KUNG FU FROG
A UU Hail / Trick Room RMT
Peaked @ #1 Pokemon Showdown ladder / 2022 ACRE
(Sorry -- I almost forgot this : P)
A UU Hail / Trick Room RMT
Peaked @ #1 Pokemon Showdown ladder / 2022 ACRE
(Sorry -- I almost forgot this : P)
Hello everyone! This is my first post on Smogon, first RMT and one of my first attempts at competitive UU battling.
The overall goal of this team is rather simple; take avantage of Abomasnow's Snow Warning let my team 100% accurate Blizzards to eliminate the opposition. It has a few other tricks (including a really cool set which I started to use after reading the Quantum of Solosis RMT in the Archive); the real point is to create a win condition by setting up Trick Room and allowing Glaceon to come in and sweep.
I had decent success with this team, reaching the #1 spot on the UU ladder and hitting a top of 2022 ACRE under the name "Kung Fu Frog." I am rather surprised that I had any success with this team as I’m sure it has a bunch of problems, and I'm still very new to UU / just restarted competitive battling a few weeks ago after a long break, so any and all help is appreciated!
This is the team --
A couple of notes about the team's overall problems before I go more in depth. The basic problems I've encountered are as follows: (1) lack of a dedicated physical attacker leaves me super reliant on Solosis and Abomasnow to dispatch Specially Defensive behemoths such as Snorlax. (2) lack of reliable switch-ins to a litany of offensive threats. This team almost always suffers 2 or 3 casualties at least in a given match, simply because I barely have a way to wall some of the strongest Pokemon in the tier. A perfect example is Choice Scarf Heracross -- if it switches in on anything other than Jynx when Trick Room is not set up, something of mine is going to die. (3) The indescribable fear of rain teams which is brought on by using this team leads to crazy over predictions and idiotic plays. If a team has a Tornadus, Kingdra or even Blastoise on it, I no longer feel comfortable with playing Abomasnow as aggressively as I usually do. Though I've managed to limit this to an extent by ensuring that the team is able to continue to function (and flourish, in a weird way) in the rain, every so often I still get into troublesome situations.
Now, here's all the specifics and whatnot --
DaBeryGudWan (Abomasnow) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Snow Warning
EVs: 252 Atk / 172 SAtk / 84 Spd
Lonely Nature
- Wood Hammer
- Ice Shard
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Earthquake
Abomasnow is on the team for obvious reasons – the easiest way to abuse 100% accurate Blizzards is by using its Snow Warning ability. In 90% of the matches I’ve had, the other team has not been another weather team, which is why the set I’m using isn’t built to be very sustainable. Abomasnow has a surprisingly large amount of coverage – Ice Shard hits Togekiss, Yanmega, and finishes off weakened enemies, HP Fire kills Steel types, and EQ is a useful all-purpose move which also hits hard against fire-types like Victini and Darmanitan (though a smart opponent would go for U-Turn instead of V-Create / Flare Blitz on the first turn), and to a lesser extent Arcanine.
Abomasnow is able to hit surprisingly hard, especially with STAB Wood Hammer, which can put a dent in almost everything – it’s especially useful for heavily damaging Snorlax, which is often easily able to wall my entire team otherwise. Given that Abomasnow isn’t going to outspeed most of the above threats, I felt that a Focus Sash would be the most useful item to ensure that Abomasnow can do as much damage as possible.
2chainz (Solosis) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Magic Guard
Level: 1
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Trick Room
- Endeavor
- Toxic
- Confuse Ray
All credit goes to ShakeItUp for this set -- it's the exact same as the one used in the Quantum of Solosis RMT and it does its job fantastically. Magic Guard ensures that Solosis' Focus Sash remains intact, allowing it to shrug off most status and all entry hazards. As Solosis sets up Trick Room, most opponents bring it down to its Focus Sash (which is easily doable given Solosis is at Level 1) with any attack. This gives it an extremely easy way to take down another Pokemon with it so long as the opponent doesn't have priority, and also creates a perfect set up for Glaceon to sweep by giving it 3 free turns of Trick Room. Many times, the opponent doesn't even bring Solosis down to its Sash, instead choosing to switch -- this allows for it to net multiple kills, as at 1 HP a Solosis with full health still brings opposing Pokemon down into the KO zone for hail.
The other 2 moves are largely filler; Toxic lets it cripple opponents which Hail can't effect, and Confuse Ray can deal with the odd Clefable. I can't count the number of people I've had yell at me for using such a "gimmicky" set, but it does its job consistently and reliably.
2chainz, 2strong.
Hi Thar (Jynx) (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Dry Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Blizzard
- Energy Ball
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
The fastest part of the team, Jynx functions as a sort of "glue" for the team which is able to keep things together while Trick Room isn't up. Jynx is able to counter multiple threats which otherwise pose large threats to this team, including Heracross, Chandelure, Froslass and CroCune. With a Timid Nature, Jynx can outspeed Heracross and KO it (with Psychic most of the time, but Blizzard can net a KO if Hera's at -1). Jynx can come in on Frosslass's Taunt / Spikes and dispatch it with Shadow Ball before it can do its stupid Destiny Bond shenanigans, and can revenge-kill Chandelure. CroCune can literally do nothing to Jynx due to its Dry Skin ability, which absorbs all Water-type attacks. Energy Ball can KO Swampert and weakened Rhyperior, as well as bulky waters like Milotic and Slowbro; Blizzard is a reliable STAB and is useful for outside of Trick Room, where Jynx can make quick work of Pokemon like Kingdra and Yanmega (so long as they're not already at +2 speed or higher).
