SS UU Beowulf's Crusade (Balance)

[Xcross15]

Hello forums, it has been a while since I have posted anything on the forums since I have gotten back into Showdown since the dynamax ban and found UU to my liking. (At least until the dlc mons shuffle things around, I will see where I end up then.)

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Beowulf (Sirfetch'd) (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Brave Bird
- First Impression
Tsareena (F) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Queenly Majesty
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Trop Kick
- High Jump Kick
- U-turn
- Rapid Spin
Galvantula @ Focus Sash
Ability: Compound Eyes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunder
- Bug Buzz
- Volt Switch
- Sticky Web
Gardevoir (F) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Shadow Ball
- Trick
Doublade @ Eviolite
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Shadow Sneak
- Iron Head
- Close Combat
- Autotomize
Arcanine (M) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Roar
- Morning Sun
- Will-O-Wisp

I am going to preface my team breakdown with the statement that Sirfetch'd is my favorite new pokemon this gen, and as soon as it ended up placed in a tier I came running.

Beowulf (Sirfetch'd) (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Brave Bird
- First Impression
First of all, rip Obstagoon and Crawdaunt. From full health and with webs support this champion kinda just ran over two of the (former) biggest threats in the tier. It just cleans everything up, I barely ever click anything besides CC or occasionally first impression (looking at the Barraskewdas that are easily dealt with after minor amounts of chip damage). It is also one of my answers to Polteageist which it feels like I see every other game almost, FI blows it away after it shell smashes. It runs over all the steels and ice types in the tier. Provided I set it up and chip away checks, Sirfetch'd is normally my mon for cleaning up late game. If not that it is slapping defensive mons hard, as a breaker does. I do not really have much to say about this thing other then it was the pokemon I started with for this team.

Tsareena (F) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Queenly Majesty
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Trop Kick
- High Jump Kick
- U-turn
- Rapid Spin
Tsareena was my first choice for spinner and one of my spedef walls, notably for psychics and fairies that threatened Sirfetch'd. U-turn gives me momentum as a spin blocker comes in and I use Trop Kick to lower physical counters or checks to this mon as they come in before hard switching to Arcanine to reduce their hitting power further.

Galvantula @ Focus Sash
Ability: Compound Eyes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunder
- Bug Buzz
- Volt Switch
- Sticky Web
It is the generic sticky web lead set if memory serves correctly, but I find I end up getting webs up more readily during the mid game, other then that it serves as an emergency check to set up sweepers if it has it's sash, and just hits things otherwise, great hippo lure on the side where I can end up crippling it with Tsareena or Arcanine or just plain ol chunking it with Sirfetch'd.

Gardevoir (F) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Shadow Ball
- Trick
Scarf Garde with surprise trick. Great at dealing with the dragons, dark types and poison types in the tier. Shadow Ball is psychic type coverage and for hitting the occasional chandelure. Trick is trick, but from a mon that doesn't usually utilize this move, scarfing defensive mons and support mons can be helpful. Other then that, it normally cleans the games my Sirfetch'd cannot. (Also it outspeeds +1 polteageist after its speed is lowered by webs)

Doublade @ Eviolite
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Shadow Sneak
- Iron Head
- Close Combat
- Autotomize
This one here is one that I am not too sure what to do with. It eats physical hits all day and threatens priority (or surprising the late Obstagoon with CC on the switch). Autotomize is my fourth move because I couldn't for the life of me figure anything that would fit there better. Any advice at all for another good physdef mon would be great, this is the only mon that I am not too sure about its place in this team.

Arcanine (M) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Roar
- Morning Sun
- Will-O-Wisp
According to about 75% of my games, this is the mon that gives my opponents the biggest headaches. Wisp everything, roar setup sweepers, G Weezing is free heals. Intimidate bolsters it on the physical side, often to the point that I will leave it in against SE matchups that miss the ohko, as getting back to full is easy with G Weezing being ever ubiquitous. I switch it into milotic to deny it recovery via a burn, the fun match up is against coalassal who just gets its attack lowered and then roared out as it comes in to spin. This mon just creates more opportunities for webs and then for Sirfetch'd to come in. How often I am clicking roar really makes me wish this team had rocks.

 

[Estarossa]

Hi Xcross15, this is an interesting team, and I'm glad you are enjoying this new gen, and hope you keep playing! There are however some issues with this team that could definitely be improved. (I also would certainly not consider this Balance, you have only one mon with recovery on the whole team).

