SM UU USUM UU Trick Room w/ Stakataka

It's been a long time since I did one of these. Expect more in the future though :]

USUM UU is probably my least favorite metagame at the moment for several reasons. Not going into details. So with the last tier shifts this New Year, UU got some amazing new pokemon to add to the already large array of monsters. I went through the UU tier and saw a few pokemon I rarely, if at all, use competitively. The first idea that popped in my head was trick room because of the overall speed of the team and the fact that outside of stall, UU is actually a pretty speedy metagame with things like Latias, Mega Aero/Mane/Beedrill/Sceptile/Pidgeot/Sharpedo, and others running about. Lots of priority users to think about as well cough SCIZOR cough. I had a hard time deciding on two team members in particular, but the rest of the team was very concrete. I have tested it in 6 games and the team never lost a match. I still have the major threat list for the team.

So during the building process, I took to reason that I needed to have a dedicated lead as well as TR abusers behind it. So I decided to start with the backbone and take some ideas from other TR teams that I know of or have used myself. I tried to give everything a nice overall balance as far as defense and coverage are concerned. That being said, there are still some issues that I want to have worked out.

Uxie @ Mental Herb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Trick Room
- Magic Coat
- Memento

Uxie is the first member of the team due to its efficiency at setting up stealth rocks, getting a trick room up, supporting an incoming teammate, and sponging a hit if need be. Magic Coat is the move of choice I went for in case someone has a taunt lead or is setting up different kinds of hazards, aka spikes. Virtually any viable move is an option over Magic Coat. It just depends on your preference. Max HP and Max Defense give you the best chance as a lead since a majority of hazard setters are physical. This is also a pretty standard EV spread for lead Uxie in general if you opt not to run any speed on it. All in all, it gets the job done. Mental Herb is the item of choice because even when it does have an attacking move in place of Magic Coat, you still really want to make sure you can get up the trick room, hazards, and or memento support your team. There is not much else to say about Uxie. It's the primary lead option and it has essentially 1 major goal in supporting the team.

Marowak-Alola @ Thick Club
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Flare Blitz
- Shadow Bone
- Thunder Punch / Bonemerang
- Swords Dance

Marowak-Alola is an astounding pokemon both for its defensive and offensive merits. Having 2 immunities (3 with lightning rod) and 7 resistances makes it a very solid choice defensively. With Thick Club, its attack stat reaches incredibly dangerous levels with a stat of 568 at the maximum. It's STAB combo is very difficult to find a resistance to generally speaking. So this pokemon is just perfect for what its role on this team is. After a Swords Dance, there is essentially nothing in the game that will survive an attack from this beast. Not that it necessarily NEEDS to set up to pick up its KOs. So with Rock Head as the ability, Flare Blitz becomes a very dangerous weapon which will no longer result in recoil damage for Marowak, which is perfect. Shadow Bone is the second STAB and overall just hits like a freight train whenever Flare Blitz is resisted. Thunder Punch was my preferred move of choice specifically for targets that Marowak-Alola might find problematic. Bonemerang is of course a viable alternative option. The main targets for Thunder Punch are Azu, Primarina, Volcanion, Mega Sharpedo, Mega Aero, and Mantine. There are other targets but those are the most important ones that I can think of. Make a note that Alolawak can only outspeed all of those threats inside of trick room. That's another reason for the brave nature and minimum speed stat; trick room abuse. Though Marowak is able to tank a hit or two, it graciously reaps the benefits of trick room.

