Cheese Puff Pirates!

[Keiran]

I hope the title caught your attention ;)

Hi everyone, I'm really not good with introductions, so I'll try and make this as quick as possible, essentially, I've been using the same UU team for a LOOONG time (Maybe about 3 months before the tier changes) and got me around Rank 50 on the ladder, but since the tier changes, This team has some what lost it's flair, and that's why I'm here, I wish to make this team more viable in the current metagame (You can find my current peak in my signiture)

So without further adieu, here's the team!

At a Glance!​

In Depth!​

@ Focus Sash
Trait: Snow Cloak
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Taunt
- Spikes
- Destiny Bond
- Ice Beam

I love this Froslass supah-mucho. The combination of Taunt and Destiny bond forces so many switches, along-side Spikes, It racks up damage early game. With a little prediction, I can destroy Xatu on the switch attempting to bounce back taunts and Spikes. More often than not, Froslass will usually kill 1 Poke with Destiny bond. Froslass is essential to the team courtesy of Flygons naturally ability to force switches with it's impressive dual STAB + U-Turn. Racking up in more damage, also let's my Pokemon switch more on a possible Rapid spin, so even without my Hazards, I can get a safe switch-in to a Pokemon.

@ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic
- Close Combat
- Sucker Punch

Hitmontop is my wall and spinner of choice, thanks to Intimidate and Hitmontops naturally high special defence, He can soak up hits incredibly well. His move-set is fairly simple, whilst my team isn't that weak to stealth rock, Rapid Spin is essential to let my Arcanine bust through everything with Flare Blitz and not die to recoil and since my team is fairly grounded, Rapid spin is always welcome. Toxic ensures Hitmontop can beat strong walls such as Deoxys-D whilst it sets-up hazards. Close Combat is my STAB Move of choice, I'm considering replacing it, because the defence drops aren't exactly welcome on a defensive-mon. Sucker punch is priority, allowing me to pick off weakened sweepers, who would other wise kill my Hitmiontop.

@ Choice Band
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Flare Blitz
- Close Combat
- Wild Charge
- ExtremeSpeed

Choice Band Arcanine, possibly one of my favourite UU Pokemon. Hits incredibly hard thanks to Flare Blitz, Close Combat and Wild Charge act as coverage, allowing Arcanine to hit Rock-types such as Kabutops who resists Flare Blitz, but also allows Arcanine to hit mons such as Empoleon harder whilst Wild Charge hits Water-types like Slowbro, Suicune and Milotic, who would other-wise shrug off any other move. Extreme-speed is strong priority. Allowing me to pick off weakened sweepers. In conclusion, He is an incredible wall-breaker, capable of raging through the Dusclops / Chansey core. Oh, also Intimidate is pre faired over Flash Fire, because it makes the rest of the team all the 'bulky' allowing other sweepers to switch in effectively.

(M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Earth Power
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Sludge Wave

Nidoking is a 1st generation favourite of mine, and for a reason. The pure power and wall-breaking capability of thing is immense. The moves listed provide incredible coverage. Timid is pre faired over Modest because speed is Nidoking's biggest problem. Often weakens pokemon enough to the extent Flygon can clean up. Pretty straight forward mon also, Sludge wave lets me hit Rotom-H and provides a secondary STAB option, but is a free switch-in to Steel types.

@ Leftovers
Trait: Swarm
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spd)
Sassy (+Sp.D -Spe)
- Swords Dance
- Megahorn
- Iron Head
- Pursuit

This things armour must be heat-proof or something, It literally lols at burns and still kills everything

Escavalier, dear god, This thing is so strong. My main check to Trick Room, murdering most Trick room summoners. The EVs make Escav as offensive and bulky as possible, courtesy of it's typing, it can switch in many times during a match and kill everything. Megahorn is STAB, literally destroying even Pokes that resists it, It did 72% to a Nidoking once @_@. Iron head is also STAB, but also provides coverage, hitting Rock mons. Escav is also a great member of this team, since it's a great counter to Alakazam, barring HP Fire. Pursuit trapping and KO'ing on the switch-out.
Did I mention this thing is strong?

Start of turn 34
The foe's Slowbro used Scald!
Escavalier lost 94 HP! (27% of its health)
[UU] YKeiran: Gg
Escavalier was burned!

Escavalier used Megahorn!
It's super effective!
The foe's Slowbro lost 75% of its health!
The foe's Slowbro fainted!

@ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- U-turn
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Fire Punch

Possibly the star of my team, Flygon usually first appears after Froslass has died and killed something courtesy of Destiny Bond. Thanks to it's offensive dual STAB and U-turn, Flygon quickly gives me momentum. Often giving me the head start in a battle. I like Jolly over adamant thanks to the guaranteed outspeed of +1 Kingdra who would over wise be be a big problem to this team.
I use Fire Punch over Stone Edge simply because I don't want to have to lock myself into Outrage to reliably kill Roserade + Heracross etc.

