UU Spriter-Player's Horrible Team Alert!!

[Black Buddha]

Oh Noes! Its that spriter!!
Well yeah, its me again with a RMT this time for UU. As you all know I have been playing UU for quite a while now, although Im still not too good at it >>. PLease help this team as it needs some fixing upping!
And hopefully, it will receive some attention >>
SO on to the team!

Team At A Glance​

Yes I made that myself ;)​

In Depth​

Nidoking (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Rivalry
EVs: 114 Atk/252 Spd/144 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Earth Power
- Sucker Punch
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
A Nidoking set I found somewhere. This works surprisingly effectively. Taunt is to mess up other setup leads, also many people dont see it coming. Earth Power gets Steelix and other crap, Sucker Punch for guys who try to deal some damage as I go down after my sash is broken. Prevents opposing Stealth Rock and sets up my own. I have been having problems with ScarfMoth leads, I usually end up with using SR and then switching out to a resist, saving King for death fodder. 144 SpA always OHKOs 252HP/252Def/6Atk Steelix.

Ninetales (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 6 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Energy Ball
- Nasty Plot
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power [Rock]

My setup Special Sweeper. I used to run Hypnosis but since its accuracy check, I removed it for Energy Ball, giving greater coverage. I aslo changed from Wide Lens to Life Orb as Im content with the 85% acc of Fire Blast. HP Rock for opposing Ninetales and other crapitty crap.
Currently Testing:
Camerupt @ Life Orb
Mild
Solid Rock
EV's: 8Atk / 252SpA / 248Spe
~Rock Polish
~Fire Blast
~Explosion
~Earth Power

Rock Polish Camerupt. I though that I needed someone who could damage stuff a lot while being moderatley bulky, so Camerupt with Solid Rock came to mind. Is doing quite OK...

Absol (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Super Luck
EVs: 6 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Psycho Cut
- Superpower

Standard SD Absol. SD raises attacks to high levels. Psycho Cut is my main form of sweeping, many people dont expect it and send in their Hitmons, which get slaughtered. Superpower to do some final damage before I switch or die. Sucker Punch to pick off choiced pokemon or other stuff. Overall excellent sweeper.

Kangaskhan (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 212 HP/252 Atk/44 Def
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Substitute
- Sucker Punch
- Focus Punch
- Return

Subpunching Kanga. Substitute stops status also helps "Sub"punch. Sucker Punch if I predict an attack, Focus Punch if I dont. Return for reliable STAB. EV's give 101HP Subs, so I put the rest in Defense. Works quite well once a sub is up.
Currently testing in place of Kanga:
Lapras @ Life Orb
Naughty
Water Absorb
EV's: 16HP / 252Atk / 224Spe / 16SpA
~Dragon Dance
~Return
~Hydro Pump
~Ice Beam

From the creative moveset thread. Its a wallbreaking Lapras, EV's are tailormade to KO specific walls.

Froslass (F) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Snow Cloak
EVs: 6 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power [Fighting]

My first antispin and hard hitting SpecSweeper. Bolt Beam for coverage and STAB. Ghost fighting also for STAB and coverage. Great spec sweeper, also can take on Claydol and Sandslash etc and come out victorious.

Rotom @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 6 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Will-o-wisp
- Trick
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball

Annoyer/AntiSpin. Rotom comes in on one of it three immunities and Tricks its Scarf onto other Pokemon. Now as they staty stuck in that move, Will-o-wisp hits their switch-in. Last two moves are to do damage, and are for Dual STAB.

Threats:
These are the offensive pokes out of the top 20 used pokes in UU:
Hitmontop
Rotom / Froslass switch into Mach Punch / CC. Froslass if they dont have Bullet Punch. Rotom can Trick or W-o-W to cripple it. I'll run Calcs for Ice Beam from Specslass on a technitop, since I think that variety is the common one.

Rotom
Rotom ties and threatens KO with Shadow Ball, I usually send in King to receive the Choice Scarf assuming hes still alive, otherwise I send in Absol to take the Trick

Ninetales
Problems if it sets up, otherwise Ninetales can tie and threaten HP Rock. I dunno what otherwise...