As mentioned above, Dry Skin is one of the reasons why Jynx is so useful for this team; it's one of the reasons why losing the weather war doesn't spell the end for the team. Not only does Jynx benefit from the rain through replenished health, but it also throws a wrench into the opponent's strategy by depriving them of their precious boosted STAB moves. Sure, coverage moves exist and can still be used, but the lack of perma-rain means that Jynx and Empoleon can always wait out the storm and revenge-kill their now unboosted Swift Swimmers.
Lolwut (Empoleon) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Quiet Nature
- Surf
- Blizzard
- Grass Knot
- Hidden Power [Ground]
Choice Specs Empoleon is just so much fun!! I can't describe how great it feels to have someone switch in something like Hitmontop predicting you to be a Defensive SR set or something, then getting totally wrecked by a STAB Surf coming off of a Base 111 Special Attack stat. Unlike Glaceon, Empoleon's very well rounded stats and unique defensive typing allows it to function outside of Trick Room as a wallbreaker / tank of sorts. I decided to forego the raw power of Hydropump for Surf, as 85% accuracy is not something to mess with (especially since I, like many others, tend to view myself as the unluckiest person ever to go on the Pokemon Showdown server). Blizzard, Surf and Grass Knot alone give Empoleon perfect coverage; Hidden Power Ground is really just a filler move for hitting the rare Electric-type.
Like Jynx, Empoleon too functions as an essential "glue" of the team; it can function both in Trick Room and out, and its strongest move is BOOSTED in the Rain, making it even more dangerous under Trick Room as a sweeper. If I'm unable to keep Abomasnow alive long enough to prevent Rain Dance from going up, Empoleon under Trick Room is able to outspeed and resist the STABs of many Swift Swim Pokemon (notably, it resists Kingdra's dual STAB) and retaliate with its own Rain-boosted attacks, becoming a dangerous sweeper in its own.
Breadcrumbs (Porygon2) @ Eviolite
Trait: Trace
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Trick Room
- Thunderbolt
- Blizzard
- Recover
Oh, Porygon2, thou art a lifesaver. Were it not for this... duck (I think it's a duck? I dunno tbh), Chandelure would have swept me more times than I can count. Alas, Trace is the coolest ability ever, and renders me immune to the dual STAB of this haunted chandelier, forcing it out or letting me put it to an end with Thunderbolt. Arguably more important than this key role in my team, however, is Porygon2's ability to repeatedly and reliably set up Trick Room. Solosis's one time set-up, while entertaining and effective, only works once -- Porygon2's great natural bulk combined with Eviolite lets it survive some of the strongest of attacks (e.g., Scarf Darmanitan's Flare Blitz), set up Trick Room, and heal right back up or retaliate.
A note on the moves chosen for this set -- while obviously Tri Attack is a great move which sucks to be missing out on, I concluded that Blizzard and Thunderbolt can be put to better use. The only KOs I was really forfeiting without Tri Attack were Kingdra and Rotom-H, and those could be dealt with separately by Glaceon and Empoleon respectively (or even Jynx outside of Trick Room). Furthermore, this Porygon2 is intended to play a supporting role rather than a sweeping role; Recover is necessary to ensure that Porygon2 can live to set up another Trick Room, as 4 turns is seldom enough time to completely sweep an opponent's team.
Bruce (Glaceon) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Ice Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Blizzard
- Ice Beam
- Signal Beam
- Shadow Ball
Without question, the star of the team. Glaceon is just begging to be used on a Hail + Trick Room team -- STAB Blizzard, an enormous Base 130 Special Attack, abysmal speed and surprisingly decent bulk all come together to create a total monster under the Hail and a nearly unstoppable force under Hail and Trick Room.
Blizzard is obviously the main move of this set. As stated above, it can simply annihilate unprepared teams, and the abundance of Flying and Ground-types makes it all the more powerful. Ice Beam is for instances when Hail isn't up -- regardless of the drop in Base Power, it still gets STAB and is coming off of a Base 130 Special Attack stat with Choice Specs, so it's still sure to put a dent in the enemy Pokemon. Shadow Ball and Signal Beam are filler; they're used to hit Ghost and Psychic types respectively.
While this team has been super successful, there are several Pokemon which can make battles extremely hard to win. Rhyperior outspeeds both of my sweepers under Trick Room and can destroy them with Earthquake and Rock Blast. Not only that, but it can also prevent Solosis from setting up Trick Room with Rock Blast! It can both abuse and prevent me from setting up Trick Room. Another large problem is Snorlax -- it's a specially defensive monster which can wall the vast majority of my team. While Abomasnow's Wood Hammer takes off about 1/2 of its health, its Thick Fat ability severely lessens the impact of Blizzard, forcing me to rely on either Solosis or Empoleon to damage it. I remember that, on one occasion, I was 6-0ed by a RestTalking Snorlax simply because I was unable to dent it at all after Abomasnow died and it healed up!
So, that's my team! Through a lot of work and testing, I was eventually able to reach the top of the ladder (if only for short periods of time; Living Proof was quick to rebound on both occasions), which I'm super happy about, but clearly a lot of problems remain to be fixed and the team can still be developed more. As I said above, any and all suggestions will be much appreciated, and I'll definitely take them into account while trying to make this team even better! Thanks much!