The biggest issues for me would be the lack of Noivern, Chandelure, and Galarian Weezing counterplay, which are two of the most common Pokemon in the tier at the moment.

Although you do have Gardevoir to force Weezing out, currently it is a big problem for Tsareena and Sirfetch'd, can Defog away your Sticky Webs, and your Doublade can't even trade with it because of no Swords Dance. Gardevoir also really struggles to come in on it, as sludge bomb even from defensive sets will hit you for 60%+ damage and potentially poison you, the same problem exists for arcanine, which can get poisoned by Toxic, Toxic Spikes or Sludge Bomb, which can really impact its ability to do its job during the match.

Heavy duty boots and Scarf sets can both be problematic for your team (and other sets too outside of webs), outspeeding most of it and you having 0 ghost resists on the team means it's going to do serious damage every single time it comes in. To illustrate this problem further, Chandelure is currently coming in freely on Arcanine, Tsareena (due to trop kick and 0 attack making this much more free), and Sirfetch'd that has used first impression, in addition to when it gets brought in via slow U-turns, doubles, or free switches after a mon faints. While you have offensive counterplay to this via Gardevoir and Doublade, Chandelure is not being punished at all for coming in as you don't have Stealth Rock to punish non Boots sets, and it is getting far too many opportunities for this level of counterplay when you have nothing that can even pivot into it.

Noivern walls Tsareena and Arcanine, and revenges Sirfetch'd and Defogs away your Sticky Webs, but the biggest problem is that only Gardevoir can actually 1v1 it. Noivern is probably one of the biggest Pokemon more offensive teams like this need to have good counterplay for right now, due to it's speed, typing, hazard immunity thanks to flying type + webs, and coverage between hurricane/flamethrower/draco meteor.


In general however, Sticky Webs are kind of suboptimal in UU atm, due to the prevalence of heavy duty boots usage, especially on Pokemon like Ninetales/Chandelure that are naturally fast, and noivern usage. On a team like this also, you provide a lot of removal opportunities, be it through Sirfetch'd being Choice locked, or Arcanine/Tsareena letting Noivern in.

More secondary issues exist for your team too, such as how much of a problem Chandelure can be to it, and how limited your counterplay to bulky waters like Milotic / Mantine can be, and the lack of switch ins to offensive waters like Barraskewda / Inteleon, that with their natural speed will still end up outspeeding certain members of your team even with webs up, with barraskewda even outspeeding your Sirfetch'd with webs up.


Suggested Changes

Minor Changes:

new set

Tsareena (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Queenly Majesty
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Power Whip
- Aromatherapy / Synthesis
- U-turn
- Rapid Spin

Assault Vest wasn't really helping you too much here, as tsareena isn't particularly bulky anyway. Heavy Duty Boots allow you to spin more reliably without constantly taking hazard damage, which is especially useful in matchups against Doublade where you are forced to U-turn into your Sirfetch'd a lot, to preventy ou getting heavily chipped.

I suggested changing High Jump Kick on the moves here, as Sirfetch'd is already going to be breaking most of the stuff that HJK targets. Aromatherapy instead lets you clear burns off Tsareena/Sirfetch'd/Doublade, which is especially useful if tsareena tries to take a Scald or Doublade tries to take a willo from Weezing to remove it, while Synthesis is an alternative option that allows you to have a bit more longevity on tsareena.

Power Whip > Trop Kick is generally worth using because you want as much damage output as possible, allowing you to threaten Pokemon like Milotic more. Maximum Attack investment is also 100% worth using, to ensure you can do as much damage as posisble with Power Whip.

new set

Doublade @ Eviolite
Ability: No Guard
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 156 HP / 252 Atk / 100 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shadow Sneak
- Iron Head
- Close Combat
- Swords Dance

Only two small changes here, which was to give Doublade Swords Dance instead of Automotize. This lets you boost up and threaten bulkier cores featuring Pokemon like G-Weezing and Rhyperior, and with its priority Shadow Sneak serve as a nice late game win condition also.

100 Speed EVs is a more optional change, that allows you to outspeed Hippowdon (and Rhyperior), allowing you to remove them when they are in range of attacks without taking an EQ first, and allowing you to put more pressure on Hippowdon should it decide to try and use Slack Off against you before it Whirlwinds you by threatening a Flinch.

new set

Gardevoir @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Trace
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Trick
- Healing Wish

One very small change here, Trace > Synchronise is typically optimal, as it has niche benefits such as allowing you to copy Chlorophyl when facing sun teams so you can outspeed Shiftry/Leafeon, or Flash Fire from a Choice locked Chandelure allowing you to force it out.

