SS Ubers Help me get to the next level!

[Rokur02]

Hi!

So, I haven't played PO in a little while (early XY), so I've been having fun experimenting with the new ones and learning the new SM threats, like Marshadow and necrozma DM. Although, I think everyone's still playing around with the SS threats. I do enjoy playing around and learning of course. Below is my current team which does ok. I'm consistently thinking to change my Ho-Oh and Palkia, but not sure where to go. I've tried things like ferrothorn, statakata, blissey, scarf kyogre, with slightly less success...., so I figured I'd check on these forums for thoughts.

Calyrex-Shadow @ Life Orb
Ability: As One (Spectrier)
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Astral Barrage
- Psyshock
- Draining Kiss
- Pollen Puff

So, yea, Calyrex-S is pretty beastly. Dynamax psychock helps against Marshadow threats. I've been playing with Pollen Puff/Draining Kiss vs Yveltal/other dark. But, let's be real, I mostly spam astral barrage.


Ho-Oh @ Life Orb
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Brave Bird
- Recover
- Toxic

My main pivot. It's ok, especially as a switch into Yveltal and Necrozma. I've switched back and forth on Boots vs life orb. But, with Life orb, maybe I should max more attack? He hits ok from what I've seen... and toxic is the wall breaker.... so maybe not.


Ditto @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Imposter
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 30 Atk
- Transform

Yea, Ditto is amazing. Just like coming on a geo'd Xern. Buffed Caly-S and Zacian-C ditto'ed are amazing.

Palkia @ Lustrous Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Spacial Rend
- Thunder Wave
- Thunder

I felt I had a big Kyogre hole early. Thus, this is what I remember for anti-Kyogre. I've tried scarf and leftovers kyogre here. Palkia just seemed a bit better at this niche. Granted the fairy abundance is annoying. So, against a team without a kyogre, palkia was less useful. Meanwhile, it was more useful against kyogre. Other thoughts are welcome! Also, I may switch thunder wave to toxic... As my team's speed is pretty sweet anyway.


Zacian-Crowned @ Rusted Sword
Ability: Intrepid Sword
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Behemoth Blade
- Play Rough
- Quick Attack
- Swords Dance

Yea, also fairly amazing pokemon. I probably still like Caly-S more. But, steel typing, I think separates Zaci-C from Xern or anything else. Pretty much spam STAB Behemoth Blade. SD is nice on say Zygarde or other setup fodder. Quick attack might be useless as the Caly-S is so common as the revenge killer. But, I haven't figured out what I want as a replacement yet.

Yveltal @ Life Orb
Ability: Dark Aura
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Oblivion Wing
- Dark Pulse
- Taunt

With the prevalence of Caly-S, I think this is almost a needed pokemon. I've played with the moveset, but I like Dark Pulse over knock-off for now. With the ho-oh partner, I think running the offensive Yveltal is better, but I am open to suggestion.


Some concerns:
- Stealth Rock doesn't seem as prevalent as it used to, but maybe I should find a way to fit in Defog. As lots of entry hazards can get annoying for ho-oh and yveltal switching.
- Can't always force out enough chip damage on Blissey and Lugia combined thus some defensive teams can be a problem. Necro DM, zyg C, and the more common ones, I can more easily kill.
- I don't have my own entry hazard setter which I feel might limit my ability to predict/punish switches, especially as I'd love to whittle down opposing Yveltal (especially if I lose a speed tie with my Calyrex-S)

Please let me know what you guys think!

 

[suN#6174]

Here. I'll help you with some basic stuff as I currently can't make teams rn sigh.

Anyways, I do have a few suggestions.

Calyrex-Shadow:
I personally like to run substitute instead of pollen puff.
Reason 1: Pollen Puff is a bug type, so it only does neutral damage to ygod (yveltal)
Reason 2: You can bait the sucker punch on a lot of people to get the free substitute. Calyrex is a glass cannon so having the substitute to soak up damage really helps.
The rest is fine.

Ho-Oh:
Change this to a damage soaker. Ho-Oh is tanky. It can survive +2 Calyrex with 40% hp left. You stated that rocks are other hazards are a problem. Well Ho-Oh is your answer.

