SS UU First time posting! // Sub CM Jirachi + LO Crawdaunt

[Band]

Some insight
I've been lurking on the forums for about 5 years now and finally decided to contribute and post something lol. Been playing since XY, always focused on UU. OU is too competitive and the lower tiers never really appealed to me like UU, even if I did dabble a bit on RU and NU. I came up with this team looking at the viability rankings and I saw that Skarmory and Slowking had pretty good synergy aside from the electric weakness, so I started the team from there.

The Team


Skarmory @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 Spe
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spikes
- Roost
- Body Press
- Defog
Fully physically defensive Skarmory set, focused on taking on mons like Krookodile, Cobalion, Gigalith , Obstagoon, Mimikyu, etc. Helm is there to help it rack up on the damage along with BPress. Spikes helps it put pressure on teams and helps Craw and Rachi to clean up late game. Defog helps to get rid of opposing hazards and Roost is really helpful to keep it going if Skarm loses the lefties.


Slowking (M) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Teleport
- Slack Off
- Scald
- Future Sight
Slowking gets to come in on basically any mon that isn't choice-locked on a super-effective move or that can hit too hard and either Teleport to bring in Crawdaunt against a slower foe for it to nab a kill or to get Shao in to keep the pressure on with a potential CC/U-Turn/Knock, the latter which threatens the ghosts that give Slow trouble, such as Chandy and Polteageist. Scald is helpful on getting some damage on mons like Cobalion and Incineroar on the switch-in while Future Sight also keeps the pressure on. Slack Off is very reliable recovery, helping to keep Slowking healthy on stall battles. The boots are essential for Slowking, as they allow it to come in on mons without having to worry about hazards and then Teleport. Even if it does get it's boots knocked off, regenerator helps it.


Seismitoad @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Scald
- Earthquake
This thing completely walls Rotom-W if it lacks Toxic. It's immune to T-Wave, Tbolt, Volt Switch, Hydro Pump and doesn't mind Will-o-Wisp. Once you toxic Rotom-W, it's just a matter of time before it switches out. If it defogs your rocks, just set them up again. Aside from walling Rotom-W, Toad can threaten Tentacruel, Doublade, Lucario, Cobalion, Mamo, Palossand and Rhyperior with a combo of Scald and EQ.


Crawdaunt @ Life Orb
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Aqua Jet
- Knock Off
- Liquidation
Crawdaunt just shreds everything that isn't immune to it's attacks or quad resists it. This set runs LO instead of CB because having the ability of hitting something on the switch-in and then using aqua jet is gives you more opportunities to pick things off. It either OHKOes or 2HKOes a lot of mons, and having the ability to switch hit something hard with Knock/Liquidation/CC and then pick it off with Aqua Jet is very good.

252+ Atk Life Orb Crawdaunt Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Blissey: 640-754 (89.6 - 105.6%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Adaptability Crawdaunt Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Bronzong: 499-593 (147.6 - 175.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Adaptability Crawdaunt Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 212 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Doublade: 270-322 (86.5 - 103.2%) -- 25% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Adaptability Crawdaunt Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Hatterene: 299-354 (94 - 111.3%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Adaptability Crawdaunt Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Palossand: 385-458 (102.9 - 122.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO




Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Psyshock
- Substitute
- Aura Sphere
Jirachi has the amazing ability to come in on -2 SpAtk mons like Draco Meteor Kyurem, Noivern and Dragalge or Leaf Storm Rotom-M and Roserade and just start setting up a Substitute or CM. Max Defense allows for very good physical bulk, and max speed lets it outspeed mons like CB Krook and Pangoro. Psyshock helps you get more damage on Blissey and Aura Sphere deals with dark and steel types.


Mienshao @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Poison Jab
I can't tell you how many times Mienshao has saved my ass. This mon is blazing fast and threatens basically everything with a combination with CC/Knock/U-Turn. PJab is there to threaten fairies like Hatt, Weez-G and Sylveon, though I barely click it. Mienshao's main role is to come in after something in the team dies and to revenge kill it. Max Atk lets it 2HKO Krook, Cobalion, Pangoro, TTar, Lucario and Incineroar, all after Intimidate.