Another suggestion however is to add Healing Wish over Shadow Ball in the last moveslot. As i will be improving your chandelure matchup later, this is a really nice suggestion that can help bring Tsareena/Sirfetch'd back to full later.

Major Changes:

So first thing I needed to do was really fix that offensive Water and Noivern weakness you kind of had. Currently I felt like Arcanine was kind of just feeding Noivern and Chandelure a lot on this team, which is obviously a big problem. With its slow spread, it also wasn't offering too much help versus diggersby or mamoswine anyway, although a faster spread could help fix this.

->

new set

Milotic @ Leftovers
Ability: Marvel Scale
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 220 Def / 36 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Haze
- Ice Beam
- Recover

Milotic in this slot offers you some valuable things you didn't have before. Firstly, it offers a premier check to Inteleon, Barraskewda, and Noivern (thanks to Ice Beam) that you were lacking. Thanks to its great special bulk, it can also help to pressure Chandelure a lot, even if it has to watch out for being Tricked. It also offers assistance for you against other threats such as Golisopod and Mamoswine that could be serious problems for you before, with Marvel Scale helping you against physical mons like Mamoswine/Weavile if you end up getting burned somehow, eg. scalding an umbreon.

On top of this, thanks to Haze, Milotic offers you a way to deal with set up sweeping threats like Doublade and Acid Armour Reuniclus, the former of which I just removed your only decent answer to. Obviously you should be careful about using aromatherapy on tsareena in matchups where Milotic gets burned and it appreciates this for dealing with mons like mamo/weavile, but if Milotic gets Toxic'd against teams featuring Pokemon such as Reuniclus, these are the times where clearing Milotic of status is absolutely worth it.

At this point, there isn't too many issues remaining with the team for me. I do still feel Galvantula is a bit of a weak link though, between the suggested aromatherapy change on tsareena + trick on gardevoir, bulky waters like milotic aren't the hugest threats in the world, especially when it doesn't take hits from Sirfetch'd too well anyway. As i said in the preamble, I also feel sticky webs in general aren't really worth using right now, especially on bulky offense teams like this.

In terms of fixing up some minor issues, I feel that Ninetales and Chandelure can both be threats to this team still. Ninetales in particular is able to break through Milotic with Nasty Plot + Solar Beam, and forces out your Doublade/Tsareena/Sirfetch'd so gets lots of opportunities, while Chandelure can be a big problem still if Milotic gets heavily pressured or Tricked. The final mon suggestion helps to deal with these issues nicely imo, while giving you Stealth Rock, which you lacked before.

->

new set

Gigalith @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Rock Blast
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Protect

Normally on these sorts of BOs Rhyperior is a very popular choice in this slot as a Stealth Rock user that heavily pressure one of the more popular foggers in Noivern. Gigalith in this slot however has the nice added benefit for this slot of pressuring Ninetales more much by removing Sun, while being a much better special wall against mons like Chandelure due to Sandstream.

Rock Blast in this slot allows you to braek through Focus Sashes, and Substitute users like Salazzle/Chandelure better. Protect is a nice option for the 4th moveslot as it lets you gain some extra leftovers recovery, and potentially scout choice locks from Pokemon such as Passimian / Sirfetch'd. Maximum special defence investment gives you a nicer matchup versus special attackers like Chandelure/Salazzle/Ninetales, but an alternative EV spread with 56 Attack EVs and an Adamant Nature is an option to improve your offensive presence, which guarantees you OHKO Chandelure with 3 hits of Rock Blast.

Overall Team



I hope you enjoy these suggested changes, if you have any questions feel free to ask me.

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importable

Beowulf (Sirfetch'd) (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Brave Bird
- First Impression

Tsareena (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Queenly Majesty
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Power Whip
- Aromatherapy
- U-turn
- Rapid Spin

Gardevoir @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Trace
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Trick
- Healing Wish

Doublade @ Eviolite
Ability: No Guard
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 156 HP / 252 Atk / 100 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shadow Sneak
- Iron Head
- Close Combat
- Swords Dance

Milotic @ Leftovers
Ability: Marvel Scale
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 220 Def / 36 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Haze
- Ice Beam
- Recover

Gigalith @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Rock Blast
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Protect

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