I made this guide on microsoft, so here it is. I said id make it in one of the sticky threads.
This is long, so bear with me!
Using UU or NU Pokemon in the OU Metagame
ADV Version
Are you sick and tired of using Snorlax/Blissey/Regice on your standard team? Well, maybe it’s time you took a break and tried something from another tier list! UU/NU pokemon in the OU metagame is rather risky. However, playing with the risk is quite fun, considering you may have won using something like Quagsire instead of Swampert.
Here is a list of considerable pokemon in OU:
UU NU
Aggron Kecleon
Ampharos Mawile
Blastoise Nosepass
Camerupt
Clefable
Hipno
Kangaskhan
Lanturn
Lunatone
Mr. Mime
Nidoking
Quagsire
Solrock
Shedinja
As you can see, there are plenty more UUs that can be used in OU than NUs.
Scenarios where UU/NU can be used
Well, it’s obvious that the opponent can kill you in 2 hits, and you lose. Suicune is faster and has STABbed Surf, while you can’t really do much to it because of its Bold nature. But, what if you were using Quagsire?
Quagsire has the Water Absorb trait, so Suicune can’t do anything to you, and you are free to Curse up and Earthquake it to death. This is just one scenario, so why don’t we take a look at another?
Those are just to name a few, but let me move on to my next topic…
Unpredictability
We all know how important this is in OU. That’s why Gengar is used so often. Well, you can apply this concept to UUs in OU. Clefable and Nidoking and two very unqiue pokemon with diverse movesets. Clefable has MANY different movesets. Think of it this way: you have a Physical Clefable (either with a Choice Band or Belly Drum), and your opponent has let their Blissey switch in. Why did they do this, you may ask? Well, they most likely predicted that you were using a Clefable with Calm Mind, and they sent in Blissey to take it on, being a special tank. Or, they predicted it was a stalling Clefable and sent Blissey on to absorb status, via Aromatherapy or Natural Cure. This was a mistake, but they do not know that. If you use a CB Clefable, you will put a HUGE dent in Blissey, making it unlikely that they will switch it in again, or they will Seismic Toss/T-Wave you, while you Belly Drum. Now, if they choose to switch, the incoming pokemon will probably take a rather large dent in it (barring Skarmory or something). This is why I run Thunderbolt on my BD Clefable. Predictability is a huge part of unpredictabilityl; you have to predict the out come of your pokemon with a diverse move pool. Nidoking is similar; they do not know if it is a CB Nidoking, or if it’s a mixed sweeper. Clefable is one of my favorite UUs because of its ability to ruin an opponent’s plan.
Countering Standard OUs
I already showed you how Quagsire can ruin a non-Ice Beam Suicune. Now, it’s time to show how the others can counter OUs. Let’s start by countering special sweepers. Kecleon, Lanturn and Shedinja are great at this. Kecleon has a decent 120 Base SDef, and gets Trick. He can give a special sweeper a Choice Band to render their special attacks useless. Lanturn resists Water, Fire, Ice and Electric (if and only if it has Volt Absorb), which are all very common special types of attacks. Shedinja’s Wonder Guard makes many pokemon useless (Suicune, McIceGar and Starmie to name a few), but with Spikes and Tyranitar’s Sand Stream around, he is not a good choice for OU play. For physical sweepers, there is Aggron and Torkoal. Torkoal vomits on CB Heracross and Metagross. This is because he can easily switch in on a CB Megahorn and Meteor Mash. Aggron…oh boy. He laughs his head off at CB Snorlax, Tauros, Salamence, Gyrarados, and sometimes Heracross. He takes their STAB moves like nothing. Just use him with Gengar, who is immune to all of his 4x weaknesses. Let’s not forget Solrock either. He takes any normal, flying and ground attack like someone threw a piece of dirt at him. Ground is a very common CB attack type, so he is an awesome OU CB counter. Nosepass is used to counter Skarmory because he gets Taunt and Thunder, but I’d much rather use Magneton for that role. Ampharos is know as a “Skarm-Bliss” counter because it gets Focus Punch and Thunderbolt-both key in taking down these annoying stallers. Lunatone does a good job countering Salamence with resitance to all of its common moves and the ability to Ice Beam it.
