National Dex [Nat Dex OU] Games of Sacrifice: Hoopa-Unbound & Triple U-turn [Peak 84.3% GXE, 1755 ELO]

Ascolto · Dec 27, 2021

Introduction:

Hello :-] this is my first RMT and I decided to create a team featuring Hoopa-Unbound. This team was originally inspired by another team featured by Zeusen back in November 14, 2018 for SM OU. As such, you may definitely see a similar construct for the backbone of the team with theirs. I had belief that it may work well in the current metagame and I decided to give it a try. Evidently, I did have to make a few tweaks along the way to build it more in tune with the National Dex metagame and give it my own flavor. It genuinely did not disappoint and I'm quite glad that the original team was posted. As such, shout out to you Zeusen, parts of your composition gave me a decent enough peak and I really loved your team :-]

Teambuilding Process:

I wanted to build a team around an underrated slow wallbreaker that can mess around against balance and bulkier team archetypes. I often think of slow wallbreakers such as Hoopa-Unbound as creating games of sacrifice (hence, the name) since that's exactly what I think my opponent is feeling when mons such as this come in. In this case, I decided to use Hoopa-Unbound as it perfectly fits that bill.

Hoopa-Unbound, in my opinion, provides very little defensive utility and I wanted to produce some form of defensive backbone for the team. In this case, I utilized Scizor-Mega whose revenge killing abilities with priority Bullet Punch helps soften issues with more offensive archetypes. Additionally, the slow U-turn helps bring Hoopa-Unbound back in safely and allow it to reach for another kill.

Originally, I placed Tapu Bulu in this slot similar to Zeusen's team, but I realized that it doesn't work as well as I had expected. I ultimately decided to use Kyurem instead as it can further bolster the ability of the team to deal with more passive teams. Compared to Tapu Bulu, Kyurem can to a certain extent deal with Zapdos and I believe it helps more massively against weather teams such as Rain and to a certain extent against Sand and even Stall for that matter due to Pressure. I also couldn't help, but put it in since it provides a good amount of offensive and defensive utility against mons such as Toxapex, Tangrowth, and Heatran.

I decided to add Landorus-Therian for Intimidate and Defog support. This mon is so splashable and it does so many things for the team. It can late game spam Earthquake, provide U-turn, act as Speed Control, and can serve as a check against Zeraora, Excadrill, and certain variants of Volcarona (although it is a bit shaky at best in this regard).

Toxapex acts primarily as a Haze and Toxic Spikes supporter and as a special wall. It helps against Kommo-O, Psychic-less Volcarona, and certain set-up sweepers. I very much found the addition of Haze in the team very useful since some situations can arise where after Hoopa-Unbound gets a kill, I'm presented with a loss of momentum and the possibility of being set-up upon. In such cases, Toxapex comes in handy.

Gliscor acts as a status absorber, a third U-turn and Stealth Rock user, and as an additional mon to deal with Sand teams. For some reason, I've always wondered if this is the best mon to put in the last slot. While I didn't have much issues laddering with this mon, I was still thinking about what would happen if I replaced it with a set-up sweeper or an additional scarfer for speed control (I'm thinking physical Tapu Koko bizarrely to Brave Bird Volcarona and Wild Charge against set-up Tapu Fini that may otherwise Taunt my Toxapex). Also, Tapu Koko provides U-turn support as well. However, I've decided not to change this yet as of current laddering, but might if things go well.

The Team:

Hoopa-Unbound @ Choice Band
Ability: Magician
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Hyperspace Fury
- Gunk Shot
- Fire Punch
- Drain Punch

Set Description:

A vastly stressful balance breaker that forces sacrifices from your opponent due to its ability to OHKO or 2HKO a great portion of the metagame.
A variety of mons such as Slowbro, Galarian Slowking, Tangrowth, Heatran, Zapdos, Corviknight, Blissey, Ferrothorn, Skarmory, and you name it all cannot hold their weight against a Hyperspace Fury.
I found it most useful when employing a hit and run tactic as it should be brought in safely to wreck havoc and break teams apart.
Adamant nature is used to ensure that Hoopa-Unbound can successfully 2HKO fully physically defensive variants of Ferrothorn, Skarmory, and Toxapex.
Gunk Shot is used for obscene damage output against Clefable and other bulky Fairy types.
I didn't seem to have much of a problem with the fact that I do not have a Psychic-type STAB. However, if I were to remove one move for a second physical STAB, I would probably delete Fire Punch for an easier match-up against Fighting types. I rarely use Fire Punch but it does come in handy against Steel types such as Scizor-Mega.
Drain Punch has the interesting but rare utility of providing Hoopa-Unbound a second lease on life. At times, the recovery it gives can bring it back from low to near full health and allow it another shot at taking weak special attacks and go in for another kill.
Life Orb seems to be a possible secondary option for an item as it allows me to switch moves and OHKO Tyranitar or certain variants of Bisharp that may attempt to use Pursuit. This may also come in handy against teams that have bulky Fairy types.

