Edit: Currently ranked #23
Yeah, the title basically says it all. I was feeling a bit bored with UU, so I decided to try out a mono-choice item team just for the heck of it, under the account name makchoi, fully expecting to get my ass kicked. Surprisingly though, I won, and won a lot. I've only been using this team for one night, but I haven't lost a match yet, so I figured I'd post this now, while it's still doing well, before my luck turns.
The general idea of this team is that UU is full of some incredibly overpowered attackers, and when they are all combined, they can generally overwhelm just about any defensive core. The team also has some key resistances that at least give it a semi-decent switch in to most threats. If worst comes to worst, it has some big speed and powerful priority attacks to help prevent opposing sweeps. Obviously, being a mono-choice item team, it requires a lot of prediction to work, but so far, it has been serving me well.
Yeah, the title basically says it all. I was feeling a bit bored with UU, so I decided to try out a mono-choice item team just for the heck of it, under the account name makchoi, fully expecting to get my ass kicked. Surprisingly though, I won, and won a lot. I've only been using this team for one night, but I haven't lost a match yet, so I figured I'd post this now, while it's still doing well, before my luck turns.
The general idea of this team is that UU is full of some incredibly overpowered attackers, and when they are all combined, they can generally overwhelm just about any defensive core. The team also has some key resistances that at least give it a semi-decent switch in to most threats. If worst comes to worst, it has some big speed and powerful priority attacks to help prevent opposing sweeps. Obviously, being a mono-choice item team, it requires a lot of prediction to work, but so far, it has been serving me well.
The Team
Venusaur (F) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 4 Def/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Ice] / [Ground]
- Sleep Powder
- Sludge Bomb
Venusaur is an incredibly important part of this team's success. He almost always sets me off to a good start, either putting something dangerous to sleep or catching something off guard with the surprising speed. I generally try to keep Venusaur around as long as possible - he is good insurance against fast sweepers, as most of them will be outsped and KOed. The only move I am unsure of is the hidden power. Ice has been pretty useful for nailing Altaria, who can be a big pain, while also hitting opposing Grass / Poisons pretty hard, but Ground could be helpful for hitting Fire types.
Glaceon (F) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Snow Cloak
EVs: 128 HP/128 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Electric]
- Shadow Ball
- Blizzard
Ahh, Glaceon is the first of my super heavy hitters. I generally try to switch this in after Venusaur has put something to sleep, as it usually takes an absolutely enormous chunk out of whatever switches in. It 2HKOs even most things that resist Ice Beam. Hidden Power Electric is basically just for Mantine, as most Water / Grounds get outsped and 2HKOed by Ice Beam. Blizzard is usually my first move - it has shit accuracy, but when i don't know what's coming in, it's nice to just throw Blizzards around, as it basically 2HKOs everything in UU. He's fast enough to outspeed neutral base 80 speed pokemon with 4 EVs, which is basically just Venusaur, but it seems like more and more Venusaurs are running speed, so I might just drop down low enough to outspeed neutral 4 EV base 75 speed pokemon like Claydol.
Hitmonlee (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Reckless
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Double-edge
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Mach Punch
My other super heavy hitter. Nothing in UU can safely switch into this guy. Close Combat absolutely massacres anything that doesn't resist it. Stone Edge hits Flyers and also hurts Ghosts enough to make them think twice about switching in. Double-Edge is the real kicker. With Reckless, this Hitmonlee is almost always able to 2HKO Weezing and Claydol, two of the most common, and arguably best, Hitmonlee counters. Hitmonlee is useful because he usually wears down Aerodactyl's counters early game, opening the door for a sweep later.
Aerodactyl (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Double-edge
- Crunch / Stealth Rock
Serves as the clean up hitter / revenge killer. He outspeeds everything in UU bar choice scarfers and Electrode, and hits most things hard with great type coverage. Crunch is kind of useless, but I guess it does have merit in hitting Claydol, and it gives me an 100% accurate option against ghosts. I'm thinking of switching to Aerial Ace, basically only for Poliwrath and I guess Hitmontop, who have been causing this team a fair amount of trouble. Stealth Rock would also be cool in that slot, as I think it would really help the team out and Aerodactyl is really the only pokemon that can learn it, although I'm not sure how often I'll be able to pull it off.
Sharpedo (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Crunch
- Aqua Jet
Sharpedo gives me another powerful priority attack, and adds a little more speed to the team. He can't really switch into anything ever, aside from the occasional weak NVE attack, like a Claydol Ice Beam, but once he's in, he usually hits something hard. I'd really rather go Adamant, since I have the priority attack to make up for the speed, but outspeeding Rotom is too useful to pass up. Overall, I would say Sharpedo has been the least useful member of my team - not that he hasn't been doing his part, but I think something might fit better here. I've been considering Kabutops for this slot, although not being able to outspeed rotom is a bit bothersome.
Rotom @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 112 HP/252 Spd/144 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
- Will-o-wisp
- Trick
I'm generally not a big fan of Rotom, because of his terrible stats, but he seems to fit well into this team. He gives me something to switch into Choice Band Fighting and Normal types, who otherwise just wreck this team, and with his Will-o-Wisp he can cripple my opponent's offense. Trick is another great asset to the team. It helps give me some free switches, which are really essential to a team like this. Otherwise, there isn't really much to say about this guy. He just generally hits hard and has some useful resistances.