BatonPass Teams
These are still quite common in OU right now. They are annoying, right? I found they got boring quite easily too. Try using Mawile, Hipno, or even Solrock/Lunatone on your team! Mawile can pass Swords Dance or Iron Defense. He can also Intimidate, which makes him last a bit longer. However, Hyper Cutter protects him from being Intimidated himself, which would normally hurt his SD passing abilities. Hipno can Baton Pass Calm Minds, Wishes, or Substitutes. Solrock/Lunatone can also pass Calm Minds, but I prefer to let them do their other jobs at countering OUs. Of course, there is Mr. Mime. He has Soundproof, which prevents him from being Roared by Skarmory or Suicune or the like. He still can be Whirlwinded or Hazed out, however. Mr. Mime is great for passing CMs and Substitutes like no other.
Closing
Most UUs or NUs are kind of like mini versions of OUs. Blastoise can Rest-Talk-Roar if you want. Kangaskhan and Camerupt are good CBers. In conclusion, whenever you feel bored of the OU metagame, try spicing it up by using some UU/NUs in your team. Just don’t fight OU using a pure UU team! You can win in a cool fashion, or you can laugh at the fact your opponent lost to some lower level pokemon.
Credits go to everyone at Smogon, but mainly the people contributing movesets to the ADV generation. They gave me the idea to make this guide, and helped me come up with some facts to back up my ideas.
Ok, thats it. Tell me what you think, please!
This is long, so bear with me!
Using UU or NU Pokemon in the OU Metagame
ADV Version
Are you sick and tired of using Snorlax/Blissey/Regice on your standard team? Well, maybe it’s time you took a break and tried something from another tier list! UU/NU pokemon in the OU metagame is rather risky. However, playing with the risk is quite fun, considering you may have won using something like Quagsire instead of Swampert.
Here is a list of considerable pokemon in OU:
UU NU
Aggron Kecleon
Ampharos Mawile
Blastoise Nosepass
Camerupt
Clefable
Hipno
Kangaskhan
Lanturn
Lunatone
Mr. Mime
Nidoking
Quagsire
Solrock
Shedinja
As you can see, there are plenty more UUs that can be used in OU than NUs.
Scenarios where UU/NU can be used
- You: Swampert (“Cursepert”), medium HP
Well, it’s obvious that the opponent can kill you in 2 hits, and you lose. Suicune is faster and has STABbed Surf, while you can’t really do much to it because of its Bold nature. But, what if you were using Quagsire?
- You Quagsire (With Curse Moveset, and Water Absorb trait) medium HP
Quagsire has the Water Absorb trait, so Suicune can’t do anything to you, and you are free to Curse up and Earthquake it to death. This is just one scenario, so why don’t we take a look at another?
- You are facing an opponent that has a near maxed CM Suicune (5 Calm Minds on it). It has just killed your Skarmory, and you send Snorlax out. Both of you are at your last pokemon now. It seems that you may lose. But, what if you had Kecleon with Trick? You could predict that final Calm Mind for max stats, and use Trick while holding a Choice Band. Suicune may only use Calm Mind, while your Kecleon gets Leftovers and is free to Focus Punch Suicune to death.