Well, That's my team, all rates will be greatly appreciated.​

 

[Keiran]

Not entirely sure if I'm allowed to bump, but, This thread will get eaten by the page 2 monster if I don't D;

 

[Penance]

Looking at the team I see a lot of offensive synergy. Not much can really get away for too long against this team. Defensive-wise I can see a weakness to Alakazam which is increasing in popularity with the release of Magic Guard.

It can push your team down pretty hard, Escavalier is pretty much the only thing between Alakazam and a clean sweep. If Flygon is removed from the mix Alakazam can hurt. I am not sure if HP Fire is common on Alakazam though. Dugtrio can help in in this situation, it traps Alakazam and you have access to priority Sucker Punch. Hitmontop does get Sucker Punch, but if they are Sub 3 attacks you don't have much for them, I am not sure if your set can OHKO with CC.

Other than that this team looks very solid.

 

[TM13IceBeam]

sup yk pretty cool team here

IDK what are the bulk investments in froslass for considering that she's essentially a suicide lead: you might just want to run 4hp/252spa/252spe to give ice beam maximum power: doing stuff like OHKOing Xatu coming in to reflect the spikes is extremely cute.

Hitmontop can't really beat Deoxys-D with Toxic, since Deoxys-D is faster and can taunt, although from what i know deoxys never taunts hitmontop anyway but its not going to stay in either since its hazards are not staying forever, in fact it may even toxic you back. also god forbid DO NOT REMOVE CLOSE COMBAT. your best choices aside from CC are mach punch (which sucks without technician), low kick (which sucks half the time) and hi jump kick (which sucks the most, considering hitmontop is basically a ring target for ghost types to switch in).

Arcanine is great but Scarf Darmanitan also hits like a truck. If you think that Arcanine's Intimidate is essential for the team, by all means keep it :)

Don't run Fire Blast on Nidoking because it hits virtually nothing stronger than Earth Power outside of lolferroseed/escavalier. instead, run sludge wave. yes, steels have an attack to switch into, but generally Sludge Wave is a lot more useful than Fire Blast.

wtf is with that esca calc

the oven version of rotom is Rotom-H btw, and you can bump threads after 24 hours (or around there)

some of the things that could potentially wreck you are Rain Dance Kingdra, who outruns Flygon with some investment into Speed, while neutering Arcanine's Flare Blitzes. you can try possibly running SD esca(SD isn't swords dance here, its specially defensive!) since chances are Escavalier will need the bulk to setup. a spread of 252 hp/4 atk/252 spdef with careful may serve you well here, fitting into the 'bulky' theme of your team and allowing you not to get assfucked by zam/hail

 

[Keiran]

That TM13, is the pure strength of a +2 burnt Escav. (although it might of been offensive considering it was on a TR team)

But anyway, according to the November Moveset Statistics, only 11.3 ran Hidden Power (doesn't specify which HP sadly). But I can assume it's either HP Fighting (Focus Miss sucks) or HP Fire, With a specially defensive spread I can tank one HP Fire, albeit just barely,

252 SpAtk Life Orb Alakazam Hidden Power Fire vs 252 HP/252 SpDef Escavalier: 83.72% - 98.84%
2 hits to KO (with Leftovers)

Focus Blast: 252 SpAtk Life Orb Alakazam Focus Blast vs 252 HP/252 SpDef Escavalier: 35.47% - 41.86%
3-4 hits to KO (with Leftovers)

Hidden Power Fighting:
252 SpAtk Life Orb Alakazam Hidden Power Fighting vs 252 HP/252 SpDef Escavalier: 20.93% - 24.71%
6-7 hits to KO (with Leftovers)

and about Kingdra:

Hydro Pump:
252 SpAtk Life Orb Kingdra Hydro Pump vs 252 HP/252 SpDef Escavalier: 41.86% - 49.13%
3 hits to KO (with Leftovers)

Whilst Megahorn:

252 SpAtk Life Orb Kingdra Hydro Pump vs 252 HP/252 SpDef Escavalier: 46.22% - 54.07%
2-3 hits to KO (with Leftovers)

So yeah, SpD Escav seems to work the best for this team, Making good C&C's to both Kingdra and Alakazam. Eliminating the need for Dugtrio.

I think I'll use Sludge Wave over Fire Blast, It allows me to touch Rotom-H.

And if Hitmontop doesn't beat Deoxys-D, Escav does, and yeah, changed Froslass' EV spread, didn't like being outsped by base 108's like Cobalion.

EDIT: I didn't calc the rain boost on Kingdra, It's probably a 2 hit KO.

 

[Keiran]

Daily Bump.

 

[ebeast]

I think that you should try something for Darmanitan as it can wreak a lot of your team. You do have Arcanine and Flygon to try and come in, but they don't appreciate it. So in situations like your opponent sending out his Darmanitan against say your Escavalier, not much on your team will like to take Flare Blitz. Maybe Slowbro or Rhyperior.

 

[WuA]

This is Professional Scrub here if that holds relevance...