_____________________________________
So, that's the team. Obviously it's limited in how good it can be by the fact that it's mono-choice item, but it's still been incredibly effective so far. The main goal here is to get some big hits in early with my heavy hitters, crippling my opponents defenses enough that one of my speedy sweepers can get a clean sweep. This team has trouble with a bunch of pokemon, but luckily, it has tons of different options for revenge killing, making it difficult to be outright sweep. This team has been fun to play with, and it's forced me to play well, as one wrong move with this team usually means a lost game.
And that's about all I have to say. Any comments would be helpful, and thanks for reading.
Credit for the awesome art goes to Aragornbird
Venusaur (F) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 4 Def/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Ice] / [Ground]
- Sleep Powder
- Sludge Bomb
Venusaur is an incredibly important part of this team's success. He almost always sets me off to a good start, either putting something dangerous to sleep or catching something off guard with the surprising speed. I generally try to keep Venusaur around as long as possible - he is good insurance against fast sweepers, as most of them will be outsped and KOed. The only move I am unsure of is the hidden power. Ice has been pretty useful for nailing Altaria, who can be a big pain, while also hitting opposing Grass / Poisons pretty hard, but Ground could be helpful for hitting Fire types.
Glaceon (F) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Snow Cloak
EVs: 128 HP/128 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Electric]
- Shadow Ball
- Blizzard
Ahh, Glaceon is the first of my super heavy hitters. I generally try to switch this in after Venusaur has put something to sleep, as it usually takes an absolutely enormous chunk out of whatever switches in. It 2HKOs even most things that resist Ice Beam. Hidden Power Electric is basically just for Mantine, as most Water / Grounds get outsped and 2HKOed by Ice Beam. Blizzard is usually my first move - it has shit accuracy, but when i don't know what's coming in, it's nice to just throw Blizzards around, as it basically 2HKOs everything in UU. He's fast enough to outspeed neutral base 80 speed pokemon with 4 EVs, which is basically just Venusaur, but it seems like more and more Venusaurs are running speed, so I might just drop down low enough to outspeed neutral 4 EV base 75 speed pokemon like Claydol.
Hitmonlee (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Reckless
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Double-edge
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Mach Punch
My other super heavy hitter. Nothing in UU can safely switch into this guy. Close Combat absolutely massacres anything that doesn't resist it. Stone Edge hits Flyers and also hurts Ghosts enough to make them think twice about switching in. Double-Edge is the real kicker. With Reckless, this Hitmonlee is almost always able to 2HKO Weezing and Claydol, two of the most common, and arguably best, Hitmonlee counters. Hitmonlee is useful because he usually wears down Aerodactyl's counters early game, opening the door for a sweep later.
Aerodactyl (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Double-edge
- Crunch / Stealth Rock
Serves as the clean up hitter / revenge killer. He outspeeds everything in UU bar choice scarfers and Electrode, and hits most things hard with great type coverage. Crunch is kind of useless, but I guess it does have merit in hitting Claydol, and it gives me an 100% accurate option against ghosts. I'm thinking of switching to Aerial Ace, basically only for Poliwrath and I guess Hitmontop, who have been causing this team a fair amount of trouble. Stealth Rock would also be cool in that slot, as I think it would really help the team out and Aerodactyl is really the only pokemon that can learn it, although I'm not sure how often I'll be able to pull it off.
Sharpedo (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Crunch
- Aqua Jet
Sharpedo gives me another powerful priority attack, and adds a little more speed to the team. He can't really switch into anything ever, aside from the occasional weak NVE attack, like a Claydol Ice Beam, but once he's in, he usually hits something hard. I'd really rather go Adamant, since I have the priority attack to make up for the speed, but outspeeding Rotom is too useful to pass up. Overall, I would say Sharpedo has been the least useful member of my team - not that he hasn't been doing his part, but I think something might fit better here. I've been considering Kabutops for this slot, although not being able to outspeed rotom is a bit bothersome.
Rotom @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 112 HP/252 Spd/144 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
- Will-o-wisp
- Trick
I'm generally not a big fan of Rotom, because of his terrible stats, but he seems to fit well into this team. He gives me something to switch into Choice Band Fighting and Normal types, who otherwise just wreck this team, and with his Will-o-Wisp he can cripple my opponent's offense. Trick is another great asset to the team. It helps give me some free switches, which are really essential to a team like this. Otherwise, there isn't really much to say about this guy. He just generally hits hard and has some useful resistances.
_____________________________________
So, that's the team. Obviously it's limited in how good it can be by the fact that it's mono-choice item, but it's still been incredibly effective so far. The main goal here is to get some big hits in early with my heavy hitters, crippling my opponents defenses enough that one of my speedy sweepers can get a clean sweep. This team has trouble with a bunch of pokemon, but luckily, it has tons of different options for revenge killing, making it difficult to be outright sweep. This team has been fun to play with, and it's forced me to play well, as one wrong move with this team usually means a lost game.
And that's about all I have to say. Any comments would be helpful, and thanks for reading.
Credit for the awesome art goes to Aragornbird