Venusaur
Froslass and Tales, like LonelyNess said.

Hitmonlee
The big one. I can only hope for a Trick or W-o-W from Rotom or I can switch into a CC on a ChoiceLee.

Swellow
Rotom is a counter with Scarf.

Absol
Not much of a problem, I need to predict well though...

Froslass
Im not too sure....Maybe Kanga coming in on a Shadow Ball :/ Ive seen mostly Spike variants which I DO have problems with >>

Altaria
No prob if I prevent setting up. Kanga could come in on Unboosted stuff and do damage with Sucker Punch

Kabutops
Crap without RD. I think Scarftom outspeeds in rain, if not im screwed >.<

Primeape
Two ghosts, good enough IMO...

Toxicroak
The reson I kept Psycho Cut over Night Slash originally...Nowadays I just play around it with Rotom's Will-o-Wisp..

This team has been netting me several wins, win % around 77%..
Please RATE MY TEAM!!

Credit to arkeis.com and pe2k.com for images, SolarHavoc for the Sprite Strip idea.

 

[Black Buddha]

BUMP
Plz Rate Guys >.<

 

[Matthew]

I actually don't see many things wrong with this besides you have pretty much nothing which can take on Hitmonlee. (unless Trick/Will-o-Wisp doesn't activate Sucker Punch then you have a hell of a counter)

Scarf-Saur causes a lot of problems but Rotom with Hidden Power [FIRE] would help quite a bit,

The last thing I see is maybe Crush-King would call this team its bitch, though I may be mistaken.

What is your defense against Nidoking?

The 44 Spe EV's on Khan I don't see them helping you out speed anything either you should lower your attack to increase speed or you should remove all the speed EV's to max your HP.

(Also I'm digging the team at a glance, I might make my own)

 

[Jaroku]

Right off the bat I would suggest that you put energy ball over hypnosis on ninetails. From personal expericen it has been a great help against things like lanturn after you have set up.

Also have you tried Nidoqueen over Nidoking? With the extra defenses and lum berry instead of focus sash you are almost always guranteed to get up stealth rocks. Also if you use nidoqueen use ice beam.

 

[Colloquy]

Nidoking (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Rivalry
EVs: 180 Atk/252 Spd/78 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Earth Power
- Sucker Punch
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
A Nidoking set I found somewhere. This works surprisingly effectively. Taunt is to mess up other setup leads, also many people dont see it coming. Earth Power gets Steelix and other crap, Sucker Punch for guys who try to deal some damage as I go down after my sash is broken. Prevents opposing Stealth Rock and sets up my own.

Not to totally bad idea, I love this lead, and helped popularize it, but Nidoqueen does this much better. Here's the set, and it works wonders.

Froslass (F) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Snow Cloak
EVs: 6 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power [Fighting]

My first antispin and hard hitting SpecSweeper. Bolt Beam for coverage and STAB. Ghost fighting also for STAB and coverage. Great spec sweeper, also can take on Claydol and Sandslash etc and come out victorious.

Rotom @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 6 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Will-o-wisp
- Trick
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball

Annoyer/AntiSpin. Rotom comes in on one of it three immunities and Tricks its Scarf onto other Pokemon. Now as they staty stuck in that move, Will-o-wisp hits their switch-in. Last two moves are to do damage, and are for Dual STAB.

I have no idea why you need two Anti-Spinners, on offensive teams, they don't even have a Ghost type normally.

I'd say replace it with a Scarf Saur of your own, carrying Hidden Power Psychic.

 

[LonelyNess]

I'm sorry, but what is everyone talking about? Scarf Venusuar is stopped cold by a combination of Ninetales and Froslass. If the opponent uses Sludge Bomb for the 2HKO, they miss the 2HKO on Froslass, and if the opponent uses Leaf Storm for the OHKO on Froslass, they don't even 4HKO Ninetales, and are left incredibly vulnerable to a Nasty Plot sweep. You honestly have nothing to worry about.

