Oh My Gosh I Made A Team That Actually Works! (UU RMT)

[Moog2]

Hey all! This is probably my... third RMT, I think. The previous two were asking for advice, but this one is more showcasing a team I made that actually did well. That's a first, so I figured I'd honour the first team I ever made that actually did well by making an RMT for it.

Okay, so I guess I'll start with the team building. It started off a little strangely, though.

Spoiler: Team Building

Okay, so as I said, things started off a little strangely. I was playing OU games for no particular reason on Pokemon Showdown, and someone mentioned Honchcrow in the chat. I figured that it might be a neat Pokemon to try out, and seeing as I'd never done a UU team before, I figured I might as well try one. So that was the first thing I had.

Then I thought for a few minutes, and realized that I had to make a decision. Did I want to make a 100% serious UU team, or did I want to try to build a team around Honchrow? Well, I decided on the former, so I punted Honchrow and started over. See? From strange beginnings. I figured I'd start with something wallish, and Registeel looked absolutely brilliant. So I restarted the team with that.

Next, I obviously needed a sweeper. Most of my teams in the past carry a set up sweeper, so I wanted to add one of those first. At this point I still wasn't considering type coverage, and I liked the potential of Cobalion's movesets, so I went with that.

Now I'm aware of the glaring weaknesses to ground, fire and fighting, so I elect to fix two of then while making a third worse. Chandelure keeps up an offensive presence, which most of teams are based around, and provided an immunity to both fire and fighting. Choice Scarf nets some surprise KOs, and does nicely on the team.

Okay, now I really had to fix the ground weakness, and I was walled by bulky water types really badly. Scarf Heracross and any kind of Scrafty were also issues. I went with a Zapdos with HP Grass, so all of the waters were taken down. The type synergy at this point was looking pretty good.

Now I was looking for a dedicated revenge killer, and there are a few super duper famous ones in UU. So I picked one of them. Scarfed Flygon gave me a dragon STAB, which helped lessen my Kingdra problems. It was immune to ground and had another few handy resistances, so I thought it fit in perfectly.

Finally, I needed a little bit of glue to hold the team together. I wanted a water and ground type, and when I started looking, I found that Gastrodon, my first choice, was in OU. I thought Quagsire's offense was horrendous, so I went with the obvious choice; Swampert. It gave me a hugely important thing in my only ice type move, which is a bit stupid, but whatever. After playing one game, I realized that I would never punt it, it worked so well. So there's the team.

Completely by accident, I made a team that covered each other's backs really well. I only realized that when I had finished the team, and started looking at it for weaknesses. Anyhow, without further adiuex, here's the team. The threat list is at the bottom.

Zapdos @Life Orb
Pressure (that is, until Lightningrod is released)
Timid, 252 Sp. Att, 252 Spe, 4 Sp. Def
Thunderbolt
Heat Wave
Hidden Power Grass
Roost

This sucker is one of the best sweepers I have ever used in UU. With Thunderbolt and HP Grass it has nice coverage, totally eliminating my weakness to bulky waters, especially Swampert. Heat Wave is practically mandatory, and gives Zapdos good coverage. Roost actually sees a surprising amount of use, and wipes out both stealth rock damage and life orb. Zapdos has been there time and time again, and can usually do a massive amount of damage by itself.

Chandelure @Choice Specs
Flash Fire
Modest, 252 Sp. Att, 252 Spe, 4 Sp.Def
Fire Blast
Shadow Ball
Hidden Power Ice
Trick

Bits of this set are obvious and mandatory, and bit may require of explaining. Fire Blast and Shadow Ball really don't require an explanation, so there you go. Psychic, while it isn't standard, is for the glaring fighting weakness my team seems to have. I lack any flying type moves, so this is it for super effectiveness. I've considered HP Ice instead of Trick, but Trick is just so awesome for so many things, I put it in and kept it. This Chandelure works wonderfully, and I can easily switch to Registeel or Swampert to hand a counter move directed at it. I080I suggested Energy Ball over Psychic, so I tested it for a bit, and found that I never really used it. However, I really missed the ability to one shot Nidoking on the switch, and after losing a game that came down to Chandelure versus a Gligar, I decided to try HP Ice in this slot. I loved it, so it stayed. Specs was also suggested, and I preferred its raw power over the speed.

Registeel @Leftovers
Clear Body
Careful, 252 HP, 252 Sp. Def, 4 Def
Thunder Wave
Stealth Rock
Seismic Toss
Iron Defense

This is fairly standard, I think. Thunder Wave is incredibly epic, and has the dual purpose of giving my sweepers an easier time and giving Registeel and easier time to set up. Stealth Rock is blatantly obvious, so I'm not even going to bother. Seismic Toss is a way for Registeel to actually dish out some damage, and is a handy move to have when I have nothing else to do. Iron Defense is really good to use on a special sweeper who's switching out, or after paralysis. I can take some immense physical hits after I've set up one or two of them. Registeel is my main wall, and the standard thing I switch in when I need to take a hit.

Cobalion @Life Orb
Justified
Jolly, 252 Att, 252 Spe, 4 HP
Swords Dance
Close Combat
Stone Edge
X- Scissor

This is extreme similar to the set used by the average SD Terrakion. It works just as well in this instance. Getting up a Swords Dance is easy as cake, and due to the massive speed on Cobalion, it works wonderfully as a sweeper. The coverage is terrific, having very few walls. One of them is Roserade, which is only OHKO'd when I get to +4. Yeesh. Anyhow, this set is terrific, and does a tonne of damage in a very short period of time.

