I know. First thoughts from everyone are "Why?" and "What were you thinking?" Hippo and Ttar are stuck up in OU, and is it really worth it to use a smooth rock/sandstormer when there are plenty of Rain Dance teams floating around?
Well, there's always NFE, right? Yep, I've got a team with Hippopotas. Leading the charge. Wasted slot, you say? Yeah, I thought that at first when I tried it out, but you'd be surprised what the little fellow can do. I've gotten mixed results with the team, but it shows a lot more promise than I thought, especially since it's almost like having a man down with an NFE.
There they are.
Hippopotas @ Focus Sash
Impish
252 HP / 252 Def / 6 Spe
Earthquake
Toxic
Stealth Rock
Protect
Ok, this one's the one that looks like a joke, I know. But he's not too different than other suicide leads except in the fact that he's pretty much guaranteed to not kill anything. But he does all of the setup I need.
Sand Stream sets up permanent Sandstorm, which is a key on the team, and he does that just by coming out, obviously, so he's already accomplished his most important mission. First attack is Stealth Rock unless I'm expecting to be Taunted, in which case I'll switch. Against any Fake Out leads (Ambipom for the most part) he Protects, keeping the Sash intact. Then SR. Toxic gets spit at anything trying to set up, though Yawn is an option.
With the HP/Def and Impish nature he can actually survive a physical hit from some things without needing the sash. If he does, and has already set up SR, then I'll switch him out and save him for later as a sacrifice or to restart Sandstorm if someone changes the weather.
Omastar @ Life Orb
Modest
Swift Swim
252 SpA / 252 Spe / 6 HP
Surf
Ice Beam
HP Grass
Protect
Modified Rain Dance Omastar. Yeah, Rain Dance. With Abomasnow up in BL, that takes away most of the worries of Hail. Then I'm up against Rain Dance in UU, primarily. Should someone set up Rain, Omastar can try and come in and abuse it a little bit. If there's no rain, he still gets the SpD boost form Sandstorm.
Surf is for stab, Ice Beam and HP Grass are for general coverage. HP Grass over HP Electric mostly for Kautops and the Water/Grounds running around UU. Protect is basically filler, but it lets me scout attacks and rack up another turn of Sandstorm/Toxic damage on the opponent without losing LO recoil.
Hitmontop @ Life Orb
Adamant
Technician
252 Atk / 252 HP / 6 Def
Mach Punch
Bullet Punch
Sucker Punch
Fake Out
When I first made this Hitmontop I was using the Technician version from the analysis. While it was good, a SubCM Mismagius was really annoying, so I dropped Close Combat for Bullet Punch.
The goal with this guy is to come in and hit with whatever the best priority attack is. Speed is not an issue, obviously. If they're not a ghost, I hit with Fake Out, then a punch unless they're in KO range of just a punch or hit SE. Ghosts using Substitute get hit with BP, otherwise Sucker Punch hits really hard when they attack.
The drawback here is losing Close Combat, of course. It does mean I get to maximize both Atk and HP because of having all priority moves, but I lose a lot of raw attacking power. Also, LO recoil with Sandstorm wears down Hitmontop pretty quick, but losing the 30% boost would really hurt.
Shuckle @ Leftovers
Impish
252 HP / 208 Def / 48 SpD
Toxic
Wrap
Knock Off
Rest
I'm a huge Shuckle fanboy. I can deal with abysmal HP because his defenses all around are so absurd. The Nature/EVs boost up his defenses tons, and then Sandstorm makes his SpD go through the roof. Since attacking power is generally lower in UU, he's ready to take some unboosted surfs and such.
Toxic is self-explanatory. If I can poison them then it's just a matter of Resting/switching until they're done. Rest is also obvious, maximizing Shuckle's survivability. Knock off removes Lefties/Black Sludge from anything so Sandstorm can start wearing them down. The Nidos are an annoying pair in this sense because they're immune to both Sandstorm and Toxic, and usually carry Lefties.
That's where Wrap comes in. Initially it'll only deal ~1% to anything. But then the residual damage following it is 6% each turn for 2-5 turns. Combined with Sandstorm, that's 12% per turn on quite a few pokemon, in addition to potential Toxic damage. For the Nidos, it's at least a way to damage them. Combined with Rest, Shuckle can stall out a ton of stuff.
