SM Ubers [SM Ubers] Bulky Balance Team. (My first RMT)

Hey everyone. I've been playing only casually for a while now, but I wanted to post my team for feedback because I want to advance on the ladder and get better. I've maxed out at 1560 with this team so it's been doing alright, but that's basically my ceiling right now.

I've always been kind of a read-and-react player. I have a tendency to overpredict, and I don't do well with teams that have frail Pokemon, because one mistake would result in a critical knockout. So I tend to prefer bulky teams that can put pressure but also wall, that can compensate for a slip up or bad prediction.

Here's the team I came up with.



Necrozma-Dusk-Mane @ Ultranecrozium Z
Ability: Prism Armor
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Photon Geyser
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance

This is always the starting point for my teams. Necrozma Dusk fits my playstyle to a T: a bulky Pokemon with a variety of sets. If I need it to finish off a Marshadow or another weakened Pokemon that outspeeds it, I can just have it tank a hit and fire back. If I get a support Arceus or another setup bait Pokemon, I can send it in and either set up a Swords Dance, or hit the predicted switch. Ultra Necrozma is brutal late game as well, but I don't mega evolve to it unless checks are all wiped out: I tend to keep it in its base form as long as possible to wall Toxic users and tank hits.




Yveltal @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Dark Aura
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
IVs: 0 SpA
- Foul Play
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Toxic

Scarfed Physical Yveltal is a bit unorthodox but it fits my style of overpredicting, and it does a ton of different things. It's the perfect check to opposing Ultra Necrozma, Mega Lucario, and E-Killer Arceus with Foul Play. Knock Off cripples common checks to Yveltal, including Power Herb Xerneas. Teams, after seeing Foul Play and seeing it's Scarfed, often send their own Yveltal in to check mine with Oblivion Wing: hitting them with Knock Off and removing a Scarf usually clears the way for a sweep for my Necrozma. It's also usually my lead due to a fast U-Turn




Groudon-Primal @ Red Orb
Ability: Desolate Land
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fire Punch
- Stone Edge
- Precipice Blades
- Rock Polish

Pretty self-explanatory. I opted for a Rock Polish set because a 504 base attack is usually enough to wipe everything out mid-game, especially with STAB + sun. I tend to hold PG back until mid game and send it in on a crippled Xerneas or another non-threatening Pokemon to set up a Rock Polish. Usually is able to at minimum punch a giant hole in their team, since it can hit everything for severe neutral damage. Also is part of a key opening to block lead Smeargles with Nuzzle, which I've seen a lot more of than Spore for some reason: U-turn from Yveltal to Primal Groudon, which is immune to Nuzzle. With max speed EVs, it outspeeds max speed Timid Smeargle even with an Adamant nature.




Arceus-Fairy @ Pixie Plate
Ability: Multitype
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 74 Def / 182 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Judgment
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
- Stealth Rock

The EVs may seem kind of weird here, but they result in virtually even defensive stats, letting Fairyceus check almost everything. It can tank a +1 Double Edge from Mega Salamence or a +1 Z-Move from Marshadow and counter with Judgment. Since the most common switch-ins to Fairyceus are steel types, Will-O-Wisp puts in a ton of work: the number of Mega Lucarios and Necrozma-Dusks I've crippled with this guy is off the charts.




Giratina-Origin @ Griseous Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Draco Meteor
- Defog
- Toxic
- Shadow Sneak

Giratina-O is my Primal Groudon check, and also serves as a surprisingly effective anti-lead against several leads. Against Deoxys-S, turn one Draco Meteor brings it down to 1 HP (knock out if it's not Sashed) then a Shadow Sneak ensures it can only get 1 layer of hazards up, 0 if they mess up and try to Taunt me turn 1 instead of going straight for Rocks. Same thing with Shell Smash Cloyster: bring it down to 1 HP with Meteor and Shadow Sneak it down, since most predict a switch away because of the type matchup. Max SDef means it can tank a Dark Pulse or Moonblast from an unboosted Yveltal/Xerneas and live to Defog hazards away.




Chansey @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Soft-Boiled
- Heal Bell
- Toxic

This set always confuses people. Minimal defensive investment. Double healing moves. Seems weird.

Chansey is the cornerstone of my team and fills a lot of the remaining holes, not to mention Wish and Soft-Boiled accomplishing different things. I don't invest much in Defense because, between Fairyceus' Will-O-Wisp, Yveltal's Foul Play, and Primal Groudon naturally tanking physical hits well, it doesn't often need to tank a physical hit. In fact maxed SDef lets it fill the one role on my team that is needed the most: Xerneas wall. If the opposing Xerneas doesn't know Psyshock, It's not able to break through Chansey, especially since rest+Fairium Z is becoming rarer and rarer due to Marshadow. +2 Focus Blast only averages about 42 percent damage. Soft-Boiled is used to heal itself while Wish lets me revitalize my team (again letting me compensate for a bad switch/prediction, which I'm prone to). Finally, a base form Necrozma + Chansey render stall Pokemon like Celesteela and Sub-Lugia moot. Switching back and forth between them lets me stall out their Toxic and Leech Seed. Especially since Celesteela is a common switch to Fairyceus: hitting it with Will-O-Wisp erases Heavy Smash as a threat to Chansey.


This is my team. Keep in mind this is my first RMT, and I'm not exactly a competitive player, so any help would be great. Thanks everyone!
 

