Divine Retribution
Conquistador de pan
Following the Mega Rayquaza ban some time ago, I made a couple halfhearted attempts to make an Ubers team, however I refused to use Primal Groudon, a Pokemon I saw as overcentralizing and generally an unhealthy Pokemon to keep in what is now recognized as an official metagame (I still stand to this, by the way. Suspect P-Don for AG already...). As such, I never made it very far, because an Ubers team without P-Don just doesn't do well in the current metagame, especially when under the command of someone with basically zero Ubers experience such as myself. I quickly gave up and went back into the depths of OMs.
Now more recently, I decided to try again to make an Ubers team. However, this time I decided to break my own rule and actually build a team around Primal Groudon. To my surprise it's been my most successful venture into Ubers thusfar, maintaining a solid ~80% W/L ratio and netting me an ELO of 1700 and rising. It's not the best by any means, but given my lack of Ubers experience and the fact that I'm completely out of my territory, I think it's doing alright.
As I have little Ubers experience, I used Smogon for the majority of these sets, making small tweaks to movesets and EV spreads to suite my specific needs.
Anyways, here's the team.
Black Hole Sun
Groudon @ Red Orb
Adamant - Drought ---> Desolate Land
168 HP, 252 Attack, 32 Sp. Def, 52 Speed
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge
-Rock Polish
-Sword's Dance
"Black hole sun
Won't you come
And wash away the rain..."
Primal Groudon is perhaps the single most ridiculously overcentralizing thing to ever exist in any metagame save only for Mega Rayquaza during his stint in Ubers. This thing is on at least 9 in every 10 teams and for a damn good reason; it simply has no gaping flaws. Its Sp. Def is mediocre but not bad by any means. Its Speed is rather average but it gets access to Thunder Wave and Rock Polish. Its Attack and Defence are titanic, and its Special Attack is an extremely respectable base 150. Its Ground/Fire typing looks like it would give it a horrible crippling weakness to Water, but its ability Desolate Land comes in to save the day by making it outright immune to what would otherwise be its biggest weakness, as well as powering up his newfound Fire STAB. There's just so much this Pokemon can do.
I chose to run mine as a double dance sweeper. It can either attempt to set up both a Sword's Dance and a Rock Polish late game and clean weakened teams, set up just a Rock Polish earlier in the match to open some holes for my other wincon, or set up a Sword's Dance on an obvious switch to threaten common switchins with a +2 Earthquake or Stone Edge. As an aside, after running numerous calcs, I elected to run Earthquake over Precipice Blades as there's only a small handful of KOs that Blades gets that Earthquake does not after Stealth Rock, and I'd much rather not gamble on two 80% accurate moves on a Pokemon that I rely on so heavily to apply offensive pressure to opposing teams.
He also provides yet another check to Xerneas (my team is just plain unfriendly to Xerneas) and of course a solid switchin to Primal Kyogre. In addition, after Stealth Rock, defensive Primal Kyogre is OHKO'd by a +2 Earthquake, so it's hard pressed to switch in on me. He greatly appreciates Sableye's ability to check Lugia, Lugia's ability to check other Primal Groudon and provide a solid switchin to powerful attackers such as SD Arceus-Rock and faster Primal Kyogre, and Chansey's ability to spread paralysis.
Wonderwall
Lugia @ Leftovers
Bold - Multiscale
248 HP, 176 Defence, 80 Sp. Def, 4 Speed
-Ice Beam
-Toxic
-Roost
-Whirlwind
"Cause maybe - You're gonna be the one who saves me
And after all - You're my wonderwall"
Lugia is a defensive behemoth. With Multiscale intact it is the single bulkiest Pokemon in the entire game, and with access to reliable recovery, a fantastic Speed tier, and workable defensive typing, it's an absolute nightmare to take down. Ice Beam I slapped on there to get a solid hit on Rayquaza, Landorus, and Mega Salamence, and simply because his STABs get no notable coverage. Toxic and Roost are really the crux of the set, allowing him to poison and stall behemoths like Groudon, many Arceus forms, Mewtwo, and a myriad of other Pokemon. Whirlwind is necessary for phasing out threats who try to set up further on him, as well as resetting Xerneas and wasting its Power Herb, making its life much more difficult when it comes back in.