Regirock @ Leftovers
Impish
252 HP / 112 Def / 144 SpD
Rock Slide
Thunder Wave
Swagger
Explosion
The only downside to this guy is how much poison is getting spread around, making T-Wave not the best attack. But if a poison or steel type comes around, it's nice to be able to status them too.
Assuming I get the T-wave in, Rock slide gets STAB off and has the flinch chance. As long as I don't Swagger at a nasty physical attacker, I can take the boosted hits because of Regi's enormous defense and decent HP. If I get T-wave then the combination of paraflinchfusion makes it tough for people to attack. Explosion is a parting gift for an opponent.
I've considered Body Slam over T-wave, but I'd rather get the guaranteed paralysis if they're not already poisoned.
Nidoqueen @ Black Sludge
Impish
Poison Point
252 HP / 96 Atk / 160 Def
Crunch
Earthquake
Stone Edge
Toxic Spikes
Nidoqueen continues the poison frenzy of the team, and she pretty much does it best. Toxic Spikes go down and help spread around the poisoning. Otherwise, Crunch hits psychics, EQ for STAB. Stone Edge is another hard-hitting attack, but it's currently on its way out so I can replace it with Roar to deal with the stat uppers who come in and set up.
EVs are defensive again, with a little addition to attack. Once I switch out Stone Edge for Roar, Nidoqueen's going to mostly be there to lay down spikes and deal with stat uppers, instead of trying to attack things like it does now. She's also there to absorb some fighting attacks.
So that's the team. I addressed most of my concerns with the various pokemon in there. I've thought about switching out Omastar for Kabutops to get the extra speed, but then I lose my only special attacker. I do want to keep one or the other of them to have Swift Swim work in case of Rain Dancers.
Stat uppers are the biggest problems I've faced, particularly CM Clefable, who laughes mercilessly at Sandstorm and Toxic, and simply Softboileds away any of poor Shuckle's best efforts with Toxic. A sturdy RestTalker also proves very annoying, though when my Shuckle went head to head with a RestTalking Blastoise it was about even.
Thanks for any helpful comments/ideas.
Well, there's always NFE, right? Yep, I've got a team with Hippopotas. Leading the charge. Wasted slot, you say? Yeah, I thought that at first when I tried it out, but you'd be surprised what the little fellow can do. I've gotten mixed results with the team, but it shows a lot more promise than I thought, especially since it's almost like having a man down with an NFE.
There they are.
Hippopotas @ Focus Sash
Impish
252 HP / 252 Def / 6 Spe
Earthquake
Toxic
Stealth Rock
Protect
Ok, this one's the one that looks like a joke, I know. But he's not too different than other suicide leads except in the fact that he's pretty much guaranteed to not kill anything. But he does all of the setup I need.
Sand Stream sets up permanent Sandstorm, which is a key on the team, and he does that just by coming out, obviously, so he's already accomplished his most important mission. First attack is Stealth Rock unless I'm expecting to be Taunted, in which case I'll switch. Against any Fake Out leads (Ambipom for the most part) he Protects, keeping the Sash intact. Then SR. Toxic gets spit at anything trying to set up, though Yawn is an option.
With the HP/Def and Impish nature he can actually survive a physical hit from some things without needing the sash. If he does, and has already set up SR, then I'll switch him out and save him for later as a sacrifice or to restart Sandstorm if someone changes the weather.
Omastar @ Life Orb
Modest
Swift Swim
252 SpA / 252 Spe / 6 HP
Surf
Ice Beam
HP Grass
Protect
Modified Rain Dance Omastar. Yeah, Rain Dance. With Abomasnow up in BL, that takes away most of the worries of Hail. Then I'm up against Rain Dance in UU, primarily. Should someone set up Rain, Omastar can try and come in and abuse it a little bit. If there's no rain, he still gets the SpD boost form Sandstorm.
Surf is for stab, Ice Beam and HP Grass are for general coverage. HP Grass over HP Electric mostly for Kautops and the Water/Grounds running around UU. Protect is basically filler, but it lets me scout attacks and rack up another turn of Sandstorm/Toxic damage on the opponent without losing LO recoil.
