SM UU Odyssey (peaked #1 w/ 1700 ELO and 87.6 GXE)

[Freeroamer]

Introduction​

Hi guys, just dropping the best team I've made in SM UU up to this point. I've spammed this team an unhealthy amount on the ladder to the point where I was one game away from being in UULT playoffs before I got crit on the last turn after having to play back from an earlier crit and to where I peaked #1 earlier today. I know for a lot of people ladder peaks don't hold massive significance because the quality is generally subpar compared to what you get in tournament games, but what's been most satisfying is that other than certain stall teams there isn't really too many matchups where you have absolutely no chance, even though as with all teams I wish I could be more solid vs some threats. This team is incredibly standard but it functions well for what I wanted it to do. Don't read anything into the title btw, it was just the first word I thought of and I needed a title.

Teambuilding Process​

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I actually started building this team a while ago, during the Victini retest and the pokemon I wanted to build with was Primarina mainly due to getting blown back by it a ton. It's power and typing really make it a huge threat to balance, and while it's bulk isn't the best, it does check some notable mons at least once such as Keldeo and Hydreigon.

When building with wallbreakers with few switchins, one of the first things I always look for is pivots with decent synergy. Scizor provides me with just that, pivoting out of Fire types and physically defensive mons that Primarina gobbles up. The typing synergy is useful at times also.

Seeing as I was going the balance route, and I'm always wary of being overly weak to Raikou Hippo was an obvious next addition. Stealth Rock, great mixed bulk and reliable recovery makes this a common choice for a lot of balances and it just fits really well here.

At the moment, the team is really damn slow. While I have defensive responses to a lot of stuff, unless you're running a full stall team you won't have the longevity to cope with constantly taking hits and responding after the opponent, meaning I had to address the speed issue as soon as possible. Aerodactyl helps me do that, while trapping common balance threats such Gengar and Alakazam. It also loves the presence of Hippowdon, with sand allowing it to switch directly into these threats if required.

At this point I'm running one SR weak mon as well as 4 pokemon shredded by Spikes, the obvious response is to add a means of hazard removal. I've always enjoyed using Tentacruel, and as a means of hazard removal I have a massive preference for spin over Defog so I used it again here. Helping out vs Scizor and Flamethrower Clef were big parts of why I used Tentacruel here, and thanks to the presence of Aero I can usually Pursuit Ghosts that attempt to spinblock.

For my last I wanted something that could provide another edge of Speed, as other than Aero everything is slow and doesn't even run max Speed so this needed fixing as soon as possible. I chose Hydreigon as my Choice Scarf user primarily as it gave me a secondary response to SD Bisharp, in the case that Hippowdon got flinched or couldn't deal with it for some reason. A choice I tried here also was Scarf Infernape as it would help vs Scizor a lot but it didn't feel quite right as well as the fact it got worn down v quick by Spikes and Sand.

The Team​

Primarina @ Choice Specs
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Scald
- Moonblast
- Psychic
​

The power of this pokemon is simply incredible, and when it has 2 of the most spammable attacking types in the tier with powerful STABs to back it up, it's obvious it's going to be a threat. Set is as standard as they come, dual Water STABs with Moonblast and Psychic, although I rarely click Scald so maybe using Energy Ball might be worth a try, but I don't think it's necessary. I opted for Modest as when I'm not sure about what nature a mon like this should run, I go with the slower one initially and see how often I'd miss being faster. In truth, I've never really wished I was Timid so Modest is fine. I have considered running Specs Keldeo here before even though the team was built around Primarina, as this would help me out vs Scizor while making the team have less of a "the 6 walled by Empoleon" feel, but I fear the loss of Primarina might make breaking bulkier squads down harder at times, as Prims Water/Fairy/Psy coverage is often better here as well as the slight power boost as it can go Modest. Something to consider maybe.

Scizor @ Leftovers
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 124 Def / 136 SpD
Impish Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Swords Dance
- Roost
​

While this Scizor set sees huge use, I'm not actually a massive fan of it on most teams. However, I think it fits excellently well here, providing me with a bulky pivot while providing priority and a win condition. Set is standard as anything, unless my opponent is enormously weak to Scizor, I'll generally throw this into a lot of stuff I'm not sure about to scout and plan from there. The EVs are taken from the on site analysis, although I do run lowered Speed IVs to try and slow U-Turn out of opposing Scizor so my Tenta isn't taking unnecessary damage. I won't reveal what I run here though!

Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 176 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Slack Off
- Stealth Rock
​

Hippowdon is probably one of the easiest pokemon to use in existence. Chuck into stuff it walls, set up SR where possible and use the combination of Earthquake and Toxic to deal with threats. Real talk though, this set is standard as anything and is a large part of what holds this team together. The main time where Hippo absolutely needs to be conserved is when you see Bisharp or Cobalion, because the team doesn't have much counterplay vs them otherwise, particularly a double dance Cobalion. I opted for Toxic in pretty much the only free slot Hippo has as I feel it's the best middle ground for it to be able to apply pressure on switchins. Evs are standard as from the analysis allowing it to take 2 Specs HP Ices from Raikou, and I've never felt the need to change. I've tried running Fire Fang over Toxic for Scizor before but for what you gain in that matchup you lose a lot more in pretty much every other matchup.