In general Lugia is a key member of my team since it makes a rock-solid check to so many things. ExtremeKiller, Primal Groudon, CM Arceus, Xerneas, MMX, DD Rayquaza, Mega Salamence, all checked by Lugia so long as his Multiscale is intact (and many checked even without Multiscale). It's such an easy Pokemon to fit onto nearly any team, and it definitely deserves the high amount of usage it gets.
This Is Sickness
Sableye @ Sablenite
Bold - Prankster ---> Magic Bounce
248 HP, 252 Defence, 8 Sp. Def
-Foul Play
-Will-O-Wisp
-Taunt
-Recover
"I'll say anything
Just give me some more medicine
This just may be the last of my days"
When I was first making this team, I really wanted to try Mega Sableye in Ubers. It checks Lugia, ExtremeKiller, defensive Yveltal, Mega Lucario, Mega Kangakhan, Mewtwo, and a whole host of other threats. It reflects Toxic, Stealth Rock, Will-O-Wisp, etc. It packs Ghost typing and a STAB Foul Play to pose a serious threat to a good portion of the Ubers metagame, as well as Taunt to help deal with Pokemon like Lugia and Blissey.
This particular set is designed to be a rock-solid answer to things like ExtremeKiller and Mega Kanga, with a full investment in physical bulk and Foul Play. Generally I lead with Sableye if I see a Deoxys, Ferrothorn, or other obvious hazard setter other than Primal Groudon on the opponent's team. The ability to keep hazards off the field is invaluable, as Primal Groudon and Lugia both hate the passive damage. It also shuts down defensive Lugia, who can be a nightmare for Xerneas and Primal Groudon. I was initially running Fake Out over Taunt but I find Taunt to be much more valuable for harassing Geo Xerneas and CM Arceus switchins and stopping Lugia from Roosting.
No Rain
Chansey @ Eviolite
Bold - Natural Cure
248 HP, 252 Defence, 8 Sp. Def
-Seismic Toss
-Softboiled
-Thunder Wave
-Heal Bell
"All I can say
Is that my life is pretty plain
I like watching the puddles gather rain"
Chansey and Sableye form a pretty damn solid core with Chansey taking on powerful special attackers like Primal Kyogre, some Arceus forms, Mega Mewtwo-Y, Darkrai, and Knock Off-less Yveltal while Sableye takes Knock Offs and spreads burns, as well as checking things like Mega Lucario and the rare Arceus-Fighting. Chansey also works great with Lugia, as Lugia checks Primal Groudon and Xerneas while Chansey removes any status Lugia may acquire. This also lets me keep Lugia in on other Lugia to Toxic them, as I can simply cure my own Toxic when it becomes convenient. Heal Bell in general is great for removing stray Toxics and Thunder Waves that can otherwise cripple its teammates. Thunder Wave stops attempts to set up on him from Xerneas and CM users like Primal Kyogre, Arceus, etc.
I had a free slot when I was building this team, and as any competitive player knows, when in doubt, Chansey. And so far, it hasn't disappointed me once, being a valuable player in every match I've used it in.
Machinehead
Arceus @ Stone Plate
Timid - Multitype
252 Speed, 248 HP, 8 Defence
-Judgment
-Defog
-Recover
-Stealth Rock
"For our love - For our fears
For our rise against the years and years and years"
Wow, Arceus-Rock without Will-O-Wisp? Yeah, unfortunately I have no room for it on this set. I absolutely need Stealth Rock, in order to secure a few notable KOs (Primal Groudon OHKOs Primal Kyogre at +2 with Earthquake if Stealth Rock is up, for instance), but I also absolutely need Defog with the omnipresence of Primal Groudon making it extremely difficult for Sableye alone to keep hazards off the field. Judgment and Recover are just mandatory on any support Arceus.
He also provides another answer to Ho-Oh, one of the few things that at least has a chance to stop an Xerneas sweep, and who can be a major problem to my Chansey/Sableye core as it can basically obliterate them both by spamming Sacred Fire. I was initially using Arceus-Water, but Arceus-Water can't touch Primal Groudon and doesn't take on Flying spam from things like Ho-Oh as well.
Come As You Are
Xerneas @ Power Herb
Modest - Fairy Aura
184 HP, 28 Defence, 248 Sp. Atk, 48 Speed
-Moonblast
-Focus Blast
-Thunder
-Geomancy
"And I swear that I don't have a gun
No, I don't have a gun...
No, I don't have a gun...
No, I don't have a gun..."