Cresselia (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 240 HP / 216 Def / 52 SpA
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Trick Room
- Moonlight
- Moonblast / Ice Beam
- Lunar Dance

Cresselia was the third member of the team because it is pretty much one of the fattest pokemon available to UU and it gives the team a beautiful trick room setter, one that can come into battle on multiple occasions just to put the trick room up. It can also heal itself via moonlight which is pretty nifty as well. Leftovers was my preferred item for Cresselia simply for the fact it is passive recovery on the massive HP stat Cresselia possesses and helps Cresselia stay in the battle for a slightly longer amount of time in general. Mental Herb and Colbur Berry are also highly recommended items as well if one would prefer them to leftovers. Mental Herb stops taunt one time in the battle, allowing you to 100% get a trick room up in front of certain taunt users such as Azelf and some variants of Gliscor. Moonblast or Ice Beam is the attack of choice because it is primarily for coverage, not for power. The special attack investment is really only there to give Cresselia a little more presence offensively. It isn't anything miraculous. It just helps it hold a little more weight in general. Moonblast is my preferred move because it is a fairy type move which has nice coverage in general and has a fairly good chance to lower an opponent's special attack, which does ease the pressure for trick room abusers having to switch into battle and take a special attack to a small extent. Depends on the situation of course. Ice Beam is the alternative choice here because it targets Gliscor which can be very annoying to fight with this team due to its good typing and good natural bulk regardless of its set. Ice Beam also targets other targets that fly, Latias (moonblast covers this too but ice beam retains the coverage), Celebi, Serperior, and a few others. Either move is a good choice. I haven't really decided which one is more useful overall yet. Lunar Dance is the final move because this gives you the initiative with momentum and fully heals a teammate coming into battle afterward, which is another big reason Cresselia was placed on the team. This is also great for moving a TR abuser into battle without needing to take on an incoming attack. The defense and HP investment are simply to help Cresselia stomach as many physical hits as possible while also having a small offensive presence. The lowered speed nature is just to take some advantage of trick room. I wanted Cresselia to outspeed bulky Scizor outside of trick room in case there was a situation where I could gain momentum in front of it. It also outpaces some other slower pokemon in the tier outside of trick room.

Crawdaunt @ Life Orb
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Swords Dance
- Crabhammer
- Knock Off
- Aqua Jet

Crawdaunt is the fourth team member. It is a wild beast that is easily capable of OHKOing or 2HKOing a large majority of pokemon in the UU metagame just through its STAB attacks alone. Adaptability Crabhammer and Knock Off are seriously destructive attacks coming off of a 120 base attack stat. Toss the life orb on and you have a recipe for asking your opponent to figure out what is getting annihilated from the battle. Aqua Jet is a priority move, and in this metagame, Crawdaunt's Aqua Jet is one of the most powerful priority attacks you can find throughout the tier. Sword's Dance on Crawdaunt is to amplify its attack to monstrous levels. Again, there are a lot of times in practice where you don't or won't need to use Sword's Dance, but whenever you do have a valid opportunity to get the boost, it turns Crawdaunt into one of the most threatening pokemon. With trick room support, Crawdaunt is more than likely slower than virtually everything on an opponent's team outside of things like Amoongus, Snorlax, etc. That being said, Crawduant has the absolute minimum speed stat it can reach to best take advantage of trick room. Be mindful that even outside of trick room Crawdaunt can still pose a big threat to some matchups as it will outspeed things like Amoongus, Snorlax, etc. when the TR is gone. Aqua Jet is also a pretty powerful move in its own right that can easily clean a weakened team late game as well. Crawdaunt is not the bulkiest pokemon though, so you always have to be considerate of its health and what it can or cannot take the hit(s) from. The other choices for Crawdaunt are still somewhat up for debate in my mind. Azumarill was one of them but I really just could not justify its use because it really does not appreciate life orb recoil and I would highly prefer that it not have to lock itself into one move via choice band. BD Azu was the other optional set of course but I sincerely felt that it drained some crucial momentum from the team and the fact that using BD will soak up yet an extra turn of the trick room support it would likely be receiving. I could not really figure out any other pokemon that filled this role that Crawdaunt does, especially with its good typing. 248 HP puts you at 329, which I believe slightly lessens the amount of LO recoil Crawdaunt receives. (I could me mistaken, if so please correct me in a comment) 252 Atk with a Brave Nature maximizes Crawdaunt's offensive capability which is the whole point of this set. The extra 8 EVs were thrown into defense to make any difference it could in taking Infernape's mach punch, Scizor's banded bullet punch, and other physical priority moves.