Aerodactyl-Mega @ Aerodactylite
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Wing Attack
- Aqua Tail
- Earthquake
- Pursuit
​

The best mega in XY/ORAS is still a great pick in this metagame, granting me both speed and the ability to trap and remove frail threats that would give me a rough time otherwise. The set looks weird without Stone Edge but I honestly feel like I need all the other moves here and I honestly rarely find myself in situations where I'm like I really needed Edge there. Wing Attack is just absolutely mandatory, Aqua Tail is necessary for being able to apply pressure to Gliscor who could be a real dick otherwise, while I never leave home without Pursuit on Aero on these kind of teams. Earthquake could maybe be switched out for Edge or even Fire Fang maybe to try and lure in pesky Scizors, but being able to hit Empoleon, Bisharp and Cobalion especially at times has been really useful.

Tentacruel @ Black Sludge
Ability: Liquid Ooze
EVs: 240 HP / 236 Def / 8 SpA / 8 SpD / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Acid Spray / Haze
- Toxic Spikes
- Rapid Spin
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Tentacruel is one of my all time favourite mons to use in UU, and this is pretty much the same setup I ran with last gen with a little tweak to EVs. 240 HP / 8 SpDef guarantees I live Specs Psychic from Modest Primarina after SR, while the 8 SpA EVs guarantee a 2HKO on Entei from max HP. I opted for just 16 Speed, enough to outspeed all Primarina rather than the faster spread on site cos I basically need more chances to burn Scizor as I'm so shaky vs it. Acid Spray makes Clef less annoying but makes you Scizor weaker so I'm not sure which is better here.

Hydreigon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Dark Pulse
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- U-turn
​

As with pretty much everything on the team, this is an incredibly standard set but it just fits the team very well in that it gives both momentum as well as security vs offensive threats. I'm not actually sure whether Scarf is the best set here, as a lot of what I outspeed with it is handled already by the defensive side of the team, but having the option to check them offensively is always useful in games. I did consider Scarf Infernape here, as it means I'd handle Scizor much better, but the team didn't feel as comfortable to use with it. Against teams with Toxic Spikes and/or Spikes Infernape also tended to get worn down extremely quickly in conjunction with sand.

Threatlist​

I've mentioned it a ton throughout the RMT, but honestly this can be very difficult to beat if it's played reasonably well or you don't get lucky enough. Any changes I'd make to the team would revolve around making the team more solid vs Scizor.

SD variants can be very irritating because they outspeed and hit Prim hard before it can blow them away, and they set up on a lot of the team. Having Aero as the initial response says a lot haha.

Stall teams that look something like the above are often an impossible matchup for this team. They have checks for virtually everything on the team and can remove T spikes on command and prevent them from being effective.

Conclusion​

In all, this has definitely been the best team I've made in SM UU so far and I feel like I've taken it as far as I can in it's current form, however I definitely feel that there are potential improvements that could be made, so please feel free to suggest any that you spot and absolutely try the team out!

Importable

Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 176 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Slack Off
- Stealth Rock

Tentacruel @ Black Sludge
Ability: Liquid Ooze
EVs: 240 HP / 236 Def / 8 SpA / 8 SpD / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Acid Spray
- Toxic Spikes
- Rapid Spin

Primarina @ Choice Specs
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Scald
- Moonblast
- Psychic

Aerodactyl-Mega @ Aerodactylite
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Wing Attack
- Aqua Tail
- Earthquake
- Pursuit

Hydreigon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Dark Pulse
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- U-turn

Scizor @ Leftovers
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 124 Def / 136 SpD
Impish Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Swords Dance
- Roost

 

[sparrow]

Hey Freeroamers, really cool team you have here, not much I can suggest in the way of changes, though I can jump on board your own suggestion of Keldeo over Specs Primarina, though in my thoughts - CM Normalium-Z Keldeo.

>

set

Keldeo @ Normalium Z
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald / Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Hyper Beam
- Calm Mind

Keldeo gives you a much nicer match up versus stall, whilst also giving you a massive powerhouse the team is based around. Z-Hyper Beam gives Keldeo the opportunity to take out its usual counters: Slowbro, Amoonguss & Tentacruel all come to mind. Albeit, losing a no set up nuke and fairy type sucks, the merits to Keldeo do help this team with its problems. That being Scizor and stall. Having a back up check versus shit like Bisharp is also quite nice, and its speed is also welcome on this team.

 

[Freeroamer]

Hi sorry it took me so long to reply, yeah this is a fair change, I had been thinking Keldeo patched a lot of weaknesses while not opening any other major ones(Hydreigon becomes a bit more iffy but Keld and Aero outspeed, my own Hydreigon is Scarf, if def has the potential to do damage but the return for reducing my threatlist so much is definitely welcome) so I'd probably agree with that change. I haven't played extensively with the newer version of the team but when I have it's done well, thx!