I used to hate Xerneas throughout the entirety of XY. Xerneas's ability to sweep unprepared teams is on par with Cloyster's in the early days of BW. Teams that lacked an answer such as Lugia, Ho-Oh, Blissey, etc. were promptly steamrolled after a single turn of set-up. Since then the metagame has adapted to Xerneas's presence, with checks to the stag being mandatory on every team, and the addition of Primal Groudon, a Pokemon who naturally checks almost all Xerneas sets just by virtue of his typing, didn't do him any favors either.
That being said he's still one of the most dangerous sweepers in the entire metagame, at least when played right. Instead of using Geomancy right away, you must wait until his checks have been weakened or KO'd. I've lost count of how many times people have set up Geomancy on me while I still have a healthy Lugia and Primal Groudon waiting in the wings, only to be phased out the next turn. If my opponents are slower than me, I try to feign a Scarf set in an attempt to lure in something I can KO with his coverage moves. Once his checks have been weakened successfuly, I usually go for Geomancy on an obvious switch, which can often instantly end a game right there. Moonblast is his obligatory STAB and usually what he'll be using in most cases. Focus Blast does massive damage to Steels and scores a decent hit on Primal Groudon, allowing me to muscle past it if it's been weakened sufficiently. Thunder OHKOs Primal Kyogre and does massive damage to Ho-Oh. It also OHKOs most Lugia forms after Stealth Rock damage.
So that's it. I don't really play much Ubers cause it's an entirely different metagame than what I'm used to, but this has been a surprisingly fun team to play with. I still maintain my original position that Primal Groudon is an unhealthy threat to keep in Ubers, and that it should at least be suspected if Ubers is to be an officially recognized tier, but other than that Ubers is actually quite a bit more balanced than I thought it would be.
Any suggestions, comments, or criticism is welcome. While it's a solid team it's definitely not perfect, and there's a lot of people with more experience in Ubers than me.
Now more recently, I decided to try again to make an Ubers team. However, this time I decided to break my own rule and actually build a team around Primal Groudon. To my surprise it's been my most successful venture into Ubers thusfar, maintaining a solid ~80% W/L ratio and netting me an ELO of 1700 and rising. It's not the best by any means, but given my lack of Ubers experience and the fact that I'm completely out of my territory, I think it's doing alright.
As I have little Ubers experience, I used Smogon for the majority of these sets, making small tweaks to movesets and EV spreads to suite my specific needs.
Anyways, here's the team.
Black Hole Sun
Groudon @ Red Orb
Adamant - Drought ---> Desolate Land
168 HP, 252 Attack, 32 Sp. Def, 52 Speed
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge
-Rock Polish
-Sword's Dance
"Black hole sun
Won't you come
And wash away the rain..."
Primal Groudon is perhaps the single most ridiculously overcentralizing thing to ever exist in any metagame save only for Mega Rayquaza during his stint in Ubers. This thing is on at least 9 in every 10 teams and for a damn good reason; it simply has no gaping flaws. Its Sp. Def is mediocre but not bad by any means. Its Speed is rather average but it gets access to Thunder Wave and Rock Polish. Its Attack and Defence are titanic, and its Special Attack is an extremely respectable base 150. Its Ground/Fire typing looks like it would give it a horrible crippling weakness to Water, but its ability Desolate Land comes in to save the day by making it outright immune to what would otherwise be its biggest weakness, as well as powering up his newfound Fire STAB. There's just so much this Pokemon can do.
I chose to run mine as a double dance sweeper. It can either attempt to set up both a Sword's Dance and a Rock Polish late game and clean weakened teams, set up just a Rock Polish earlier in the match to open some holes for my other wincon, or set up a Sword's Dance on an obvious switch to threaten common switchins with a +2 Earthquake or Stone Edge. As an aside, after running numerous calcs, I elected to run Earthquake over Precipice Blades as there's only a small handful of KOs that Blades gets that Earthquake does not after Stealth Rock, and I'd much rather not gamble on two 80% accurate moves on a Pokemon that I rely on so heavily to apply offensive pressure to opposing teams.
He also provides yet another check to Xerneas (my team is just plain unfriendly to Xerneas) and of course a solid switchin to Primal Kyogre. In addition, after Stealth Rock, defensive Primal Kyogre is OHKO'd by a +2 Earthquake, so it's hard pressed to switch in on me. He greatly appreciates Sableye's ability to check Lugia, Lugia's ability to check other Primal Groudon and provide a solid switchin to powerful attackers such as SD Arceus-Rock and faster Primal Kyogre, and Chansey's ability to spread paralysis.
