UU Team Challenge Help

[Anthalt]

My friends and I wanted to have a slightly unusual challenge. We wanted to have a match between only our favourite pokemon. So we all made our teams... and mine is by far the most severely hurt by my choice of favourites. I would like help to improve my team so it doesn't get swept quite so hard every time I use it (win:loss ratio in UU about 1:2). Given the nature of the challenge I cannot change my pokemon, but I can change their abilities, items, moves, and EVs. Help me optimize my team further please (Also I would love some name suggestions for Armaldo and Gastrodon)!

Innis (Sceptile) (M) @ Leftovers

Ability: Overgrow

EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

Timid Nature

- Leech Seed

- Substitute

- Giga Drain

- Focus Blast

Clark (Arcanine) (M) @ Air Balloon

Ability: Flash Fire

EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

Adamant Nature

- Extreme Speed

- Flare Blitz

- Close Combat

- Crunch

Clamps (Armaldo) (M) @ Leftovers

Ability: Battle Armor

EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD

Impish Nature

- Stealth Rock

- X-Scissor

- Rapid Spin

- Stone Edge

Zoomy (Flygon) (M) @ Choice Scarf

Ability: Levitate

EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

Adamant Nature

- U-turn

- Earthquake

- Outrage

- Defog

Goku (Linoone) (M) @ Sitrus Berry

Ability: Gluttony

EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe

Adamant Nature

- Seed Bomb

- Belly Drum

- ExtremeSpeed

- Shadow Claw

Kombu (Gastrodon) (M) @ Leftovers

Ability: Storm Drain

EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD

Bold Nature

- Scald

- Toxic

- Recover

- Earth Power

Edited December 24, 2014 by Anthalt

[Deleted User]

I mean with the pokemon restrictions, I don't see much of anything you could do to improve it. Maybe run a Mega Sceptile set?

[Anthalt]

If I swap sceptile to mega should I also change it out from sub-seeder to special sweeper or leave it as a sub-seed staller but with an even higher speed to put up the sub?

[Deleted User]

Yeah. For a rough idea of what to run to sort of get a feel for what it can do, check out the sets on smogon here. It's definitely MUCH more offensive.

[Sheep]

You don't have a specially defensive pokemon. I'd switch Gastro's EVs around so it can take special hits better.

[Anthalt]

Do you think it would be better to divide up Gastrodon's EVs between defense and special defense or just go full on special defense? And leave the physical defense up to Armaldo (his typing isn't the best for trying to tank physical defense...)?

Edited December 5, 2014 by Anthalt

[Sheep]

Depends on what you're facing. If you have to face loads of physical attackers then I'd probably keep it physical. If you want a proper defensive core on this team then consider running a physically defensive Arcanine with intimidate, 252 in HP and Def, will-o-wisp, and morning sun, while running a specially defensive Gastrodon. That'd probably work pretty well.

[Anthalt]

I made an alternate list based on the suggested changes. I can't tell if it's better or not... the win:loss ratio is still about the same, games just go much faster because the team is less stall based without sub-seeder sceptile. If I had to guess I'd say I've pretty much come as far as I can go...

Maybe changing out the choice band on Flygon for a life orb would be an alright option (since getting locked into one move... even if that move is god-tier hard hidding... just doesn't feel tactically good)... Basically it makes linoone and flygon glass cannons... and that's a lot of glass.

[Shadow Tack]

put stockpile on gastrodon w/ sticky hold and lefties while getting rid of Earth power or scald imo

[Tomas Elliot]

Does Linoone really have to stay? Because a team consisting of physically defensive Arcanine, specially defensive Gastrodon (that's actually one hell of a defensive core, considering both have reliable recovery in Morning Sun and Recovery respectively), Mega Sceptile as a fast special sweeper, Armaldo a a bulky tank that can set-up a Swords Dance and hit hard while also doubling as a rapid spinner, and Flygon with some hit-and-run tactics (I'd actually recommend a Choice Scarf set) could actually be a pretty decent team, and I will be glad to go in-depth about the sets for each mon if you'd like.

But Linoone is just... The odd name out. I really don't think it can be of help in any way, it will never manage to set-up Belly Drum reliably in today's UU meta, and even if it did, Extreme Speed wouldn't really guarantee a sweep with all the things around that can shrug it off even at +6... I seriously think Linoone hinders you more than it helps you! Don't you have another "Pokemon you like" to use for this "challenge" of yours?