Threats

Rotom-Mow

Rotom-Mow threatens my defensive core and Crawdaunt with Volt Switch/Tbolt and Leaf Storm. Shao can come in after something died to hit it with a CC/U-Turn and do some big damage, but Rotom can just switch out. My best way to counter it is to bring in Rachi after a Leaf Storm and set up a Sub or CM, but still, big problem.

252 Atk Mienshao Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Rotom-Mow: 180-213 (74.6 - 88.3%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Mienshao U-turn vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Rotom-Mow: 140-166 (58 - 68.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

Chandelure

Kinda poses the same issue as Rotom. Threatens Skarm with Fire Blast/Flamethrower, and Slowking/Toad with Shadow/Energy Ball. Energy Ball 2KHOes Slowking even at full health and OHKOes Toad (duh). Shadow Ball 2KHOes Toad and OHKOes Slowking. Again, Shao can threaten it with Knock Off. You can see that I rely a lot on Shao's ability to come in after something dies and kill it back.

Flygon

With a scarf, outspeeds everyone but Shao, and can threaten with a fast U-Turn to an answer to the mon that's out.

Opposing Crawdaunt

Crawdaunt hits extremely hard with Knock Off and destroys Toad and Skarm, especially if it's running SD. If it gets an SD up, it OHKOes Shao and hurts Rachi really badly with Aqua Jet.

Final Thoughts

So, I hope my team gets looked on by you guys so I can get some feedback! Thinking about what threatens this team was honestly the hardest part, so I'd greatly appreciate some insight on that!

 

[Twilight]

Blazing Braviary this is a decent team you have around CM Jirachi. You pointed out how you are very weak to Rotom-C and this is something that can very easily sweep through your team because of the defensive cores you opted for in Skarmory, Slowking, and Seismitoad. It takes advantage of far too many Pokemon on this team for it to be overlooked and not have a somewhat decent pivot into it. The only way I have been able to remedy this issue is by removing Crawdaunt so I hope that is fine with you.

Major Changes:

>

: Kyurem is likewise a strong breaker and it helps ease your matchup against the Rotom forms. It also helps with breaking some of the bulkier Water-types that Jirachi can have issues against if it hasn't accumulated enough boosts. Kyurem also improves your matchup against Starmie a little more with removing Seismitoad below. The given HP prevents Blissey from breaking your Substitute with Seismic Toss.

>

: With removing your Ghost resist I'm adding it back by replacing Seis with Krookodile. Krookodile also helps check opposing CM Jirachi as long as your Chople Berry is still intact. Taunt can help keep hazards off the field + keep yours on the field and annoy bulkier Pokemon, while Smack Down is great to help break foes like Washtom and Skarmory easier. The choice is up to you.

Minor Changes:

(EV and Move Change): I'm not really sure what is going on with this EV spread but if you were to go a Substitute set you should be max HP to prevent Blissey from breaking your Sub with Seismic Toss. Either way, Sub CM Jirachi is far less effective than offensive three Attack sets which I recommend you change this too. Shadow Ball allows you to break Slowking, Doublade, opposing Jirachi, Starmie, and Hatterene. Colbur Berry is an option to prevent being revenge killed by Krookodile as easily but the longevity from Leftovers is greatly appreciated.

(Move Suggestion): Poison Jab doesn't hit all that much aside from picking off an extremely weakened Hatterene and Sylveon. Toxic is something to consider as it helps wear down common pivots like Slowking, Noivern, Palossand, etc. You can also consider Stone Edge to help revenge kill foes like Talonflame. This choice is ultimately up to you.

(EV Change): I recommend running fewer IVs to make yourself slower than opposing Slowking. A Relaxed nature with 21 IVs is enough for you to be faster than uninvested Escavalier and getter the slower Teleport off against most opposing Slowking.

