SV UU Cracker Island: Mono Pink SV UU Team! (1000th Post!!!!)


Hello, hello, lovely peoples! I'm StarFalcon555, though most people call me Starf. I've been doing this Smogon thing for a couple years now, mainly playing and participating in the UU community, so it seems natural for my 1000th post that I'd want to build a team in the tier that I've dedicated my time in this community to. But this being my 1000th post, I didn't want this to be just a basic old team. I wanted to add a fun little spin on it. And it just so happens that my favorite band of all time released an album a few days ago with pink as a major theme! AND it just so happens that some of the better mons in SV UU are either naturally pink or have pink shinies! So I decided to build a mono-pink team for this 1000th post RMT! Here's how it came together:

:tinkaton: :slowking:
I started with the core of Tinkaton and Slowking. Two of the better Pokemon in the tier AND they're both pink?! Come on, it was really obvious :P They also form quite a decent balance core with each other and provide a decent backbone to many teams.

:tinkaton: :slowking: :pawmot:
Next up is another really good UU mon - not one that is pink naturally, but has a pink Shiny, that being Pawmot. The banning of Iron Hands has really caused Pawmot to skyrocket in viability, and for good reason. Its coverage and access to Revival Blessing is just really solid, and it's just a very good glue mon overall.

:tinkaton: :slowking: :pawmot: :tsareena:
First up I just want to say that Bulbapedia is on some crack because according to them Tsareena is purple?! Honey please get your eyes checked that is CLEARLY pink. Anyways, I wanted some hazard removal, and was struggling to pick between Toedscruel and Tsareena, but was forced to go with the latter after being reminded by my good friends in PIA that Toedscruel is "straight doodoo" :psycry:. Tsareena is still a really solid pick in this meta though, and adds onto the defensive core that Tinkaton and Slowking formed.

:tinkaton: :slowking: :pawmot: :tsareena: :weavile:
Okay I know what you're thinking - I'm a hypocrite for not using Toedscruel but then immediately going and putting Weavile on the team. But Weavile actually fits really well onto this team, and with Iron Hands gone, it's gotten slightly better! It still struggles with stuff like Tinkaton and Slither Wing, but being able to check recent rising star Oricorio-Pom Pom thanks to Ice Shard is REALLY good, and scaring out non-Scarf Gengar is a solid plus.

:tinkaton: :slowking: :pawmot: :tsareena: :weavile: :toxtricity-low key:
The final member of the original team is Toxtricity, which is just an absolute nuke with Tera Normal Boombursts. This is another really slept on Pokemon within the tier - juking out Gengars by going Tera Normal and blanking their Shadow Balls before decimating them with Overdrive is just so funny to me. It's got some flaws, but it's a lot better than what people give it credit for!

:tinkaton: :slowbro: :pawmot: :tsareena: :weavile: :toxtricity-low key:
You may have noticed in the above paragraph that I called Toxtricity the last member of the original team. Unfortunately, while laddering, I came to the unfortunate realization that this team struggled heavily against Dragon Dance sweepers and other powerful physical attackers like SD Lucario and Maushold. I needed a stronger physical wall, so I decided to replace Slowking with its older brother Slowbro. I didn't like having to sacrifice Chilly Reception, but Slowbro's defensive tanking capabilities on both sides were a pleasing surprise to me.

Now here's an slightly more in-depth breakdown of each team member, now ordered by track listing so you can listen to the album as you read :3

:sv/tinkaton: :leftovers:
Oil (Tinkaton) @ Leftovers
Ability: Mold Breaker
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 248 HP / 92 Atk / 170 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
- Gigaton Hammer
- Play Rough
Tinkaton is the glue that hold the team together, providing great utility with the incredible Fairy/Steel typing, good Special Defense, and Stealth Rocks. I did originally have this as Stealth Rock + two attacks + Encore, but I actually found that Stealth Rock + 3 Attacks worked a lot better for me. Play Rough acts as a much more reliable way of pressuring Pokemon like Iron Jugulis, Wo-Chien, and Pawmot that can handle the usual Knock Off + Gigaton Hammer combo more easily than others. I also think Tera Flying is a really nice Tera option for Tink to allow it to blank EQs, though it's more of a last-ditch scenario if anything.

:sv/slowbro: :rocky helmet:
Tired Influencer (Slowbro) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Future Sight
- Ice Beam
- Body Press
- Slack Off
Slowbro has two main jobs here: set up Future Sights, and completely blank out set-up sweepers and physical wallbreakers. I personally really like the combination of Ice Beam and Body Press for this role, since the main two DD sweepers, Salamence and Haxorus, are almost always Tera Steel: Ice Beam covers the pre-Tera side and Body Press covers the post-Tera side. Combined with Rocky Helmet and Tera Fairy, this makes Slowbro one of the better checks to these two Pokemon, particularly Mence. I'd go as far to say that it performs better than Slowking in this role due to its higher Special Defense. Give it a try if you haven't!