Ho-Oh @ Heavy Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Defog
- Recover
- Toxic

That's a pretty good set. BTW sacred fire is a physical move so no need for flare blitz.

Ditto: Fine. Standard ditto.

Palkia:
Honestly I don't play palkia at all so I can't say I am 100% correct, but looking at base stats he seems to be a pretty tanky/bulky special attacker. I would get rid of him for a NDM (necrozma dusk mane )
Reason 1: You don't have a wall for geomancy xerneas. (You would think ditto works but it really doesn't. Especially against dmax)
Reason 2: He is really bulky and has a decent attack.

NDM set:
Necrozma-Dusk-Mane @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Prism Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Morning Sun
- Sunsteel Strike
- Knock Off

That set will help especially with the knock off for calyrex shadow. NDM ALSO TANKS CALYREX ASTRAL BARRAGE!

Zacian Crowned: Get rid of quick attack for wild charge. You don't have anything that is super effective against flying types.

Yveltal: Get rid of taunt for roost. You don't really need the taunt. You don't want yveltal dying because you miss judge a taunt.

Tell me if the info helps. *I got kinda lazy at the end ngl.* Sorry.
Reply with any questions and tell me how it goes. :)

 

[Fc]

I agree with quite a few of the changes above, but also think that there's better ways to change it to fix up some of the weaknesses while not opening up others. I agree with dropping Pollen Puff, but I'd say get rid of it for nasty plot. It lets Calyrex be a lot more threatening late game, and you have the option to drop psyshock for substitute also which lets it take on certain yveltal sets not running snarl if you win 50/50's.

Set

Calyrex-Shadow @ Life Orb
Ability: As One (Spectrier)
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Astral Barrage
- Psyshock / Substitute
- Draining Kiss
- Nasty Plot

Also agree with the Ho-oh change to more defensive with boots and defog, but whirlwind is also an option I'd consider over recover to free up the team a bit more against coil Zygarde (dd dtail is still a problem). This spread is less Sp.Def and is the standard from last gen, living a Xerneas thunder at +2, and while Dynamax can change the damage output you could always add more sp.def and Dynamax is getting suspect tested very soon.

Set

Ho-Oh @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 204 Def / 52 SpD
Impish Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Whirlwind / Recover
- Toxic
- Defog

I don't agree with removing Palkia while keeping ditto, as then the team's only way to deal with Kyogre even semi-reliably is ditto switching in and hoping it doesn't thunder even though the team has 0 ground types. Addressing what you want ditto to do being checking Calyrex, Zacian, and Xerneas, changing Ditto to Necrozma-DM seems like it would work very well. I'd recommend changing the yveltal set also later on, but necrozma can cover 2 of those mons reliably while letting yveltal take on Calyrex. It's moveset can vary, so I'll just list a couple options.

Set

Necrozma-Dusk-Mane @ Leftovers / Rocky Helmet / Heavy-Duty-Boots
Ability: Prism Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Sunsteel Strike
- Earthquake / Knock Off
- Moonlight
- Toxic / Stealth Rock

With Palkia, I'd say it's a mediocre way to deal with Kyogre especially without AV / Sp.def leftovers which both are underwhelming sets for such an offensive mon. You said you'd welcome changes in this slot, so I'd recommend changing Palkia to Eternatus. It has more bulk, toxic to pressure a lot of Pokemon for Calyrex like defensive Yveltal / Ho-oh, strong STAB, pressure + Recover, etc. There's multiple spreads you could run, but the ones I'll link can either outspeed Marshadow while being defensive, or just outspeed Kyogre while being super Sp.def. You can experiment with other sets also since Etern is a very flexible mon.

Sets

Eternatus @ Black Sludge
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 40 SpD / 216 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dynamax Cannon
- Flamethrower
- Recover
- Toxic

OR for more Sp.def

Eternatus @ Black Sludge
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 212 SpD / 44 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dynamax Cannon
- Flamethrower
- Recover
- Toxic

Zacian-C I'd never recommend to run Quick attack anymore because dugtrio has fallen heavily out of favour, and the only mon it's naturally slower than that's common being Calyrex-Shadow is a ghost. I'd change that to wild charge, and SD can possibly change to Play rough also for Giratina and Zygarde if you run into issues with them.