Scizor-Mega @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
- Swords Dance
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Roost

Set Description:

The 1st physically defensive pivot of the team that helps against Diancie-Mega, physically oriented mons such as Weavile, Gliscor, Landorus-Therian, and Rillaboom.
It also synergizes well with Hoopa-Unbound to remove Fairy types that would otherwise be a nuisance against it.
Swords Dance to provide sweeping potential against weakened teams
U-turn to help vastly with bringing Hoopa-Unbound back in.
Bullet Punch provides it a chance to revenge kill and helps against more offensive teams.
Roost for longevity.

Kyurem @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 56 HP / 252 Def / 140 SpD / 60 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Freeze-Dry
- Earth Power
- Roost

Set Description:

Oppressive against passive mons and further adds pressure against Balance and Stall teams.
It provides additional utility by tremendously aiding against Rain teams as well and to a certain extent against Sand.
EVs were made specifically to produce 101 HP Substitutes. Full defense EVs and a Bold Nature to take as much physical hits as possible whilst the rest of the EVs are dunked in Special Defense to tank hits further. However, I added 60 EVs on Speed to be faster than variants of Magnezone lacking Scarf.
The possibility of fishing a freeze is definitely a thing as the high PP of Freeze-Dry can negatively turn tables when it does happen.
Heavy-Duty Boots are used in order to prevent entry hazards damage and it helps lessen reliance on Defog.

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 32 HP / 252 Atk / 224 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Defog

Set Description:

Highly splashable mon that acts as the 2nd pivot and provides Intimidate support, speed control, Defog utility, and so much more.
It can act as a Volcarona check, but it can be shaky at times.
In rare occasions, it does manage to clean lategame by just spamming Earthquake.
Highly useful for checking Garchomp, Excadrill, Aegislash, Kartana, and a variety of other mons that may otherwise make the team more susceptible to being swept.

Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 44 Def / 216 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic Spikes
- Haze
- Scald
- Recover

Set Description:

Provides Toxic Spikes support for additional pressure againt balance.
Haze is the most important move as it helps neutralize mons that can go awry and out of control such as Serperior, Volcarona, Kommo-O, and more.
Scald as the main attacking move and has the chance of inflicting burns to further soften blows against physical attacking mons.
Recover for longevity.
Acts as a check against certain variants of Greninja, Volcarona, Tapu Fini, and other special attacking mons.

Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 240 HP / 156 SpD / 112 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Roost

Set Description:

The 3rd pivot of the team.
It acts as a status absorber, a Stealth Rock setter, and provides additional pivoting capabilities.
Can act as a check against Mega-Mawile, Tyranitar, and Excadrill.
As stated, I'm experimenting on this slot and figuring out if I should use a different mon (perhaps, Tapu Koko?) Although for now, I am keeping it since it does keep my team very well-built against Heatran, Toxapex, Aegislash, and a variety of other mons.

Threatlist:

Swords Dance Gliscor can definitely work against my team and can be a nuisance if my Kyurem is already weakened. In such cases, I'd have to preserve it and play more aggressively to remove it.

Bulky Calm Mind + Taunt users such as Tapu Fini almost always proves difficult for my team as well as Toxapex can no longer handle it and it becomes more of a liability. I would usually have to use Scizor-Mega to weaken it and attempt to reach for a KO. This is also probably the reason why I wanted to change my last slot for Tapu Koko to better deal with these types of mons.

It really depends on the set that it is using, but in general, it is also a threat against my team as it can easily break past Toxapex, my main wallbreaker Hoopa-U if not locked into a Psychic-type move and is faster than my main speed control in the form of Landorus-Therian. I'd have to rely once more on Scizor-Mega to deal with it.

Big threat as it can easily pummel through more than half of my team. I often have to play similar games of sacrifice in order to find a way out.

Hoopa-Unbound @ Choice Band
Ability: Magician
EVs: 24 HP / 252 Atk / 232 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Hyperspace Fury
- Gunk Shot
- Fire Punch
- Drain Punch

Scizor-Mega @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 248 HP / 236 Def / 16 SpD / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Swords Dance
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Roost

Kyurem @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 56 HP / 252 Def / 140 SpD / 60 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Freeze-Dry
- Earth Power
- Roost

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 32 HP / 252 Atk / 224 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Defog

Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 44 Def / 216 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic Spikes
- Haze
- Scald
- Recover

Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 240 HP / 156 SpD / 112 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Roost

Anyway, if you've made it this far, thank you for reading :-]

National Dex [Nat Dex OU] Games of Sacrifice: Hoopa-Unbound & Triple U-turn [Peak 84.3% GXE, 1755 ELO]

Ascolto

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