[Anthalt]

Linoone has to stay as part of the rules of the challenge. Of my favourite pokemon it is second in my heart (right behind sceptile, sometimes surpassing him to take first). The best I could do is drop Armaldo or Gastrodon (you'll notice they don't have nicknames) for Starmie (A.K.A. Thunderstruck) but that doesn't alleviate the issue at hand much.

But take heart my friends for it is... through some strange twist of fate the most terrifying sweeper on the team and has single-handedly won more matches than any of the other pokemon (if not for earthquake/outrage flygon's occasional sweeps I'd be tempted to say combined) on my team. The key is to bring it in on a safe switch against pokemon tanks, walls, clerics, hazard-setters, or stalls and go to town (anything not maximizing offense really). The goal is that the opponent will only hit for >75% (sometimes they miss and it's even better), so the berry triggers and bellydrum goes off. Then go to town with the HP that's left (the amount of times that it has been 4% when I'm finished makes me suspect that there's a pattern worth examining there, I really need to pay closer attention to the attacks I survive). The only pokemon I have seen resist him so far are mega-aggron and umbreon, all the others have been swept with damage to spare. He's also been useful as a revenge killer thanks to extreme speed.

Making due with what I have the team has been doing really well the past couple days and is now above a 50:50 win:loss ratio!

I would be really happy if you'd be willing to show me an in depth analysis of each pokemon though! It would be really helpful!

[Tomas Elliot]

As you wish:

Pokemon: Arcanine

Held item: Leftovers

EVs: 252 HP, 252 Def, 4 SpAtk (Bold Nature)

Ability: Intimidate

Moves: Morning Sun, Will-o-wisp, Roar, Fire Blast (or Flamethrower)

A great physical wall that burns opponents, making it even easier to wall stuff on the physical spectrum. Has a great synergy with Gastrodon, messes with set uppers with Roar, and can hit decently hard with Fire Blast (yes Fire Blast, not Flare Blitz: this is a defensive Pokemon so the recoil would hinder its walling abilities). If the accuracy of Fire Blast worries you, Flamethrower is also an option.

Pokemon: Gastrodon

Held item: Leftovers

EVs: 252 HP, 252 SpDef, 4 SpAtk (Calm Nature)

Ability: Storm Drain

Moves: Recover, Scald, Earth Power, Ice Beam (or Toxic or Protect)

A fantastic special wall that can also take physical hits from burned opponents and, thanks to its wonderful typing, can force switches and take advantage from the free turns to recover off the damage taken. Scald helps Arcanine spreading burns, which makes Toxic a slightly less useful option for the last slot. Earth Power can deal some serious damage to most Pokemon if you can absorb a Water-type attack thus getting a +1 to SpAtk, and this will make the opponent want to switch some bulky Grass-type into Gastrodon: knowing this, Ice Beam can be useful in the fourth slot to catch them on the switch and deal some nasty damage. Protect helps the passive recovery from Leftovers and makes prediction easier against choiced Pokemon, so yeah, it's your pick in the end...

Pokemon: Armaldo

Held item: Leftovers or Choice Band

EVs: 252 HP, 252 Atk, 4 Def (Adamant Nature)

Ability: Battle Armor

Moves: Rapid Spin, X-Scissor, Stone Edge, Earthquake or Stealth Rock

Armaldo is bulky and hits hard, meaning it can force switches. And you can take advantage of the switches it forces to Rapid Spin. Also, with its powerful X-scissor it can break through Regen cores, which is always nice. If you like to hit hard, give it Earthquake in the fourth slot along with Choice Band. If you prefer durability and support, give it Stealth Rock and Leftovers.

Pokemon: Flygon

Held item: Choice Scarf

EVs: 252 Atk, 252 Spe, 4 HP (Jolly Nature)

Ability: Levitate

Moves: Earthquake, Stone Edge, U-turn, Outrage

Flygon is not supposed to be the hammer of this team. Flygon is supposed to be the scalpel: switch into weakened Pokemon (you have 2 key immunities and many resistances, so it is easy to switch the guy in) and finish them off with the appropriate move. With this set, you can outspeed more or less the entire tier, making this job all that easier. It would be a smart move to default to this guy as your lead, using U-turn to scout the opponent's decisions and get a chance to send in Sceptile and Mega evolve. In general, early on you want to always use U-turn no matter what, forcing switchings and keeping momentum on your side: use other attacks only at the end of the game, when you are sure you can score kills regardless of your opponent's attempts at switching, picking on their weakened mons.