--------------------

Your EV spreads don't have to be nearly so basic, especially that Rotom one. You only need to be 434 Spe with Scarf Rotom, this allows you to outspeed everything notable. (Base 95 Pokemon with a Neutral Nature and a Scarf). Everything else is either not in the top 75% of usage, or uses a neutral nature according to Shoddy statistics. Because of this, you can afford to get rid of some of those Spe EVs and pump up your HP a little bit. The little bit of added bulk wil be a nice little feature to your Rotom.

72 HP / 184 Spe / 252 SpA

--------------------

I think I've made more than enough cases against Hypnosis on Ninetales. It's just plain not worth it and it doesn't aid the sweep at all. Use Hp Rock, it aids the sweep far more than Hypnosis.

---------------------

Use Night Slash over Psycho Cut. The ability to hit Psychic types who may try to status you for Super Effective damage is far more valuable than hitting Toxicroak and Weezing for harder damage. Especially because Weezing will be OHKO'd by a +2 Night Slash if it's below 80%, and Toxicroak even has a slight chance to be OHKO'd by Sucker Punch after Stealth Rock damage. Long story short, you don't need Psycho Cut.

---------------------

If anything, Choice Band Hitmonlee poses a far larger threat to your team. It can OHKO everything on your team. Luckily, it has hard time coming in on anything, but it can revenge kill with amazing efficacy and cause your entire team immense trouble.

Choice Band Drapion also causes the team trouble, especially because it has very good Special Defense, so it can easily take a hit from Rotom or Froslass and Pursuit you to oblivion, futher opening your Hitmonlee weakness.

There's no real way to prevent this other than being careful, but I just thought I'd tell you of the problem so you could know what you're up against.

------------------------

The team has really good synergy, and I'd hate to ruin it just to fix those threats. And even those threats can be played around. Well done.

 

[Muntz]

Nidoking (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Rivalry
EVs: 180 Atk/252 Spd/78 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Earth Power
- Sucker Punch
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
A Nidoking set I found somewhere. This works surprisingly effectively. Taunt is to mess up other setup leads, also many people dont see it coming. Earth Power gets Steelix and other crap, Sucker Punch for guys who try to deal some damage as I go down after my sash is broken. Prevents opposing Stealth Rock and sets up my own.

Lol, I made that set, but with all Physical (Eartquake)

*Edit: He isn't outclassed by Queen, he has much better Attack and Speed, so he can Taunt her and things just a little faster. Use Poison Point, Rivalry is a useless ability. Poison Point has always been great when I use it. Lead Apes always get pissed of when they U-turn out and get Poisoned xD*

 

[Kalec]

I would take earthquake over fp on kanga. Most things that he needs focus punch to OHKO are slower and go down to two quakes anyway, and quake helps a lot with drapion who can give kanga problems otherwise, and will give bulkier nidoqueens pause. I would also grab some def evs over speed, because kanga is fast enough to outrun what he needs to with no ev investment and extra defense on top of his massive hp helps keep weaker attacks from breaking your sub.

I second giving Nintey energy ball over hypnosis. Most people expect you to sleep off the bat and switch to someone who can take it, so you will often be better using plot ASAP to ensure whatever comes in, gets hurt. Energy ball helps provide coverage against bulky waters, though these are pretty rare and dark pulse just might be better for coverage that is less useful with fire blast providing the punch that flamethrower lacks, but will always hit.

And yeah, poison point over rivalry on King. Rivalry has the potential to ruin his sucker punch damage, while poison point just might do something almost useful.

 

[Black Buddha]

Wow I never thought this team would be liked :P
Anyways Ill answer a few of your questions:

Gen. Emp.: Well the set said 252 HP but I thought having 101 Subs was enough so I put the extra ones in Spe. I think I should switch it to Defense, what do you think??
P.S. Thanks for the compliment, the strip is quite easy to do ;)

Jaroku: yeah, people have been telling me that, I think kept it till now as I have problems setting Ninetales up.

Epidemic: I am kinda torn between Queen's defense and SpA and King's Speed and Atk. I chose King coz EP already OHKOs Steelix ( I think >.<) and since its faster, faster taunt and more powerful Sucker Punch. But yeah Im willing to test Queen out for a while, I'll see which one does better.
Also, Froslass was primarily chosen for a Specs Sweeper with great speed. Also then I realised that it did a great job at handling Claydol also HP fighting does good damage to Clefable. Rotom was for a fighting and Swellow counter. Also trick counterer.