Wonderwall
Lugia @ Leftovers
Bold - Multiscale
248 HP, 176 Defence, 80 Sp. Def, 4 Speed
-Ice Beam
-Toxic
-Roost
-Whirlwind
"Cause maybe - You're gonna be the one who saves me
And after all - You're my wonderwall"
Lugia is a defensive behemoth. With Multiscale intact it is the single bulkiest Pokemon in the entire game, and with access to reliable recovery, a fantastic Speed tier, and workable defensive typing, it's an absolute nightmare to take down. Ice Beam I slapped on there to get a solid hit on Rayquaza, Landorus, and Mega Salamence, and simply because his STABs get no notable coverage. Toxic and Roost are really the crux of the set, allowing him to poison and stall behemoths like Groudon, many Arceus forms, Mewtwo, and a myriad of other Pokemon. Whirlwind is necessary for phasing out threats who try to set up further on him, as well as resetting Xerneas and wasting its Power Herb, making its life much more difficult when it comes back in.
In general Lugia is a key member of my team since it makes a rock-solid check to so many things. ExtremeKiller, Primal Groudon, CM Arceus, Xerneas, MMX, DD Rayquaza, Mega Salamence, all checked by Lugia so long as his Multiscale is intact (and many checked even without Multiscale). It's such an easy Pokemon to fit onto nearly any team, and it definitely deserves the high amount of usage it gets.
This Is Sickness
Sableye @ Sablenite
Bold - Prankster ---> Magic Bounce
248 HP, 252 Defence, 8 Sp. Def
-Foul Play
-Will-O-Wisp
-Taunt
-Recover
"I'll say anything
Just give me some more medicine
This just may be the last of my days"
When I was first making this team, I really wanted to try Mega Sableye in Ubers. It checks Lugia, ExtremeKiller, defensive Yveltal, Mega Lucario, Mega Kangakhan, Mewtwo, and a whole host of other threats. It reflects Toxic, Stealth Rock, Will-O-Wisp, etc. It packs Ghost typing and a STAB Foul Play to pose a serious threat to a good portion of the Ubers metagame, as well as Taunt to help deal with Pokemon like Lugia and Blissey.
This particular set is designed to be a rock-solid answer to things like ExtremeKiller and Mega Kanga, with a full investment in physical bulk and Foul Play. Generally I lead with Sableye if I see a Deoxys, Ferrothorn, or other obvious hazard setter other than Primal Groudon on the opponent's team. The ability to keep hazards off the field is invaluable, as Primal Groudon and Lugia both hate the passive damage. It also shuts down defensive Lugia, who can be a nightmare for Xerneas and Primal Groudon. I was initially running Fake Out over Taunt but I find Taunt to be much more valuable for harassing Geo Xerneas and CM Arceus switchins and stopping Lugia from Roosting.
No Rain
Chansey @ Eviolite
Bold - Natural Cure
248 HP, 252 Defence, 8 Sp. Def
-Seismic Toss
-Softboiled
-Thunder Wave
-Heal Bell
"All I can say
Is that my life is pretty plain
I like watching the puddles gather rain"
Chansey and Sableye form a pretty damn solid core with Chansey taking on powerful special attackers like Primal Kyogre, some Arceus forms, Mega Mewtwo-Y, Darkrai, and Knock Off-less Yveltal while Sableye takes Knock Offs and spreads burns, as well as checking things like Mega Lucario and the rare Arceus-Fighting. Chansey also works great with Lugia, as Lugia checks Primal Groudon and Xerneas while Chansey removes any status Lugia may acquire. This also lets me keep Lugia in on other Lugia to Toxic them, as I can simply cure my own Toxic when it becomes convenient. Heal Bell in general is great for removing stray Toxics and Thunder Waves that can otherwise cripple its teammates. Thunder Wave stops attempts to set up on him from Xerneas and CM users like Primal Kyogre, Arceus, etc.
I had a free slot when I was building this team, and as any competitive player knows, when in doubt, Chansey. And so far, it hasn't disappointed me once, being a valuable player in every match I've used it in.