Pokemon: Sceptile

Held item: Sceptilite

EVs: 252 SpAtk, 252 Spe, 4 HP (Mild Nature)

Ability: Overgrow (Lightningrod after Mega evolving)

Moves: Earthquake, Leaf Storm, Dragon Pulse, Hidden Power (Fire or Ice)

This guy hits like a truck. Leaf Storm can deal over 70% damage to anything that doesn't double-resist it (or Blissey), and if the opponent think they are smart, sending out a Fire or Steel Pokemon and then assuming you'll be forced to switch out by the SpAtk drop, EQ will catch them off-guard and score the kill. Dragon Pulse and Hidden Power round off the coverage: pick the type of HP depending on your needs, both can be ok...

Well, this is it. This is a very solid team to be honest, except... I still find Linoone to be the odd name out. This team needs a Volt-switcher like you need air to breathe, to keep momentum going and give Sceptile and Flygon even better chances to come in and wreck havoc...

[Sheep]

I would personally put the last four for Arcanine, Gastrodon, and Armaldo into speed because putting them anywhere else doesn't really make a difference to anything. At least in speed you're not wasting them.

If not running rocks on Armaldo then give it an assault vest, but don't go down that path as hazards are much more useful.

[Anthalt]

Isn't Gastrodon too slow to ever need to make use of speed EVs? The only thing he'll outspeed are pokemon who are specifically slow to make use of gyroball and trick room, and then the speed helps even less.

Also, with only linoone as priority, will this team be fast enough to take down a boosted target like swift swim kingdra (not the best example, since I know Armaldo is very effective against it thanks to battle armour, but something similar)? Up until this point to deal with obscenely fast things I've been getting a toxic off with Gastrodon (who can always take 1 hit), then extreme speeding with linoone and arcanine, and letting the toxic finish the job.

[Sheep]

The idea with the speed EVs is not to make them significantly faster, it doesn't matter if they're slow or fast, it just lets them outspeed anything else with the same base speed as them 100% of the time.

[Flux]

Looks like it could use some Muk.

[Anthalt]

Today did not go so well for our team, lads! After a crazy day of wrecking house yesterday (6:7 win to loss ratio), the team has dropped back down to losing almost every game... Today was 1:10 win:loss ratio (been a discouraging day of only 3 wins and 30 losses, but ended on a win, so I at least have that to be thankful for). Guess the force just wasn't with me.

One problem may be that people may have become aware there is a Linoone in the UU circuit because everyone is suddenly becoming much better at stalling him out, and without the loooooone I typically don't have the sweeping power I need to push things over the edge.

[Tomas Elliot]

Today did not go so well for our team, lads! After a crazy day of wrecking house yesterday (6:7 win to loss ratio), the team has dropped back down to losing almost every game... Today was 1:10 win:loss ratio (been a discouraging day of only 3 wins and 30 losses, but ended on a win, so I at least have that to be thankful for). Guess the force just wasn't with me.

One problem may be that people may have become aware there is a Linoone in the UU circuit because everyone is suddenly becoming much better at stalling him out, and without the loooooone I typically don't have the sweeping power I need to push things over the edge.

Which is what I have been telling you this whole time, isn't it? Have you seen my earlier post?

[Anthalt]

True, but there isn't anything I can really do about it. He's on the team for better or worse. Honestly, overall I'm not doing nearly as badly as I thought I would. My total score is right in the middle of the pack of my friends (one of them has run into the unfortunate challenge of having 1 OU pokemon and the rest UU, so the only time he gets to battle almost on even ground is against me, and I take him to town lol).

Edit: And for whatever inexplicable reason we're back! Went on a mad kill streak with a win:loss ratio of 3/1. It was a good night for the team. I'm definitely getting better with it and have even had sceptile actually put in proper work now that I've got the hang of where and what he can switch in on (getting that mega off has been risky sometimes)

Edit 2: Being tired is the key to my team losing... lost 12 battles in a row... basically erased all my progress for the day... I will never play after 1am again.

Edit 3: For all who doubt the power of the loonster, a typical Linoone sweep from the original list lol

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-192353150

Edited December 13, 2014 by Anthalt