Set

Zacian-Crowned @ Rusted Sword
Ability: Intrepid Sword
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Behemoth Blade
- Play Rough / Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Wild Charge

Finally, I'd make the Yveltal more Sp.def. It's super hard to argue for offensive aside from on full HO teams, because the threat of Calyrex usually makes Sp.def necessary rn. It needs roost and Sucker Punch, while the other 2 moves are more customizable, usually being another STAB in knock off / foul play, then a last slot depending on what you want. Snarl has risen up to counter sub Calyrex sets which is a strong option since you already have defog on Ho-oh lowering the usefulness of Taunt and Defog. The second set is a bit more specialized to OHKO Dynamax Calyrex with Sucker, but this one will be a lot less relevant if Dynamax gets banned to the full Sp.def set might work better there but could possibly be optimized still. (edit: I also had the wrong yveltal set in to start so added in that second one while fixing the first and the full team paste)

Set

Yveltal @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Dark Aura
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Roost
- Knock Off / Foul Play
- U-turn / Snarl / Defog / Taunt

OR for the guaranteed Sucker OHKO on dynamax Calyrex

Yveltal @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Dark Aura
EVs: 232 HP / 32 Atk / 244 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off / Foul Play
- Sucker Punch
- U-turn / Snarl / Defog / Taunt
- Roost

So those are all the changes I'd make, just a bit more specialized sets for the meta while changing 2 mons in the middle allowing you to check the things you wanted Ditto + Palkia to but with arguably more usefulness. Here's the updated paste with the fast etern set as the placeholder, and even though the meta may change soon if dynamax gets banned, hopefully these changes were useful and I think most of them should still be relevant after as well. https://pokepast.es/a7565f1f3e850082

 

[suN#6174]

Also agree with the Ho-oh change to more defensive with boots and defog, but whirlwind is also an option I'd consider over recover to free up the team a bit more against coil Zygarde (dd dtail is still a problem). This spread is less Sp.Def and is the standard from last gen, living a Xerneas thunder at +2, and while Dynamax can change the damage output you could always add more sp.def and Dynamax is getting suspect tested very soon.

Set

Ho-Oh @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 204 Def / 52 SpD
Impish Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Whirlwind / Recover
- Toxic
- Defog

I used to run whirlwind over recover, but in my opinion it is REALLY easy to predict a ygod switch (therefore it dies pretty easily) so it rather get rid of calyrex then coil zyg.

 

[Rokur02]

Thanks for your help all. I did take some of your advice, but I did make a different change as well. I felt using defensive Ho-Oh, def ygod, def necro-DM and then Etern was lacking a bit of firepower. So, I am actually now subbing from above Palkia and Ditto with Necro DM and Regieleki.

Regielieki is more of a revenge punish for Kyogre. While, I do generally have to let Kyogre kill someone, I reverse pressure since I'm running Choice Band with Thunder. So, when rain comes... boom trades galore... and then do it again and again, as usually they switch out the Kyogre. I would also call Regieleki a soft check to Zaci-C and Caly-S, so it's actually overall not a bad momentum grabber with some utility against the current common threats.

Now, I'm finding Zyg C and Groudon to be my toughest opponents. so I might need to switch out something again. Of course you can't cover all holes... but Zyg C is fairly common and definitely stunts Regieleki. If Zyg becomes complete, it's pretty rough. Generally hoping offense wins though with Calyrex-Shadow and Zacian-Crowned able to kill Zyg before it completes, can't switch in though because of glare threat, so ho-oh whirlwind is my current best switch/sacrifice.

 

[suN#6174]

Yeah...choice band with thunder ain't going to help you. Thunder is a special attack, while choice band boosts normal attack. It's not going to boost anything. Also Chansey walls Kyogre really hard.

With Zyg C and Groudon, just use toxic on them with Ho-Oh.