Stakataka @ Rockium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Lonely Nature
IVs: 15 Def / 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Gyro Ball
- Stone Edge
- Superpower

Stakataka was only chosen because I like its name. -PokeaimMD
I actually chose this ultra beast because it has the strongest Gyro Ball in the entire game and has earned a name for itself as one of the most dangerous threats inside of trick room. Its typing is very REDACTED. Thanks to its sky high physical defense though, it is able to take a beating and remain standing. Thanks to beast boost, Stakataka will only grow more and more dangerous with each kill, potentially snowballing over a team. In order for the attack stat to increase from Beast Boost, Stakataka must absolutely have 15 Def IVs (or less if you're paranoid and think I'm lying) with a Lonely Nature to decrease the defense and boost the attack stats to a very solid 397. 0 Spe IVs are necessary to further increase the strength of Gyro Ball whilst improving its already great ability to benefit from trick room. Trick Room is run on this set because it helps self support Stakataka as well as set it for other teammates depending on the situation. Gyro Ball is STAB and with a speed stat reaching 31, Stakataka has the strongest Gyro Ball out of all pokemon in the game. Stone Edge is the other STAB move of choice that has high damage and also is what you will need to make use of Rockium Z on this set. With Rockium Z, you can net certain KOs that you can't with other moves and against certain pokemon. It's very important sometimes to have the nuking option of Continental Crush (base 180 STAB rock type attack) because it will give you beast boost immediately in contrast to your other attacks. Again it depends on the situation. Superpower is the final move of choice for its coverage on Cobalion, Krookodile, Mega Steelix, Mega Aggron, Lucario, Blissey, and several other pokemon in the tier that you see used for varying amounts/numbers of teams. EQ is an alternative option over Superpower but does less damage to some targets and slightly changes the coverage on those targets that Superpower would be used, which can alter what Stakataka has the advantageous match-up against. (Aggron-Mega basically eats any hits you go for, so keep that in mind. Unless you have a boost or two, Mega Aggron will swallow attacks from you.)
252+ Atk Stakataka Continental Crush (180 BP) vs. 248 HP / 124+ Def Scizor: 262-309 (76.3 - 90%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Stakataka Continental Crush (180 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Scizor: 325-384 (115.6 - 136.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Stakataka Continental Crush (180 BP) vs. 92 HP / 0 Def Azumarill: 391-462 (107.4 - 126.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Stakataka Gyro Ball (142 BP) vs. 92 HP / 0 Def Azumarill: 309-364 (84.8 - 100%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Choice Band Huge Power Azumarill Aqua Jet vs. 252 HP / 0- Def Stakataka: 144-170 (44.1 - 52.1%) -- 16.4% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Stakataka Superpower vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Cobalion: 234-276 (72.4 - 85.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Stakataka Gyro Ball (150 BP) vs. 244 HP / 12 Def Gliscor: 222-262 (63 - 74.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Poison Heal
252+ Atk Stakataka Continental Crush (180 BP) vs. 244 HP / 12 Def Gliscor: 265-313 (75.2 - 88.9%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock and Poison Heal
0 Atk Gliscor Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0- Def Stakataka: 244-292 (74.8 - 89.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Stakataka Superpower vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Blissey: 524-618 (73.3 - 86.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Stakataka Continental Crush (180 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Blissey: 589-694 (82.4 - 97.1%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Stakataka Gyro Ball (117 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Blissey: 384-453 (53.7 - 63.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Stakataka Continental Crush (180 BP) vs. 252 HP / 184 Def Amoonguss: 346-408 (80 - 94.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
252+ Atk Stakataka Continental Crush (180 BP) vs. 252 HP / 184 Def Amoonguss: 346-408 (80 - 94.4%) -- 50% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock and Black Sludge recovery
252+ Atk Stakataka Gyro Ball (77 BP) vs. 252 HP / 184 Def Amoonguss: 148-175 (34.2 - 40.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Black Sludge recovery
252+ Atk Stakataka Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 184 Def Amoonguss: 193-228 (44.6 - 52.7%) -- 83.2% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Black Sludge recovery
252+ Atk Stakataka Continental Crush (180 BP) vs. 40 HP / 252+ Def Alomomola: 271-319 (56.3 - 66.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Stakataka Stone Edge vs. 40 HP / 252+ Def Alomomola: 151-178 (31.3 - 37%) -- 78.8% chance to 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Stakataka Gyro Ball (150 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Kommo-o: 223-264 (76.6 - 90.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
(unless it is bulletproof kommo-o)
-1 252+ Atk Stakataka Stone Edge vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Manectric-Mega: 145-172 (51.6 - 61.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Stakataka Stone Edge vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Manectric-Mega: 219-258 (77.9 - 91.8%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Stakataka Gyro Ball (150 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Manectric-Mega: 163-192 (58 - 68.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Manectric-Mega Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Stakataka: 150-177 (46 - 54.2%) -- 49.2% chance to 2HKO
-1 252+ Atk Stakataka Gyro Ball (150 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Manectric-Mega: 108-128 (38.4 - 45.5%) -- 14.5% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
(-1 Gyro Ball into a Stone Edge has a small chance to 2HKO from full but is always going to 2HKO after Hazards)
252+ Atk Stakataka Gyro Ball (150 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Latias: 297-349 (98.3 - 115.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Stakataka Superpower vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Filter Aggron-Mega: 103-123 (30 - 35.8%) -- 95.4% chance to 3HKO after Stealth Rock
+1 252+ Atk Stakataka Superpower vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Filter Aggron-Mega: 154-183 (44.8 - 53.3%) -- 89.1% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Stakataka Superpower vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Filter Aggron-Mega: 207-244 (60.3 - 71.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
-1 252+ Atk Stakataka Gyro Ball (150 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Krookodile: 216-255 (65.2 - 77%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
-1 252+ Atk Stakataka Superpower vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Krookodile: 232-274 (70 - 82.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Stakataka Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Mandibuzz: 254-300 (59.9 - 70.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Stakataka Continental Crush (180 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Mandibuzz: 456-536 (107.5 - 126.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
0- Atk Mandibuzz Foul Play vs. 252 HP / 0- Def Stakataka: 102-121 (31.2 - 37.1%) -- 80% chance to 3HKO
252+ Atk Stakataka Gyro Ball (150 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Raikou: 171-202 (53.2 - 62.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Stakataka Stone Edge vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Raikou: 229-271 (71.3 - 84.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery


Togekiss @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Air Slash
- Dazzling Gleam
- Soft-Boiled
- Encore

Togekiss was the last member I placed on the team and I had no idea what to actually do for this slot. I looked at the threats to the team and I wanted a way to best handle them in one pokemon. I needed a good typing and a solid offensive presence, even if it wasn't a good user of trick room. Togekiss more or less fit the description. It is running 391 HP for a leftovers number with maximum defense to maximize its ability to eat physical attackers. 16 Speed EVs are used purely to outspeed max speed Adamant BD Azumarill. Although this variant is very rare, it can pop up and you won't outslow most variants of Azu inside TR anyway, so you might as well run the extra speed. reaching 200 speed also allows you to creep by uninvested base 80 and below, which is nice. This also outspeeds some pokemon that run enough speed to creep uninvested base 80 which typically would only run enough speed to outpace max speed neutral nature Alolan Marowak. The main example I can think of is Mantine or maybe some newer variants of Scizor. Air Slash has a 60% chance to flinch thanks to Serene Grace, but only when you are faster than your opponent. Otherwise you just have both STAB coverage moves. Soft-Boiled is reliable recovery and does not remove the flying typing on ground types that could be a threat predicting the roost and going for EQ. Encore or Defog belong in the final move slot. One is used to lock something into a move it would rather not be, something locked into a steel or poison move is straight fodder for Stakataka and AlolaWak. The other is used purely to remove hazards, which of course are an obvious problem for the team due to the lack of hazard control otherwise. It was very difficult to fit everything I needed into the last teammate and I wanted to also have the option to include a mega pokemon, but there was nothing that seriously worked. Blastoise-Mega looked somewhat valid for the role I wanted but there was no way I was ever going to trade out a Crawdaunt for it just to remove the double typing weakness of water.

