalion Close Combat from full. These aren't the most common interactions, but Seismitoad appreciates all the leeway it can get in dealing with those mons. Roar is less crucial than it used to be when Sylveon was everywhere, whereas Toxic lets it punish opposing Toad and Florges more effectively. However, Roar still has merit in phazing out Snorlax, sleeping Suicune, and Sub STABs Gyarados.

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Seismitoad @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Earth Power
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic​

Man this Pokemon is so fucking good. It's another mon I touched on some in my thread here. Seismitoad has perhaps been the biggest advancement in this framework compared to when I made the initial version in early 2017. For years and years, Swampert was seen as the superior option because of its better stats for the same role and access to Roar and stuff. I don't know how it took us so long to realize that being immune to Scald is just absurdly good in this tier where its the most spammed move in the tier. The ability really tips the scales in Seismitoad's favor in the face of removers like Tentacruel and opposing Empoleon. Swampert threatens these mons of course, but Seismitoad fears basically nothing outside of Toxic, whereas Swampert is essentially ruined by a stray burn. This is easily the best rocker in the tier in my opinion, and that is especially crucial given the offensive nature of the team along with its continual pivoting into its roided goons. Ordinarily, I do tend to drop Earth Power for Knock Off, and that could be cool here considering Heracross can't threaten to remove Florges's Leftovers, but here I don't think its optimal. The main appeal of Earth Power is threatening Cobalion, the aforementioned Waters, and Toxicroak (which would otherwise hilariously wall). Really, having to run Earth Power is a trade off of not using Haze Crobat, which would essentially neuter the Fightings, then Empoleon and Tentacruel are OHKOd by Knock Off anyway. The god toad. Big fan.

THREAT LIST
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Mega Aerodactyl
- The other king of the tier alongside Hydreigon. Simply put, this team just isn't super well-equipped to deal with it outside of Seismitoad, rocks chip, a healthy Hydreigon, and Stun Spore Whimsicott. It could definitely be a worse matchup, but long-term it's definitely a mon you would rather not see, since it can easily come in to revenge Heracross or Crobat or whatever else and start teeing off on Seismitoad, which takes more than it would prefer from Aerial Ace. There's some pivoting to be done around it, but yeah.

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Bulk Up Conkeldurr - ...yeah. It's well-established how much I despise this thing because of how limited its consistent counterplay is, and that applies to this team since it incorporates none of those. I honestly think it's hilarious that a team with an offensive Crobat, a bulky Fairy in Whimsicott, and a strong offensive check in Heracross can somehow still be semi susceptible to this mon long-term, but it is the case. Simply put, you'll never be airtight against Conk with this type of approach without Haze on Crobat, and as I've established, I don't think that tradeoff is worth it when it comes to the overall functionality of the team's offensive core. Fuck this mon.

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Gyarados - The right Dragon Dance Gyarados set will give essentially any team issues. The fact that I would usually forego Roar on Empoleon for this version makes it a bit more noticeable than it would be otherwise. However, in any case the main threat is Earthquake variants, just a very immediately threatening mon. There are some alright options in dealing with it, like a healthy Hydreigon, Infiltrator offensive bat for sub sets, Stun Spore Whimsicott, and Stone Edge Heracross to minimize its opportunities but yeah he's pretty spooky.


CONCLUSION
This is essentially an archive for what could be considered one of the driving team frameworks in pushing ORAS UU to what it is today. Again, Conkeldurr + Roar Empoleon was one of the main reasons defensive Sylveon ended up dropping off the face of the earth, and that approach is honestly far past its prime. I consider this basically the modern adaptation of those team types, generally matching up better versus Florges balance and opposing Toad/Emp/Bat stuff. This is such a flexible and consistent approach that honestly its hard to stray from, considering just how constricted the tier is. There are so many different boxes to check along the way, and this three mon combination does such a great job of doing just that while supplementing strong offensive cores with all the support they could ever want. Thanks for reading sirs, I still don't know whether people actually read this flooping essays I write on this tier, but eh it's something I enjoy and if it helps even one person out in getting into the metagame then it's all worth it to me. By the way I've never actually used this version in a tournament, as I used a Scarf Switcheroo Whims version in my uu snake semis game that did not work out as intended. This version is definitely way more consistent although I did like the concept, but yeah that's why there aren't replays.

IMPORT
Crobat @ Sky Plate
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 112 HP / 252 Atk / 144 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- U-turn
- Taunt

Whimsicott @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 68 SpA / 192 Spe
Timid Nature
- Moonblast
- Giga Drain
- U-turn
- Stun Spore

Seismitoad @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Earth Power
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic

Hydreigon @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Flash Cannon
- Roost

Empoleon @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 76 Def / 180 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Signal Beam
- Defog
- Toxic

Heracross (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Guts
EVs: 40 HP / 252 Atk / 216 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance
 

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