Last month, I decided to try out BW UU as part of the RoA ladder, as well as the accompanying Swiss tour, and I decided to build this team to try out. After a good amount of laddering, I really enjoyed how this team functions, since it forces progress on the opponent with powerful attackers supported with hazards, and the ability to bring in these attackers over and over throughout the game.
(Link)
The Team
Gligar is great for this team for a few reasons: it is the best check to Fighting-types on our team, carries U-turn to bring in the powerful attackers on the team, and acts as the team's Stealth Rock setter. Combined with its Eviolite bulk and Roost, it forms the backbone of the team, which it needs considering how dangerous the Fighting types of the tier are and how threatened the rest of this team is by them. There were times where I considered moving Stealth Rocks off of Gligar and onto Empoleon (who currently serves an offensive role), but in the fashion in which this team is constructed, Rocks need to go with Gligar.
Roserade acts both as my absorber of Water-type attacks (namely Scald), as well as the Spiker for this team. Giga Drain and Rest + Natural Cure gives it some longevity, when it'll be tasked with coming in and Spiking throughout the battle.
Empoleon probably doesn't need to be Specs, but here I wanted a mon that a) checked Kingdra and b) dealt out good damage. While Lax could have filled that role, I went with Empoleon since it has a better defensive typing.
Running two Choice Specs attackers isn't ideal for this team, but I realized at this point that the team wouldn't be able to Spin nor spinblock if I continued trying to pair pivoting with Spikes. I decided for the rest of the team to focus on what worked well: offense and hazards. Specs Raikou was a good fit here since, even though it is affected by Spikes while Zapdos isn't, it isn't weak to Stealth Rock and checks Zapdos and other Flying-types itself. I also went Specs because I felt that a Calm Mind set couldn't afford to fit Volt Switch on its set.
U-turning with Spikes down is one of the most tried-and-true strategies in Pokemon, and Scarf Flygon immediately came to my mind as a revenge killer and cleaner. The issue with using Scarf Flygon on such an offensive team like this is that I tended to get ripped apart late-game by Scarf Mienshao. Other than that, Flygon performed well for the role in my team.
Ordinarily, Fighting-types aren't good abusers of Spikes since Flying-types switch into them. However, U-turn made Mienshao work well on the team, while also giving me an element of Fighting-type offense that was characteristic of the UU tier. It also helped that early-game, my opponent wouldn't be able to tell whether Flygon or Mienshao was the Scarfer, and I could play with the information advantage.
Other Options
Giving Empoleon a bulkier set would solidify this team's matchups against Kingdra. It could also then become the team's Stealth Rocker, allowing Gligar to run a move like Toxic or Knock Off to really pile on the damage to opposing teams.
Making Mienshao the Choice Scarfer on the team makes the team better against opposing Scarf Flygon and Mienshao, although risking my matchup vs Mienshao to a speed tie isn't ideal.
I was also recommended using Ice Gem on Raikou over Choice Specs to power up HP Ice to sting opposing Ground-types. However, I never had the chance to test this and so I mostly just used the Specs set.
Threats
DD Kingdra was an irritating threat that could just cleave through my team's lack of bulk. Making Empoleon bulkier could help alleviate this, in conjunction with Roar to force Spikes damage onto it.
While a Rapid Spin Blastoise isn't the end of the world because Roserade sits on it, Roserade deals with Hitmontop worse and so I struggle to keep Spikes up against it. I would just need to get my Special Attackers in as Hitmontop enters or Spins in order to threaten big damage onto it.
Replays
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen5uu-1853788678-60bglc22amlnezb7cr161p2lf92zzw3pw
Overall, BW UU is a cool tier and I'm glad I got to build for it.
(Link)The Team
Gligar is great for this team for a few reasons: it is the best check to Fighting-types on our team, carries U-turn to bring in the powerful attackers on the team, and acts as the team's Stealth Rock setter. Combined with its Eviolite bulk and Roost, it forms the backbone of the team, which it needs considering how dangerous the Fighting types of the tier are and how threatened the rest of this team is by them. There were times where I considered moving Stealth Rocks off of Gligar and onto Empoleon (who currently serves an offensive role), but in the fashion in which this team is constructed, Rocks need to go with Gligar.
Roserade acts both as my absorber of Water-type attacks (namely Scald), as well as the Spiker for this team. Giga Drain and Rest + Natural Cure gives it some longevity, when it'll be tasked with coming in and Spiking throughout the battle.
Empoleon probably doesn't need to be Specs, but here I wanted a mon that a) checked Kingdra and b) dealt out good damage. While Lax could have filled that role, I went with Empoleon since it has a better defensive typing.
Running two Choice Specs attackers isn't ideal for this team, but I realized at this point that the team wouldn't be able to Spin nor spinblock if I continued trying to pair pivoting with Spikes. I decided for the rest of the team to focus on what worked well: offense and hazards. Specs Raikou was a good fit here since, even though it is affected by Spikes while Zapdos isn't, it isn't weak to Stealth Rock and checks Zapdos and other Flying-types itself. I also went Specs because I felt that a Calm Mind set couldn't afford to fit Volt Switch on its set.
U-turning with Spikes down is one of the most tried-and-true strategies in Pokemon, and Scarf Flygon immediately came to my mind as a revenge killer and cleaner. The issue with using Scarf Flygon on such an offensive team like this is that I tended to get ripped apart late-game by Scarf Mienshao. Other than that, Flygon performed well for the role in my team.
Ordinarily, Fighting-types aren't good abusers of Spikes since Flying-types switch into them. However, U-turn made Mienshao work well on the team, while also giving me an element of Fighting-type offense that was characteristic of the UU tier. It also helped that early-game, my opponent wouldn't be able to tell whether Flygon or Mienshao was the Scarfer, and I could play with the information advantage.
Other Options
Giving Empoleon a bulkier set would solidify this team's matchups against Kingdra. It could also then become the team's Stealth Rocker, allowing Gligar to run a move like Toxic or Knock Off to really pile on the damage to opposing teams.
Making Mienshao the Choice Scarfer on the team makes the team better against opposing Scarf Flygon and Mienshao, although risking my matchup vs Mienshao to a speed tie isn't ideal.
I was also recommended using Ice Gem on Raikou over Choice Specs to power up HP Ice to sting opposing Ground-types. However, I never had the chance to test this and so I mostly just used the Specs set.
Threats
DD Kingdra was an irritating threat that could just cleave through my team's lack of bulk. Making Empoleon bulkier could help alleviate this, in conjunction with Roar to force Spikes damage onto it.
While a Rapid Spin Blastoise isn't the end of the world because Roserade sits on it, Roserade deals with Hitmontop worse and so I struggle to keep Spikes up against it. I would just need to get my Special Attackers in as Hitmontop enters or Spins in order to threaten big damage onto it.
Replays
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen5uu-1853788678-60bglc22amlnezb7cr161p2lf92zzw3pw
Overall, BW UU is a cool tier and I'm glad I got to build for it.
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