:choice specs:
Silent Running (Toxtricity-Low-Key) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Punk Rock
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Boomburst
- Overdrive
- Volt Switch
- Sludge Bomb
I already explained what Specs Toxtricity does in the teambuilding section of the post, so I won't go too further in depth into it. I will say that I did have Toxic on this originally, based on the advice on some peeps, but it did literally NOTHING for me, so I dropped it. Please don't make the same mistake that I did. :P

:sv/pawmot: :choice scarf:
New Gold (Pawmot) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Volt Absorb
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Double Shock
- Close Combat
- Seed Bomb
- Revival Blessing
This is the other Pokemon whose set changed substantially during my laddering session. I originally had it as Leppa Berry for the sweet sweet double revives, but while testing, I realized that I needed better Speed control than just Weavile, so I changed the item to Scarf. Potentially a hot take here: I think Scarf Revival Blessing is just as good as, if not better than, Leppa Berry Revival Blessing. If you find yourself in a pinch in the lategame, you can easily bring Scarfmot in as a sack and get a free revive on one of your more offensive Pokemon to clean up shop. Give it a try some time!

:heavy-duty boots:
Baby Queen (Tsareena) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Queenly Majesty
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 44 Atk / 212 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Power Whip
- U-turn
- Rapid Spin
- Synthesis
Tsareena is another glue Pokemon for the team, mainly functioning as a hazard remover and a fast pivot afterwards. Like Tera Flying on Tinkaton, Tera Steel on Tsareena is a niche but situationally useful Tera option, specifically for blanking Poison moves from stuff like Gengar and Grafaiai, but it's usually recommended not to Tera because then you lose the only Ground resist on the team.

:choice band:
Tormenta (Weavile) @ Choice Band
Ability: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Ice
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Night Slash
- Icicle Crash
- Ice Shard
- Low Kick
Choice Band Weavile does Choice Band Weavile things. I most likely found myself using Weav as a revenge killer with Ice Shard to pick off boosted threats (I once watched Tera Ice Ice Shard kill a -1 Armarouge from like 60 percent it was hilarious), but when you can get it into an optimal position to clean boy can it CLEAN. Low Kick is also a very funny coverage move to run with Bisharp and Tyranitar being fairly common on teams. It's not the most optimal pick, and it's certainly had a rough fall from where it was in Gen 8, but it's a lot better than people give it credit for!

Threatlist

:salamence: :haxorus: :tyranitar: :gyarados:
As I mentioned earlier, the biggest threats to this team are probably Dragon Dance sweepers. This team struggles to deal with their STAB + Ground coverage, especially the former two, since they often take the opportinity to Tera Steel when you send in Weavile to revenge kill them. The switch to Slowbro definitely helps, but it's something to look out for.

:slither wing: :lokix:
A downside that is still there regardless of whether the Slowtwin in use is Slowking or Slowbro is that the team is a tad weak to the two physical Bugs of the tier, Slither Wing and Lokix. Slither Wing has pretty good coverage against this team, particularly when running EQ, and Lokix just turns Tinkaton into a non-factor thanks to Tinted Lens. On the one hand, both of these can kind of be exploited since they run Choice Band with First Impression, but on the other hand, if they choose to go for U-turn, they end up taking advantage of you. These two mons were one of the biggest reasons I switched to Scarf Pawmot, which helps, but the facts that they easily counter the three defensive mons of the team still doesn't help.

:gengar:
Saying that an SV UU team that is weak to Gengar is like saying that the sky is blue, but Gengar really is a big threat here. Scarf Gengar in particular is a real threat here - having five more points of base Speed than Pawmot makes it just barely able to outspeed Scarf Pawmot, meaning it can put a pretty hefty dent into the team as you're trying to guess what move it's going to lock itself into. Specs sets are somewhat easier to handle but much more powerful and terrifying, and Substitute sets can be cheesed with Toxtricity pretty well. Obviously the easiest way for this problem with the team to be fixed is to ban Gengar, so hopefully that'll be coming soon :zany_face:

Replays

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9uu-1806669345
This replay here does a pretty good job at showcasing Slowbro's defensive capabilities, coming in to tank hits from Lucario and even surviving a STAB Crunch from Mabosstiff, allowing Weavile and Toxtricity to clean at the end. It also shows a great example of how to strategically use Terastallization, as I switched to a Normal type with Toxtricity on Turn 8 to blank out the Shadow Ball and still be able to OHKO back with a Specs Overdrive.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9uu-1807578642-lpxc108bz7hte4fj0c6h12wp79og5p5pw
I did end up losing this game (there really was no way out of that final position imo), but I do think this was one of my better played games overall. Again, Slowbro puts in a ton of work here - the Mence's +2 EQ literally did the same as the Ttar's unboosted SE Crunch, and in both cases Slowbro was able to tank both comfortably and finish them off with Body Press. Tsareena and Pawmot also get to shine here with the combination of Rapid Spin and U-turn against Salamence keeping me in the game for a lot longer with the former and a taste of Scarf Revival Blessing with the latter.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9uu-1807493426-l5fe8cbsxa9966alrmwet9la3ke7w0gpw
Admittedly this game was EXTREMELY haxxy, what with the freeze on Oricorio and the flinch on Wo-Chien right at the end, but the result would have still been the same here IMO. This is a game where Weavile REALLY shines, being just able to outpace Wo-Chien in terms of damage even after Terastallization and keeping up pressure on Oricorio with Ice Shard in the event that it would have thawed out.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9uu-1807141638
Yeah this was a joke "game" but I just HAD to share it here because I just CANNOT wrap my head around the sequence of events that went down here. what was bro was cooking????? level 25?????? focus energy?????? toxic orb????? excuse me??????? this game is an incredible tool for psychologists because it allows them the rare chance to get into the mind of a literal enigma... i cannot :sob:

Now here comes the fun part... the shout outs!

Shoutouts

Lavern and Liz Angeles were the ones who helped me build this team and were there to watch a large majority of my laddering games, offering crucial support even as I descended into madness as I witnessed the horrors that was sub-1100 ELO SV UU teams. Liz in particular deserves a big shoutout as she was the one to suggest some of the big changes to the team, specifically Slowbro > Slowking and Choice Scarf on Pawmot. Also they're just really awesome people in general!

pokemonisfun deserves a MAJOR shoutout here by coming into my inbox one day almost exactly one year ago and dropping an invite to a little Discord server called Pokemon Is Awesome/pia. I had steered clear of Discord for roughly five years beforehand due to some personal trauma involving an ex-boyfriend that went down over Discord, so I wasn't really participating in the nitty-gritty of UU stuff. But for whatever reason, I decided to take the plunge, and I absolutely DON'T regret it. pia really gave me the boldness and incentive to participate more in the community and get to where I am today, and it's all thanks to pif! Sub to him on Twitch guys :3

May and Estarossa also deserve big shoutouts here by drafting me onto their team for UUFPL! I was still really dipping my toes into the whole tours thing and was very surprised to be chosen, much less make it to the finals, but being a part of Diancie is Unbreakable was honestly the highlight of my time as a UU player! May and Esta were super welcoming people and made the Diancie is Unbreakable server such an awesome place to be at, and my time in the team in general is a time I will cherish with all of my heart! Of course, I also have to give major props to fellow Diancie Is Unbreakable teammates Lily, romanji, Meri Berry, Ara ara, gorex, Unowndragon, and Thor - you guys are all awesome and really made UUFPL an incredible experience!

Of course, I can't talk about people who got me into doing tours without giving a special shoutout to the GOAT Totomon, who approached me to team up in UU Trio Tour 3 back when we were both still relative nobodies with no friends in the tier :-') #DontBanLightClay was truly a nearly unstoppable team... but in the end Big Stall won again /j. Totomon has also been doing INSANE work lately as one of the new owners of PIA, most notably being the runner of the PIA CCAT events, which are always a massive highlight of my Friday!

Another person I have to give credit to for broadening my horizons in UU is Celebii for setting up the GSC UUBL tournament and getting me into that tier! It really gave me a much stronger respect for how the meta has changed over time and how all of the different mechanics have affected the meta, plus they're also just an awesome person all around!

And finally, just some quick shoutouts to some people who are just awesome in general! Queen of Bean is a really talented up and coming player who's also just a joy to be around and an awesome friend. Corporate Donkey is one of the funniest people I know - always has a cracked AF shitpost ready to go when someone says some whack ass shit - and is also insanely dedicated to this tier. Luirromen is one of my favorite teambuilding buddies over at PIA, particularly at CCAT time, and is yet another really sweet and cool person! I know I and a few other PIA people tend to rag on Sulo quite a bit, but things are always livelier when he's around, plus he's another UU Trio Tour buddy :3 Our teammate for that iteration of UU Trio Tour, Venuesaur, is another really cool dude who's going places both as a UU player and as a mod for PIA! And finally, we've got the man, the myth, the legend, jiminy biscuitt, who came into my convos a few weeks before and "thought I seemed near". Thank you, jiminy, for being so kind and gracious to a person you just met! Kindness goes a long way in this world :3


And to finish things off, here's the final team with the pokepaste so you can look more into it yourself! I know this isn't the best team but it was mainly made for fun and as a neat way to celebrate my 1000th post here on the forums and to get more people to listen to Gorillaz :3. Regardless, I hope you had fun reading this post! I will see you all later!
 
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