ORAS UU My very first UU team for Gen 6

[rickheg]

Hello all, and welcome to my RMT. I'm awful at teambuilding, so it isn't often I make teams. I got sick of my XY OU team getting beat in the new meta so I decided to try venturing into ORAS UU, since I really liked some of the mons I saw in the tier list. I spent I think a few hours trying to figure out what mon I wanted to start with; I looked at Infernape, Jirachi, Beedrill, Raikou, before I was finally able to pick on a mon, and build the team from there. Every mon is listed in the order it joined the team, so I'll mention their reason for joining as they appear. Without further ado, the team;

Forretress @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Rapid Spin
- Gyro Ball
- Spikes
- Volt Switch

Forretress replaced the first team member, Chesnaught. Forretress brings Spin support, and a lot more resistances to go with his high defense, making spinning easier than it was with Tentacruel. Gyro Ball helps give Forretress an offensive presence and helps scare opposing Florges, who I otherwise can't really hurt.

Florges (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flower Veil
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 SpD
Calm Nature
- Wish
- Aromatherapy
- Moonblast
- Protect

I decided I needed a special wall to go with my physical wall, so I picked Florges. Wish is to help everyone with recovery outside of Leftovers, Aromatherapy to remove status. I went with a more physically defensive spread to help her take hits better overall, since she's already got amazing special defense. Even though she's here to absorb special attacks, the physical boost helps if I ever need to bring her in for Wish or Aromatherapy support, so I'm not sure I'd change anything here.

Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 240 HP / 16 Atk / 244 Def
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Scald
- Earthquake
- Toxic

Swampert replaces Tentacruel as my main resist for fire and poison type attacks usually aimed at Forretress and Florges, and provides much needed Stealth Rock support. It can get tricky, because Swampert has no reliable recovery. Toxic over Roar because Swampert can rarely afford to Roar, and spreading poison isn't the worst thing that could happen.

Raikou @ Choice Specs
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Extrasensory

Since my defensive core was all set to take advantage of switches, I needed a way to force them. My OU team used a Volt-Turn combo pretty well, so why not try the same thing here? I was looking for an excuse to use Raikou anyway, so this worked out pretty well. Raikou hits like a truck, so long as I use the right move. I went with HP Ice because Gligar gets destroyed, and any mon that would get hit by HP Grass harder can be handled by Chesnaught. With his speed investment, he can sometimes even revenge kill or sweep lategame if needed. I originally had pressure, but fuck Galvantula and other random Tbolts.

Mienshao @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- High Jump Kick
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Stone Edge

Finding the right U-Turner was surprisingly tricky. I didn't want to compound any glaring weaknesses, like one to ground, and I wanted to make sure I would actually hurt. I also didn't know how I'd lead with most matches. Mienshao solves all these problems. High Jump Kick's recoil scares me, but I need all that power. Knock Off is a great move in longer matches, and Stone Edge is basically my answer for Galvantula. Mienshao also makes a great revenge killer with that crazy speed.

Absol @. Absolite
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off
- Superpower

At this point, I didn't really have a way to win, or a mega (certainly not necessary, but hey, why not?). I found Mega Absol's SD set, and immediately decided to give it a try. If I can ever get in an SD, it's almost always game over. The only issue is actually finding time to SD, since this fucker is so frail. Thankfully, Knock Off and Sucker Punch hit so hard anyway, that I don't always go for the SD boost, especially with Spikes and Stealth Rock wearing everything down.


That's the team. It has definitely improved since taking King UU's suggestions, but I have noticed a trend in something giving this team issues; Nidoking and Nidoqueen. Hazards don't wear them down very much, and Sheer Force LO boosted attacks do a number to everyone. My main answer is usually to send in Raikou to revenge kill with either HP Ice or Extrasensory. Occasionally Swampert can get in a Scald to take down their health a bit, but otherwise I kinda have to hope I get lucky with how much damage I deal when they switch in and predicting, as Florges can take over 50% damage from Earth Power.

 

[Kink]

Hello,

This is a pretty nice team for your first gen 6 team in UU. I wanted to address a couple of things:

Firstly, you mention that you'd like a stealth rock slot. For this reason, may I suggest switching out Tentacruel for the standard defensive Swampert Set:

Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 240 HP / 16 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Scald
- Earthquake
- Roar / Toxic

Swampert also sports higher-powered attacks than Tentacruel. Secondly, alongside this change, I would also change Chesnaught to Forretress in order to retain your Rapid Spin support, as well as your defensive check to common physical wallbreakers.

Forretress @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Spikes /Gyro Ball
- Toxic / Gyro Ball
- Volt Switch

Regardless of whether or not Gyro Ball is used, you'll want to retain the Relaxed nature in order to pull off slower Volt Switches. If you do opt to use Gyro Ball, run 4 Attack EVs instead of 4 SpD; every point counts.

These two changes will greatly help out your team, as you now also have a check to Electric types as well as dual hazard setters + toxic + phazing support. You lose your dual psychic weakness which plagued your team (Alakazam can essentually destroy your team) and retain more bulk against Flying-types, particularly Crobat. You also retain your resistance to Fire- and Poison- types via Swampert.

 

[rickheg]

Hi King UU, thanks for the suggestions! I've added Forretress and Swampert (although I was sad to remove the mon I started the team around) and it's definitely helped! Somehow though, Nidoking and Nidoqueen are becoming more of an issue for me, as I can't really take their hits very well. Florges certainly can't tank them, and Swampert is easily 2HKO'ed. My current answer is usually to let something die, and hope they're around 70% or so so Raikou can revenge kill.

 

[Kink]

Hi King UU, thanks for the suggestions! I've added Forretress and Swampert (although I was sad to remove the mon I started the team around) and it's definitely helped! Somehow though, Nidoking and Nidoqueen are becoming more of an issue for me, as I can't really take their hits very well. Florges certainly can't tank them, and Swampert is easily 2HKO'ed. My current answer is usually to let something die, and hope they're around 70% or so so Raikou can revenge kill.

I'm glad you followed up; let's keep working on this and turn it into something first class.

Nidoqueen was a weakness before my suggestions, as it is notorious for dismantling balanced teams. If you'd like, you can change Absol for a support Umbreon set, giving your team much needed sponge support against every special attacker in the tier. Between Mienshao and Raikou, your team already has good sweeping potential. Umbreon and Florges also support each other fairly well, as Florges absorbs physical Fighting-type STAB while Umbreon absorbs all special poison, and even some physical Steel-type attacks, such as Iron Head, due to its good base 110 defense.

Umbreon @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize / Inner Focus
EVs: 252 HP / 156 Def / 100 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Foul Play
- Moonlight
- Toxic
- Roar

You can also replace Roar or Toxic with Heal Bell, freeing up a slot for Florges to run Calm Mind or Energy Ball. If you want to go through more changes, find me on Pokemon Showdown in the Underused room. I'm always willing to teambuild + test with newer users.

 

[Jonathan Cisneros]

Hi, interesting team :)

I would suggest running HP Grass on your Raikou over HP Ice. HP Ice is more of an OU Raikou set, but since Landorus and Gliscor and Garchomp are replaced in UU by Swampert and Quagsire, and since Krookadile is still hit super effectively, I feel HP Grass would be much better for the VoltTurn core you have going on with Raikou and Mienshao. The only real stop to your Raikou is Flygon, but he's easy to predict around and frail.

Also, if you're running Scarfed Mienshao, it would do you much better to run Reckless Mienshao over Regenerator, considering Regenerator is mostly for the Fake Out Life Orb set. It can be the difference between your High Jump Kick 2HKO'ing Suicune or losing the game.