LonelyNess: Ill take that advice on EV's, Im no good at those>>
I'll try Night Slash over Psycho Cut. If Im happy I'll keep it. I have problems against Lee, I'll freely admit. Never seen a CBDrapion though, so 1st priority is Hitmons.

Kalec: Sub is better since EQ has redundant coverage with Focus Punch, also Sub prevents status and helps prediction.

Yeah so basically my greatest threat is Hitmonlee and oddly, CBDrapion. Any suggestions on counters? Im willing to remove....well the most willing will be Kanga.....but I wouldnt actually prefer removing someone unless a certain poke outclasses it and doesnt open up weaknesses.

Keep at it folks, this may be my best UU team yet!

 

[Black Buddha]

what is the e forme? And anyways I dont think rotom appliances are UU, besides Normal rotom is faster.
Please atleast say why you want to replace something next time.

Changes made, notable ones:
Energy Ball over Hypnosis
Life Orb over Wide Lens
Nido EV's: 144SpA 114Atk

Considering replacing Kangaskhan for SUbPunch Poliwrath...

BTW does anyone know where a threat list for UUs is? Or someone whos great at UU could please tell me the largest threats??

 

[Kalec]

Hard question to answer. Very few pokes in UU are incapable of something nasty, so you cannot prepare for all of them. But you can cover the biggest ones, which according to the October usage stats are:

Htimontop
Rotom
Ninetales
Venusaur
Hitmonlee
Swellow
Absol
Froslass
Altaria
Kabutops
Primape
Toxicroak

And thats just the offensive pokes in the top 20. Check the usage stats if you really want to know what you will be up against, but won't prepare you for oddballs rockpolish Relicanth or bellydrum Linoon.

You are correct, appliance rotom is not UU.

I like the changes to Nintey. Good coverage (for once) backed by great offensive stats, better-then-free switch in on will o wisp, and nasty plot should you ever have a turn to spare. Should work nicely.

I would keep Kanga, just swap punch for eq to hit Drapion. Poli has a harder time getting in and subbing up, uses weaker attacks in general and has worse coverage because, as a fighting type, most opponents are well prepared to tackle him. He is also much more predictable then Kanga, though he does give you a sleep-immune poke to switch into Persian with.


Edit: usage stats are here http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47910. Stats for general usage, usage of leads, and specific stats for evs, natures, moves, items, and such for each individual poke. Very important stuff to know. Such as, Rotom only running trick half the time, Electrode being the most common lead (who is covered nicely by Nidoking), and other good stuff. One key tidbit is that most Primapes are running the scarf, and just over half run punishment, so relying on your ghosts to deal with him is not a safe bet.

 

[Black Buddha]

Thanks Kalec, I didnt quite understand where the UU usage lists were ....
So..

Hitmontop
Rotom / Froslass switch into Mach Punch / CC. Froslass if they dont have Bullet Punch. Rotom can Trick or W-o-W to cripple it. I'll run Calcs for Ice Beam from Specslass on a technitop, since I think that variety is the common one.

Rotom
Rotom ties and threatens KO with Shadow Ball, I usually send in King to receive the Choice Scarf assuming hes still alive, otherwise I send in Absol to take the Trick

Ninetales
Problems if it sets up, otherwise Ninetales can tie and threaten HP Rock. I dunno what otherwise...

Venusaur
Froslass and Tales, like LonelyNess said.

Hitmonlee
The big one. I can only hope for a Trick or W-o-W from Rotom or I can switch into a CC on a ChoiceLee.

Swellow
Rotom is a counter with Scarf.

Absol
Not much of a problem, I need to predict well though...

Froslass
Im not too sure....Maybe Kanga coming in on a Shadow Ball :/ Ive seen mostly Spike variants which I DO have problems with >>

Altaria
No prob if I prevent setting up. Kanga could come in on Unboosted stuff and do damage with Sucker Punch

Kabutops
Crap without RD. I think Scarftom outspeeds in rain, if not im screwed >.<

Primeape
Two ghosts, good enough IMO...