Machinehead
Arceus @ Stone Plate
Timid - Multitype
252 Speed, 248 HP, 8 Defence
-Judgment
-Defog
-Recover
-Stealth Rock
"For our love - For our fears
For our rise against the years and years and years"
Wow, Arceus-Rock without Will-O-Wisp? Yeah, unfortunately I have no room for it on this set. I absolutely need Stealth Rock, in order to secure a few notable KOs (Primal Groudon OHKOs Primal Kyogre at +2 with Earthquake if Stealth Rock is up, for instance), but I also absolutely need Defog with the omnipresence of Primal Groudon making it extremely difficult for Sableye alone to keep hazards off the field. Judgment and Recover are just mandatory on any support Arceus.
He also provides another answer to Ho-Oh, one of the few things that at least has a chance to stop an Xerneas sweep, and who can be a major problem to my Chansey/Sableye core as it can basically obliterate them both by spamming Sacred Fire. I was initially using Arceus-Water, but Arceus-Water can't touch Primal Groudon and doesn't take on Flying spam from things like Ho-Oh as well.
Come As You Are
Xerneas @ Power Herb
Modest - Fairy Aura
184 HP, 28 Defence, 248 Sp. Atk, 48 Speed
-Moonblast
-Focus Blast
-Thunder
-Geomancy
"And I swear that I don't have a gun
No, I don't have a gun...
No, I don't have a gun...
No, I don't have a gun..."
I used to hate Xerneas throughout the entirety of XY. Xerneas's ability to sweep unprepared teams is on par with Cloyster's in the early days of BW. Teams that lacked an answer such as Lugia, Ho-Oh, Blissey, etc. were promptly steamrolled after a single turn of set-up. Since then the metagame has adapted to Xerneas's presence, with checks to the stag being mandatory on every team, and the addition of Primal Groudon, a Pokemon who naturally checks almost all Xerneas sets just by virtue of his typing, didn't do him any favors either.
That being said he's still one of the most dangerous sweepers in the entire metagame, at least when played right. Instead of using Geomancy right away, you must wait until his checks have been weakened or KO'd. I've lost count of how many times people have set up Geomancy on me while I still have a healthy Lugia and Primal Groudon waiting in the wings, only to be phased out the next turn. If my opponents are slower than me, I try to feign a Scarf set in an attempt to lure in something I can KO with his coverage moves. Once his checks have been weakened successfuly, I usually go for Geomancy on an obvious switch, which can often instantly end a game right there. Moonblast is his obligatory STAB and usually what he'll be using in most cases. Focus Blast does massive damage to Steels and scores a decent hit on Primal Groudon, allowing me to muscle past it if it's been weakened sufficiently. Thunder OHKOs Primal Kyogre and does massive damage to Ho-Oh. It also OHKOs most Lugia forms after Stealth Rock damage.
So that's it. I don't really play much Ubers cause it's an entirely different metagame than what I'm used to, but this has been a surprisingly fun team to play with. I still maintain my original position that Primal Groudon is an unhealthy threat to keep in Ubers, and that it should at least be suspected if Ubers is to be an officially recognized tier, but other than that Ubers is actually quite a bit more balanced than I thought it would be.
Any suggestions, comments, or criticism is welcome. While it's a solid team it's definitely not perfect, and there's a lot of people with more experience in Ubers than me.
Groudon @ Red Orb
Ability: Drought
EVs: 168 HP / 252 Atk / 32 SpD / 52 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rock Polish
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
Lugia @ Leftovers
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 248 HP / 176 Def / 80 SpD / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic
- Ice Beam
- Roost
- Whirlwind
Chansey @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Seismic Toss
- Thunder Wave
- Soft-Boiled
- Heal Bell
Sableye @ Sablenite
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Foul Play
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
- Taunt
Arceus-Rock @ Stone Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Judgment
- Defog
- Recover
- Stealth Rock
Xerneas @ Power Herb
Ability: Fairy Aura
EVs: 184 HP / 28 Def / 248 SpA / 48 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Thunder
- Focus Blast
- Geomancy
Ability: Drought
EVs: 168 HP / 252 Atk / 32 SpD / 52 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rock Polish
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
Lugia @ Leftovers
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 248 HP / 176 Def / 80 SpD / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic
- Ice Beam
- Roost
- Whirlwind
Chansey @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Seismic Toss
- Thunder Wave
- Soft-Boiled
- Heal Bell
Sableye @ Sablenite
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Foul Play
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
- Taunt
Arceus-Rock @ Stone Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Judgment
- Defog
- Recover
- Stealth Rock
Xerneas @ Power Herb
Ability: Fairy Aura
EVs: 184 HP / 28 Def / 248 SpA / 48 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Thunder
- Focus Blast
- Geomancy
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