1)i dont like CC on Hitmontop takes out the point of all the bulk you gave him. He is really the bulkiest thing on your team, so keeping him healthy is important. I use Hi jump kick but that can back fire when they try to block your rapid spin... It might be a little more prediction but it helps. You could even use Jump kick if you dont fancy 90 accuracy...

2) Your team is so physical its painful to look at, I actually use the exact same froslass so i know for a fact he normally doesnt stay more then 5 turns. After hes dead and gone, you've got 4 physical pokes and one special. If nidoking were to die my sub root zapdos could stall out your entire team. (from experience a stone edge from jolly flygon does 35% and outrage does around 40%) So i can roost stall the hell outta you.

3) Someone above me mentioned deoxys D checking your hitmontop with taunt, you could run 168 speed to outspeed him and other base 90-70's (which also helps you outspeed, cress, bulky rotom H, suicune, kingdra with no speed, milotic, blastoise and nidoqueen all special threats which you wouldnt outspeed have before.... Just saying.

4) I still dont understand why you have sludge wave on nidoking, fire blast is so much better, it hits ice, steels that resist earth power, and gives neutral coverage. Sludge wave hits, grass pokes. And thats it, it also provides free switches into steels.

5)I dont see why you are running 252 speed on escav, he hits a laughable 139 speed, not outspeeding anything useful except maybe slowbro( i dont know off the top of my head) either put then in attack so you can pursuit trap more effectively, and hit harder quicker. Or in spec D so you can set up on more special pokes. speed is rather redundant, ( I have just checked you can run 88 speed to outspeed slowbro and slowking if you wanna be pontsy like that.)

6) Criticsms aside your team has fantastic synergy, but i would probably put in another special poke somewhere to prevent being walled.

 

[Keiran]

1) I don't trust HJK / JK's accuracy, considering that I don't have recovery, and Mach Punch is too weak, with CC I can 2 hit KO offensive Cobalion.

2) I've never really had problems with Zapdos in general, CB Arcanine's Flare Blitz does over half.

252 Atk Choice Band Arcanine Flare Blitz vs 248 HP/236 Def Zapdos: 55.09% - 65.27%
2 hits to KO (with Leftovers)

3) I dunno, I can't really afford the speed EVs, the HP & Def are essential.

4) Sludge Wave is another STAB move and let's me touch Rotom-H and I can just predict if his steel-type is going to switch in.

5) Spd = Special Defence. Spe = Speed

6) I'll try and fit one in, but so far having only one special mon hasn't proved to bad.

 

[Straw Hat]

Hitmontop does have other Fighting STAB options: Revenge and Brick Break. Revenge does massive damage to cobalion (if Hitmontop is attacked first) about 79.6%~94.4%.Brick Break 2HKOs leftovers versions with one layer of spikes and cleanly 2HKOs LO variants: 50.6~59.9%.
Crocune is a problem for this team, because the only thing that can 2HKO is Arcanine, but it is Koed most of the time by scald with a layer of spikes, or guaranteed with SR.

 

[Keiran]

babump.

 

[Straw Hat]

I strongly suggest a pokemon that can counter crocune, the most common suicune variant.
I suggest Azelf to replace Flygon.

Azelf@ Choice Scarf
4 HP/252 SpA/252 Spe
Nature: Adamant
~Zen Headbutt
~Fire Punch
~Trick
~U-turn
It still does most of the things that Flygon does, revenge killing Roserade, Heracross, etc. He also puts Kingdra in Arcanines ES range, which is the only notable threat he can,t revenge kill. He laso screws pokemon like Suicune, Chansey, and company.

 

[Moo]

Hey, this is a cool team, I like it. I've got a few suggestions to help improve it, though.

Firstly, change Arcanine's ability to Flash Fire. The reasoning for this is twofold. It gives your team a Fire-type immunity, which you really need. I can see something like Chandelure ripping chunks out of your team if it predicts right, and this will help you combat it (although your only attack to hit it with is Wild Charge, but you'll probably force them out anyway). It also increases the power of Flare Blitz, which is a nice added touch.

When I was looking over your team, I couldn't see any major weaknesses, but then I saw that powerful special attackers, particularly bulky Water-types will give you a lot of trouble. You don't have one resistance to Water-type attacks, and your main special wall, Escavalier, won't appreciate being burned. Sure, it can set up, but if it's switching in and out to take Scalds, it won't be sweeping any time soon. This suggestion may seem a little wierd at first, but just bear with me. Replace Nidoking with offensive Porygon2.

Porygon2 @ Eviolite Trait: Download
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Tri Attack
- Discharge
- Ice Beam
- Recover

I'm not joking. This set is simply amazing. It can switch into pretty much any special attack, and recover any damage lost. It's also amazing as a special attacker. The reason I suggested replacing it with Nidoking is because you still have a great special attacker, which maintains the offensive nature of the team, but now you have something to tank attacks that you couldn't before. Also, Porygon2 gets a Special Attack boost from the majority of bulky Water-types (just not Empoleon :\), and can absolutely destroy them with Discharge. Try this set out if you don't believe me. I love it, and use it on most of my teams.

Good luck with the team, I hope I helped