Toxicroak
The reson I kept Psycho Cut over Night Slash originally...

As for oddballs, I usually play around them with resistances and prediction.

I dunno about EQ, Focus Punch is helping me A LOT..
I'll think about changes to handle important stuff...
Thanks again Kalec :)

 

[Black Buddha]

BUMPDATE:

Currently using this from the Creative Moveset thread

name: Mixed Dragon Dancer
move 1: Dragon Dance
move 2: Return / Waterfall
move 3: Hydro Pump
move 4: Ice Beam
item: Life Orb
ability: Water Absorb
nature: Naughty / Lonely
evs: 16 HP / 252 Atk / 224 Spd / 16 SAtk

By Seven Deadly Sins

This thing has been giving troubles to opponents. Many people switch to their speial wall when they see it. So DD on the switch, then smack their Hypno with a boosted Return. Seeing its physical, they go to their Steelix. Thats when they get a hydro pump in their face. It works great, I might actually use this over Kangaskhan, I am currently testing it.

Oh-Em-Gee, I'll have to do that Team Strip thing again :O

 

[Cynthia]

Seems like a solid team overall, only thing I don't get is splitting the EVs on Nidoking. Putting everything into attack makes Sucker Punch stronger and EQ has the higher base power anyway. Steelix really doesn't wall this team much so I don't see the need for Earth Power.

As with most offensive teams, if Altaria gets a DD or Absol gets a SD you are in for serious trouble. Kabutops will give you problems, since it does outspeed your Rotom in rain.They should have difficulty setting up though.

 

[Black Buddha]

Well I put the EV's to OHKO Steelix leads, who I used to face quite a lot of earlier.
I havent sen many Altaria strangely, but you are right, it could cause troubles. I think my best bet would be to Will-O-Wisp with Rotom.
I still cant really think of a counter to RD teams, Lapras would atleast get the quick healing from a Waterfall. I guess I'll have to switch stuff around to waste the rain turns

One thing is that after adding Lapras, my team becomes heavily Special, with only Absol as a Physical attacker. I've been thinking of replacing someone but I cant get myself to replace the 3 special attackers, they have done superbly so far. I need help :/, maybe a mixed sweeper over Ninetales would be good :/....
Please help!

 

[Black Buddha]

BUMP

Please rate guys...

 

[Komodo]

You could replace hypnosis on ninetails, over hp rock, just change its item to wide lens

 

[Zoro]

You could replace hypnosis on ninetails, over hp rock, just change its item to wide lens

u shoulda read the whole thread, since he already changed Hypnosis + Wide Lens to Energy Ball + Life Orb for a good reason :C

 

[Black Buddha]

@ Komodo, read the first post, Hypnosis was dropped quite earlier along with wide lens coz:
a) low accuracy
b) No power from Life Orb
c) HP Rock helps sweep, hits quite a lot for neutral and SE

EDIT: Beat by UsainBolt. Thanks for reading the whole post :)

Currently testing over Nintetales:

Camerupt @ Life Orb
Mild
Solid Rock
EV's: 8Atk / 252SpA / 248Spe
~Rock Polish
~Fire Blast
~Explosion
~Earth Power

Rock Polish Camerupt. I though that I needed someone who could damage stuff a lot while being moderatley bulky, so Camerupt with Solid Rock came to mind. Is doing quite OK...

 

[Kalec]

Ehh, not so sure about Camerupt. His problem is that he isn't going to take out anything that gives your other special attacks a whole lot of trouble. He has a lot of weaknesses to some very popular moves, and isn't the most powerful offensive force even if he does get polish off.

I would try him without polish, and trade the speed evs for hp or the defenses to take better advantage of the amazing solid rock. Maybe give him lefties to last a bit longer.

What aspect of Camerupt has been working for you, and what hasn't worked so well?

 

[Black Buddha]

Well for one I like hte stuff it outspeeds after one Polish, the handy resist to Electric and has great synergy alongside Lapras, and can KO clefable with an Explosion. doing great so far actually...

 

[Black Buddha]

BUMP BUMP BUMP.
..
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Did I mention BUMP?