Hitmontop @ Life Orb
Adamant
Technician
252 Atk / 252 HP / 6 Def
Mach Punch
Bullet Punch
Sucker Punch
Fake Out
When I first made this Hitmontop I was using the Technician version from the analysis. While it was good, a SubCM Mismagius was really annoying, so I dropped Close Combat for Bullet Punch.
The goal with this guy is to come in and hit with whatever the best priority attack is. Speed is not an issue, obviously. If they're not a ghost, I hit with Fake Out, then a punch unless they're in KO range of just a punch or hit SE. Ghosts using Substitute get hit with BP, otherwise Sucker Punch hits really hard when they attack.
The drawback here is losing Close Combat, of course. It does mean I get to maximize both Atk and HP because of having all priority moves, but I lose a lot of raw attacking power. Also, LO recoil with Sandstorm wears down Hitmontop pretty quick, but losing the 30% boost would really hurt.
Shuckle @ Leftovers
Impish
252 HP / 208 Def / 48 SpD
Toxic
Wrap
Knock Off
Rest
I'm a huge Shuckle fanboy. I can deal with abysmal HP because his defenses all around are so absurd. The Nature/EVs boost up his defenses tons, and then Sandstorm makes his SpD go through the roof. Since attacking power is generally lower in UU, he's ready to take some unboosted surfs and such.
Toxic is self-explanatory. If I can poison them then it's just a matter of Resting/switching until they're done. Rest is also obvious, maximizing Shuckle's survivability. Knock off removes Lefties/Black Sludge from anything so Sandstorm can start wearing them down. The Nidos are an annoying pair in this sense because they're immune to both Sandstorm and Toxic, and usually carry Lefties.
That's where Wrap comes in. Initially it'll only deal ~1% to anything. But then the residual damage following it is 6% each turn for 2-5 turns. Combined with Sandstorm, that's 12% per turn on quite a few pokemon, in addition to potential Toxic damage. For the Nidos, it's at least a way to damage them. Combined with Rest, Shuckle can stall out a ton of stuff.
Regirock @ Leftovers
Impish
252 HP / 112 Def / 144 SpD
Rock Slide
Thunder Wave
Swagger
Explosion
The only downside to this guy is how much poison is getting spread around, making T-Wave not the best attack. But if a poison or steel type comes around, it's nice to be able to status them too.
Assuming I get the T-wave in, Rock slide gets STAB off and has the flinch chance. As long as I don't Swagger at a nasty physical attacker, I can take the boosted hits because of Regi's enormous defense and decent HP. If I get T-wave then the combination of paraflinchfusion makes it tough for people to attack. Explosion is a parting gift for an opponent.
I've considered Body Slam over T-wave, but I'd rather get the guaranteed paralysis if they're not already poisoned.
Nidoqueen @ Black Sludge
Impish
Poison Point
252 HP / 96 Atk / 160 Def
Crunch
Earthquake
Stone Edge
Toxic Spikes
Nidoqueen continues the poison frenzy of the team, and she pretty much does it best. Toxic Spikes go down and help spread around the poisoning. Otherwise, Crunch hits psychics, EQ for STAB. Stone Edge is another hard-hitting attack, but it's currently on its way out so I can replace it with Roar to deal with the stat uppers who come in and set up.
EVs are defensive again, with a little addition to attack. Once I switch out Stone Edge for Roar, Nidoqueen's going to mostly be there to lay down spikes and deal with stat uppers, instead of trying to attack things like it does now. She's also there to absorb some fighting attacks.
So that's the team. I addressed most of my concerns with the various pokemon in there. I've thought about switching out Omastar for Kabutops to get the extra speed, but then I lose my only special attacker. I do want to keep one or the other of them to have Swift Swim work in case of Rain Dancers.
Stat uppers are the biggest problems I've faced, particularly CM Clefable, who laughes mercilessly at Sandstorm and Toxic, and simply Softboileds away any of poor Shuckle's best efforts with Toxic. A sturdy RestTalker also proves very annoying, though when my Shuckle went head to head with a RestTalking Blastoise it was about even.
Thanks for any helpful comments/ideas.