So that is the team guys. I would definitely appreciate some feedback. Yes it is a dedicated trick room team. I have no desire to change it from being a dedicated trick room team. The whole reason this team is here is because I wanted to build a trick room team in the first place. Anyway, thank you for reading, hope you all enjoy the team. Below this block of text is a list of threats that I have made a note of so far in using the team.

Threatlist:
Azumarill - It has a good typing defensively and offensively against my team and is easily the biggest threat to my team as a whole due to its priority aqua jet and STAB coverage which handles all of my trick room abusers. If Azu gets a BD off that can pretty much be GG then and there.

Primarina - Same reason as Azu as far as typing is concerned. Thankfully it isn't as bulky and does not utilize priority moves which ignore the TR my team abuses.

Mega Aggron - Depending on what team its on, it can be a problem for my team to break through. Stall builds that use Maggron on paper are where it excels to be the biggest threat for my team, but there are ways to handle it. It just doesn't make facing it any easier.

Stall - There are certain stall teams that are frustrating to face. Specifically Alomomola based stall teams. This team does not have the greatest longevity, so you pretty much have to hit as hard as possible in as short a time as needed. That being said, SD Crawdaunt and AlolaWak are easily capable of eliminating stall, you just have to make sure that you play the match appropriately and conserve them for the matchup until you have the opportunity to bust through.

Hazards and hazard stacking teams in general are clearly a problem. It is unfortunate, but there is not very much room on the team for hazard control outside of the option on Togekiss.[/HIDE]
 

pokemonisfun

Banned deucer.
The team is pretty standard Trick Room in my opinion apart from the Togekiss. Most Trick Room teams are weak to Pokémon that can burn turns like Substitute Suicune, Gengar, and Serperior, as well as stall which you mentioned on the threatlist.

Why not use the Togekiss slot to deal with these threats as much as possible? Just changing your set to Nasty Plot with either coverage moves or Heal Bell will improve the stall matchup since you're not walled by Blissey and other standard walls like Alomomola after a Nasty Plot. Something like Fire Blast or Aura Sphere could lure Mega Aggron for your Stakataka to sweep.

Or you could run a different Pokémon entirely like Taunt Infiltrator Crobat which helps somewhat with the Substitute users although it might be too fast for your team. Also doesn't help much with Mega Aggron weakness.

Anyways sorry for such a short rate, my main point was that Togekiss slot should be examined if you want to reduce weaknesses since it's so unorthodox for Trick Room. Thanks for sharing and good luck.
 
The team is pretty standard Trick Room in my opinion apart from the Togekiss. Most Trick Room teams are weak to Pokémon that can burn turns like Substitute Suicune, Gengar, and Serperior, as well as stall which you mentioned on the threatlist.

Why not use the Togekiss slot to deal with these threats as much as possible? Just changing your set to Nasty Plot with either coverage moves or Heal Bell will improve the stall matchup since you're not walled by Blissey and other standard walls like Alomomola after a Nasty Plot. Something like Fire Blast or Aura Sphere could lure Mega Aggron for your Stakataka to sweep.

Or you could run a different Pokémon entirely like Taunt Infiltrator Crobat which helps somewhat with the Substitute users although it might be too fast for your team. Also doesn't help much with Mega Aggron weakness.

Anyways sorry for such a short rate, my main point was that Togekiss slot should be examined if you want to reduce weaknesses since it's so unorthodox for Trick Room. Thanks for sharing and good luck.
I actually agree with that. Like when the Togekiss was added to the team I literally had no idea what was most worthy of that slot. But yeah, prominent substitute users are an issue simply because they can stall turns out. I thought about NP Togekiss but I didn't know what move would be best for it. Do you think it would be wrong to run something like Kommo-o in the last slot to deal with sub users? Clanging Scales can still do a ton of damage to anything that doesn't resist it and Kommo-o is bulky enough to tank quite a few hits. It has a good matchup against Maggron as well.
 

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