Those are just to name a few, but let me move on to my next topic…
Unpredictability
We all know how important this is in OU. That’s why Gengar is used so often. Well, you can apply this concept to UUs in OU. Clefable and Nidoking and two very unqiue pokemon with diverse movesets. Clefable has MANY different movesets. Think of it this way: you have a Physical Clefable (either with a Choice Band or Belly Drum), and your opponent has let their Blissey switch in. Why did they do this, you may ask? Well, they most likely predicted that you were using a Clefable with Calm Mind, and they sent in Blissey to take it on, being a special tank. Or, they predicted it was a stalling Clefable and sent Blissey on to absorb status, via Aromatherapy or Natural Cure. This was a mistake, but they do not know that. If you use a CB Clefable, you will put a HUGE dent in Blissey, making it unlikely that they will switch it in again, or they will Seismic Toss/T-Wave you, while you Belly Drum. Now, if they choose to switch, the incoming pokemon will probably take a rather large dent in it (barring Skarmory or something). This is why I run Thunderbolt on my BD Clefable. Predictability is a huge part of unpredictabilityl; you have to predict the out come of your pokemon with a diverse move pool. Nidoking is similar; they do not know if it is a CB Nidoking, or if it’s a mixed sweeper. Clefable is one of my favorite UUs because of its ability to ruin an opponent’s plan.
Countering Standard OUs
I already showed you how Quagsire can ruin a non-Ice Beam Suicune. Now, it’s time to show how the others can counter OUs. Let’s start by countering special sweepers. Kecleon, Lanturn and Shedinja are great at this. Kecleon has a decent 120 Base SDef, and gets Trick. He can give a special sweeper a Choice Band to render their special attacks useless. Lanturn resists Water, Fire, Ice and Electric (if and only if it has Volt Absorb), which are all very common special types of attacks. Shedinja’s Wonder Guard makes many pokemon useless (Suicune, McIceGar and Starmie to name a few), but with Spikes and Tyranitar’s Sand Stream around, he is not a good choice for OU play. For physical sweepers, there is Aggron and Torkoal. Torkoal vomits on CB Heracross and Metagross. This is because he can easily switch in on a CB Megahorn and Meteor Mash. Aggron…oh boy. He laughs his head off at CB Snorlax, Tauros, Salamence, Gyrarados, and sometimes Heracross. He takes their STAB moves like nothing. Just use him with Gengar, who is immune to all of his 4x weaknesses. Let’s not forget Solrock either. He takes any normal, flying and ground attack like someone threw a piece of dirt at him. Ground is a very common CB attack type, so he is an awesome OU CB counter. Nosepass is used to counter Skarmory because he gets Taunt and Thunder, but I’d much rather use Magneton for that role. Ampharos is know as a “Skarm-Bliss” counter because it gets Focus Punch and Thunderbolt-both key in taking down these annoying stallers. Lunatone does a good job countering Salamence with resitance to all of its common moves and the ability to Ice Beam it.
BatonPass Teams
These are still quite common in OU right now. They are annoying, right? I found they got boring quite easily too. Try using Mawile, Hipno, or even Solrock/Lunatone on your team! Mawile can pass Swords Dance or Iron Defense. He can also Intimidate, which makes him last a bit longer. However, Hyper Cutter protects him from being Intimidated himself, which would normally hurt his SD passing abilities. Hipno can Baton Pass Calm Minds, Wishes, or Substitutes. Solrock/Lunatone can also pass Calm Minds, but I prefer to let them do their other jobs at countering OUs. Of course, there is Mr. Mime. He has Soundproof, which prevents him from being Roared by Skarmory or Suicune or the like. He still can be Whirlwinded or Hazed out, however. Mr. Mime is great for passing CMs and Substitutes like no other.
Closing
Most UUs or NUs are kind of like mini versions of OUs. Blastoise can Rest-Talk-Roar if you want. Kangaskhan and Camerupt are good CBers. In conclusion, whenever you feel bored of the OU metagame, try spicing it up by using some UU/NUs in your team. Just don’t fight OU using a pure UU team! You can win in a cool fashion, or you can laugh at the fact your opponent lost to some lower level pokemon.
Credits go to everyone at Smogon, but mainly the people contributing movesets to the ADV generation. They gave me the idea to make this guide, and helped me come up with some facts to back up my ideas.
Ok, thats it. Tell me what you think, please!