(Move and EV Change): Using Defog + Spikes is counter-intuitive so I suggest you drop Spikes for Whirlwind. This eases the ability to play around foes like Doublade a bit better. I also suggest making Skarmory faster than Adamant Crawdaunt because that Pokemon is such a menace otherwise.

<Click the Sprites for the Importable>
​

This will ease your matchup against Mowtom which previously ran through the original team far too easily. Chandelure is still a threatening matchup and is very much prediction reliant to play around but you have enough outs in Scarf Shao, Kyurem eating a hit + naturally outspeeding, Krookodile being faster than non-scarf sets, +1 Rachi eating a hit, etc. You still lack reliable pivots into Crawdaunt but with the tier having about 2-3 safe ones I wouldn't worry too much about that. If you have any questions let me know.

 

[Band]

Blazing Braviary this is a decent team you have around CM Jirachi. You pointed out how you are very weak to Rotom-C and this is something that can very easily sweep through your team because of the defensive cores you opted for in Skarmory, Slowking, and Seismitoad. It takes advantage of far too many Pokemon on this team for it to be overlooked and not have a somewhat decent pivot into it. The only way I have been able to remedy this issue is by removing Crawdaunt so I hope that is fine with you.

Major Changes:

>

: Kyurem is likewise a strong breaker and it helps ease your matchup against the Rotom forms. It also helps with breaking some of the bulkier Water-types that Jirachi can have issues against if it hasn't accumulated enough boosts. Kyurem also improves your matchup against Starmie a little more with removing Seismitoad below. The given HP prevents Blissey from breaking your Substitute with Seismic Toss.

>

: With removing your Ghost resist I'm adding it back by replacing Seis with Krookodile. Krookodile also helps check opposing CM Jirachi as long as your Chople Berry is still intact. Taunt can help keep hazards off the field + keep yours on the field and annoy bulkier Pokemon, while Smack Down is great to help break foes like Washtom and Skarmory easier. The choice is up to you.

Minor Changes:

(EV and Move Change): I'm not really sure what is going on with this EV spread but if you were to go a Substitute set you should be max HP to prevent Blissey from breaking your Sub with Seismic Toss. Either way, Sub CM Jirachi is far less effective than offensive three Attack sets which I recommend you change this too. Shadow Ball allows you to break Slowking, Doublade, opposing Jirachi, Starmie, and Hatterene. Colbur Berry is an option to prevent being revenge killed by Krookodile as easily but the longevity from Leftovers is greatly appreciated.

(Move Suggestion): Poison Jab doesn't hit all that much aside from picking off an extremely weakened Hatterene and Sylveon. Toxic is something to consider as it helps wear down common pivots like Slowking, Noivern, Palossand, etc. You can also consider Stone Edge to help revenge kill foes like Talonflame. This choice is ultimately up to you.

(EV Change): I recommend running fewer IVs to make yourself slower than opposing Slowking. A Relaxed nature with 21 IVs is enough for you to be faster than uninvested Escavalier and getter the slower Teleport off against most opposing Slowking.

(Move and EV Change): Using Defog + Spikes is counter-intuitive so I suggest you drop Spikes for Whirlwind. This eases the ability to play around foes like Doublade a bit better. I also suggest making Skarmory faster than Adamant Crawdaunt because that Pokemon is such a menace otherwise.

<Click the Sprites for the Importable>
​

This will ease your matchup against Mowtom which previously ran through the original team far too easily. Chandelure is still a threatening matchup and is very much prediction reliant to play around but you have enough outs in Scarf Shao, Kyurem eating a hit + naturally outspeeding, Krookodile being faster than non-scarf sets, +1 Rachi eating a hit, etc. You still lack reliable pivots into Crawdaunt but with the tier having about 2-3 safe ones I wouldn't worry too much about that. If you have any questions let me know.

Hi! Just woke up to this lol, thank you so much for taking the time to help me out! I kinda wanted to keep Craw, just because of how hard it hits, but Kyurem is ultimately a better choice. Again, thank you so much for your help! :)