Minority

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Chansey does not fit on this team at all. BO has ways to cover Primal Kyogre without yielding so much momentum, and this Pokemon only furthers the issues this team has vs. Ho-Oh and Shadow Tag. The most straightforward way to cover these issues is to simply utilize a Primal Kyogre of your own instead of Chansey - either physical or sub CM could work here. This essentially gives you another option vs. Ho-Oh and opposing Primal Kyogre whereas Chansey gives your opponent so much ease in mobilizing Ho-Oh, Shadow Tag, and things like Necrozma-DM.

I can't endorse this Scarf Yveltal set. EV spread should be 4 Atk / 252 Spa / 252 Spe if Scarf, or can use Sucker Punch + Life Orb. Scarf moveset should be Dark Pulse / Oblivion Wing / Foul Play / U-turn. Trying to use Knock Off + Attack invest to make some kind of headway vs. defensive Pokemon is counterproductive to Yveltal's role here. Scarf Yvletal is in order to revenge kill and mess with opposing offense - if you want something to break defensive Pokemon you use Life Orb. The Giratina-O set and spread is also dubious. The purpose here should be to check Primal Groudon + floaty Defog, so where do SpD EVs enter that equation. You do not want to dump a bunch of EVs just so you might be able to survive an attack from a Pokemon that beats you anyway. Survival or not, letting Giratina-O tank attacks from Yveltal or Xerneas is silly - why throw away Giratina-O to a Yveltal when you have an Arceus-Fairy. EV spread should be 252 Def / 252 SpA / Speed creep if you're using Draco Meteor as the purpose is to check physical threats (invest in Def is more efficient) and make it so that Draco Meteor is actually threatening vs. the Pokemon you intend to check. You may use inverse Speed creep along with Toxic such that you have a better shot of eliminating hazards when in 1v1 vs. Toxic-ed hazard setters.

Primal Groudon and Arceus-Fairy EVs are also inefficient. Rock Polish Primal Groudon doesn't run max Speed because it's overkill whereas Primal Groudon benefits far more from getting to have some bulk - ease of setup + checking X, Y, and Z. Arceus-Fairy likes to be fast so you can actually Judgment the things you need to before being KOed, increases capacity to click Recover, and allows you to Wisp things before they can smack you. This Pokemon should be running max, or near max Speed.

Summary:
- Use Primal Kyogre over Chansey, physical or Substitute + CM
- Use 4 Atk / 252 Spa / 252 Spe EVs on Scarf Yveltal with Dark Pulse / Oblivion Wing / Foul Play / U-turn
- Use 252 Def / 252 SpA / 8 Spe EVs on Giratina-O
- Use 124 Spe EVs on Primal Groudon and allocate the rest to bulk
- Use 252 or 192 Spe EVs on Arceus-Fairy with a Timid Nature
 
You should definitely use Minority's EV spreads but check smogdex for future reference as it can help you find the best possible EV spreads for the sets you want to use.

I'd like to give you my opinion on the structure of the team. Chansey is out of place but I kind of get why did you opt to use it as it gives you a bulky special wall with reliable recovery and a Xerneas check once your Necrozma becomes Ultra. However, Chansey is very passive and it cannot do its job right, especially in the kind of team you're using it on as it becomes not only setup fodder but also screams Shadow Tag users such as Mega Gengar and Gothitelle to trap you and thus, the team isn't as effective as you'd want it to be.

Suggestions.
  • -->
Magearna @ Leftovers
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Fleur Cannon
- Volt Switch
- Heart Swap
- Pain Split

With Magearna on the team Xerneas would be easier to play around, Volt-Switch also helps you keep up the momentup and escape from Mega Gengar. Magearna's set is pretty self-explanatory and I think its the perfect replacement for Chansey and it gives you a second inmunity to Toxic which is very helpful because you lose your other Toxic inmunity once Necrozma becomes Ultra.
  • -->
Arceus-Water @ Splash Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Ice Beam
- Recover
- Toxic

Fairyceus is not necessary anymore thanks to Magearna's excellent typing which deals with the threats that Fairyceus checks such as Yveltal. Arceus-Fairy isn't the best "lure" for Dusk Mane as it is very risky and it can also lose the 1v1 vs Primal-Groudon which can be very problematic if your opponent knows how to use it wisely. This is why I recommend Arceus-Water, which is capable of luring Dusk Mane with double status but also deal with PDon and Ho-Oh with Toxic. The EVs and Ice Beam make sure that it can deal with offensive Dragon-types such as Mega Salamence, Rayquaza and Zygarde-C.

Additional changes:
  • : As Arceus-Fairy is being replaced by Arceus-Water, the rock setter of the team must be Primal-Groudon. At this point, your team has two pivots for Primal-Kyogre (Waterceus and Tina-O) and you have Magearna which deals with Xerneas so you're free to run an offensive set like this one.
    [*]Groudon @ Red Orb
    Ability: Drought
    EVs: 160 Atk / 152 SpD / 196 Spe
    Jolly Nature
    - Stealth Rock
    - Swords Dance
    - Precipice Blades
    - Stone Edge / Fire Punch
  • : My last suggestion is about Giratina-O's set, you could replace Shadow Sneak with Hex as you can spread status very easily with Waterceus and Giratina-O itself and if you don't like Draco Meteor's drop in SpA, Shadow Ball is also an option. It is very important to use the correct EVs (like the one Minority recommended) so that Giratina-O can do its job correctly.

That's all. Hope I helped & good luck with the team~ :heart:
 

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