Flygon @Choice Scarf
Levitate
Adamant, 252 Att, 252 Spe, 4 HP
Earthquake
U-Turn
Outrage
Stone Edge

Standard, standard, standard. U-Turn for the predicted switches, EQ for amazing damage and nice coverage, Outrage for blindly damaging stuff. Crunch is used over Fire Punch because of my inability to hit Mew and ghost types with anything other than Chandelure, and lessening the pressure on it is a big deal. This guy is one of the best revengers in the tier for a very good reason. I080I also suggested the switch to Stone Edge, which I prefer over Crunch. The surprise Crobat one shots are also nice.

Swampert @Leftovers
Torrent
Adamant, 252 HP, 252 Att, 4 Def
Waterfall
Earthquake
Ice Punch
Toxic

Last but certainly not least is Swampert. This guy kinda holds the team together. It has wonderful coverage and some bulk, bulk that is seriously needed on this team. Waterfall and Earthquake are standard, STAB, and possess good coverage. Waterfall is also my only water type move, so it's handy to have. Ice Punch is my best shot against Gligar with Immunity, and hits the grass type predicted switch-ins if Toxic is a bad idea. Speaking of Toxic, it's great for ruining walls and switch-ins when I have no idea what the other player is going to throw in. Toxic is also my best bet against sash-Destiny Bond Froslass. You know, I can get the last hit point with the poison while getting around the death backlash? Yeah. This Pokemon is amazingly important to the team.



So, yeah. The team works terrific, and I've been laddering with it a bit on Pokemon Showdown Beta. I'm not done, as it hasn't been to long, but it's doing really well. Especially considering I'm not a great battler.

Changes in BOLD. Thanks to I080I for the suggestions.
​

Threat List
Bulk Up, Shed Skin Scrafty with Crunch and Drain Punch: Yeah. I can't really do much to this guy if Cobalion can't get rid of it with a Close Combat. It is a huge threat to the team.

Cofagrigus, other bulky ghosts: If it can take a Shadow Ball or Chandelure is wiped out, and Flygon can't take it out, I'm in trouble. If my opponent wipes out both before bringing a Cofagrigus in, I'm in deep trouble.

Mew, particularly with Heal Bell: Yeah. Hard to get rid off. Similar to the above point. Heal Bell in general is annoying, because it takes a bit of work to get things statused again.

Umbreon: If Cobalion is toast, I have very little I can do to it, especially if it has Wish. I'm considering throwing in another fighting type move, but I'm not sure. This isn't as huge a problem as the other ones.

Sableye: God this guy is annoying. Totally butchers my physical sweepers with Will-O-Wisp, and makes Registeel look like a fool.

Choice Scarf Heracross: Pretty much guaranteed to take at least one guy out. Chandelure doesn't outspeed, which is incredibly aggravating.

Gligar: Not a massive threat, but it can be an incredible annoyance. Registeel and Swampert can handle it, but it walls my team fairly well.

I'll probably add a few more once I do more battling and have more time. As it is at the moment, I'm going to go have lunch. Thanks for reading, and I'd really appreciate any comments. Ciao!

 

[I080I]

Couple of things
1-Chandelure-I would recommend specs instead of scarf as you already have a good scarfer. Also giving it psychic doesn't really solve your fighting weakness (which personally doesn't seem to big cuz you haver 2 good fighting switchins) as most fighting types would never switch into a chandelure so it would rarely hit a fighting type. I would suggest energy ball over psychic because at the moment physical suicune can pretty much wall that thing, which you never want.
2-I would strongly consider making swampert a physical wall as your team lacks one and you already have a good physical attacker, otherwise he's fine.
3-Stone edge on flygon gives you much better coverage than crunch (I don't like fire punch either)
4-Iron defense may seem good on paper but in an actually game with no reliable recovery, it isn't that beneficial to registeel. What I use on my registeel is protect with the same 3 other moves. Its actually works very well for me as it gives him slightly better recovery and scout what frequent choiced switch-ins want to lock themselves into. (I.E. scarfed heracross switches in, you protect as it goes for close combat and you get yourself a free switchin to chandelure). I've noticed my opponents very often switch in choiced pokes on registeel so protect is definitely worth it.

I think your team could be pretty solid with a few adjustments and don't forget to just keep battling with it to check for weaknesses.

 

[Moog2]

Thanks for the rate! Let me respond to each comment in order.
1. I've actually considered running a Specs set. That's definitely something I'll try. I'll stick the results in the OP when I get around to it. Energy Ball over Psychic is something I've considered, as Psychic only nets KOs on three or four things. But with Specs, the other coverage moves should be fine. Certainly like these recommendations, and I'll give them a go.

2. I'm way too in love with Swampert's offensive presence to make it into a physical wall. It works as a half-hearted physical wall now, and Registeel actually covers physical hits better than I though it would.

3. FINALLY someone who doesn't use Fire Punch! Crunch was mostly for Mew, but if I do give Specs to Chandelure, I'll definitely switch to Stone Edge. I'm really liking those two suggestions. I'll test them tomorrow.

4. Because Swampert isn't going to be a physical wall, I think I'll leave Iron Defense there. I find it really useful, and it lets Registeel beat Gligar and set up on physical sweepers that get paralyzed on the switch. I use it way to often to get rid of it, I think, but I see the merits of Protect.

Overall, thanks a bunch for the rate, I really appreciate the suggestions. I'll try out the Chandelure and Flygon changes, and see if I like them better. I'll put in the results when I finish the testing. Thanks!


EDIT: OP updated.