Back in ORAS, when I were but a lowly noob, one of my fondest pleasures was wandering into ubers with Calm Mind Flyceus, and sweeping the low ladder. Wanting to relive these days, I tried this again, and ran into the wall of Toxic the format has become. Not wanting to waste a moveslot on refresh, I tried using Steelceus, but ran into the problems of Marshadow, Groudon, and the so many strong checks to the steel type in this format.
But all was not lost.
Because steel is not the only type immune to Toxic.
HE IS RISEN (Arceus-Poison) @ Toxic Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Judgment
- Earth Power
- Calm Mind
- Recover
He is back, from the depths of BW, when Groudon did not yet rule the land, when Toxic Spikes actually mattered, when Arceus would run Perish Song. Although those days are gone, his dominance is not. Although checked by a few pokemon such as Celesteela and Giratina, Earth Power allows him to beat would be checks like Solgaleo, and worn down Groudons. Although Groudon severely hampers his ability to sweep, if you can get a CM up late game, he will beat most opponents.
I didn't bother investing in Special Attack or Speed. One might think it's worth it to beat Groudons, but as Groudon tends to run some SpDef investment, Arceus doesn't even OHKO it with Earth Power at +1 while at 252+ investment. It's simply not sensible to use Arceus-Poison as an early offensive threat.
Physh (Kyogre-Primal) @ Blue Orb
Ability: Primordial Sea
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Origin Pulse
- Ice Beam
So I heard your team is weak to Groudon. Although unable to prevent Groudon from putting out rocks, Kyogre makes them think twice about bringing him in. Although Giratina performs better as a hard check, Kyogre also allows us to severely dent teams, especially if we can predict a Groudon switchin. The team from here on is built to avoid rock weakness, to deal with our lack of defog in our Groudon counter and our Arceus.
9 (Solgaleo) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Full Metal Body
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Sunsteel Strike
- Earthquake
- Flare Blitz
- Stone Edge
I added Solgaleo as my core looked very weak to Psychic spam. Scarf Solgaleo outspeeds Scarf Lele and standard Deoxys, and threatens both while resisting their STAB attacks. It's also handy in a format full of LO Marshadow and Xerneas. Flare Blitz was an afterthought, and it allows us to beat Bronzong, while also being able to dent defensive groudon variants for almost 25% thanks to their sun.
Token UU Mon (Gliscor) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
- Roost
Every Ubers team needs rocks. I was a little worried that Kyogre wouldn't perform well enough as a Groudon check, so Gliscor gave me both the defensive check I wanted, but with the rocks and pivoting potential that Giratina lacks. He is also yet another check to Toxic - at this point, not a single mon on my team cares about it.
At this point, I found myself at a loss. I wanted to have another special sponge, as many special attackers such as Kyogre would laught at Gliscor as a special check. Looking through the tier, I was unable to find inspiration, until I remembered an old trick I used in ORAS Megamons. That format was stall-obsessed as well, filled with mega steelixes and mega audinos, and all kinds of dick moves. And I found the perfect stallbreaker while playing around in there.
Give Him a Hug (Kangaskhan-Mega) @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Parental Bond
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Toxic
- Seismic Toss
He beats Father. He beats Xerneas. He beats all kinds of things, while providing Wish support for the team.
To put it simply, Parental Bond Seismic Toss isn't okay. With Toxic support for Giratina, this allows me to beat all the defensive checks that harass my core, sans Skarmory. And who runs Skarm nowadays?
The real advantage of this is no-one sees it coming. People know Kanga has bulk, and they know that Toxic and Seismic Toss aren't that unusual on it, but no-one expects the Wish support.
Sigh (Xerneas) @ Fairium Z
Ability: Fairy Aura
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Geomancy
- Thunderbolt
- Aromatherapy
At this point, I wanted three things. A fast sweeper, a final attacker, and something to actually abuse my Wish support, as my other mons could mostly recover themselves.
Sick and tired of using my imagination, I chucked this guy on the team. Thunderbolt allows my team to finally beat the Steel-Flyings that would otherwise plague me, and aromatherapy is there because of Glare Father shitting on him in my first game.
Strategy
You need rocks. If you don't have rocks up all the time, you're going to lose. Punish Defog switchins with Kyogre and Kangaskhan. Get toxic on the key targets that can remove hazards. Do whatever you can to lure in and kill Excadrill.
You don't care at all about rocks on your side. The team has so much recovery that it just doesn't matter, and there's no rocks-weak mons. You dont want your opponent to get full layers, but one of spikes and rocks isnt the end of the game either.
Use your main defensive core to wear things down. Solgaleo switchins are key to maintaining good momentum, and Gliscor's u-turn can provide them nicely. Using Xerneas offensively in the early game can often set up for an Arceus sweep.
Checks
The day I build an ubers team that beats Chansey, shoot me in the head. You see this, you in trouble. Its true that the team is super toxic-resistant, and Gliscor can pivot off of Chansey all the time, but its still a huge pain in the ass if it carries Wish.
This guy is a problem. At +1, he can sweep through the team so long as Gliscor is weakened, or he's carrying something that hits it hard enough. It can take some godly predictions to actually beat this, although Xern helps a bunch.
Focus Blast Ice Beam Landorus-Incarnate eats our core. However, it's not used enough that I'm going to bother building around it.
But all was not lost.
Because steel is not the only type immune to Toxic.
HE IS RISEN (Arceus-Poison) @ Toxic Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Judgment
- Earth Power
- Calm Mind
- Recover
He is back, from the depths of BW, when Groudon did not yet rule the land, when Toxic Spikes actually mattered, when Arceus would run Perish Song. Although those days are gone, his dominance is not. Although checked by a few pokemon such as Celesteela and Giratina, Earth Power allows him to beat would be checks like Solgaleo, and worn down Groudons. Although Groudon severely hampers his ability to sweep, if you can get a CM up late game, he will beat most opponents.
I didn't bother investing in Special Attack or Speed. One might think it's worth it to beat Groudons, but as Groudon tends to run some SpDef investment, Arceus doesn't even OHKO it with Earth Power at +1 while at 252+ investment. It's simply not sensible to use Arceus-Poison as an early offensive threat.
Physh (Kyogre-Primal) @ Blue Orb
Ability: Primordial Sea
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Origin Pulse
- Ice Beam
So I heard your team is weak to Groudon. Although unable to prevent Groudon from putting out rocks, Kyogre makes them think twice about bringing him in. Although Giratina performs better as a hard check, Kyogre also allows us to severely dent teams, especially if we can predict a Groudon switchin. The team from here on is built to avoid rock weakness, to deal with our lack of defog in our Groudon counter and our Arceus.
9 (Solgaleo) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Full Metal Body
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Sunsteel Strike
- Earthquake
- Flare Blitz
- Stone Edge
I added Solgaleo as my core looked very weak to Psychic spam. Scarf Solgaleo outspeeds Scarf Lele and standard Deoxys, and threatens both while resisting their STAB attacks. It's also handy in a format full of LO Marshadow and Xerneas. Flare Blitz was an afterthought, and it allows us to beat Bronzong, while also being able to dent defensive groudon variants for almost 25% thanks to their sun.
Token UU Mon (Gliscor) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
- Roost
Every Ubers team needs rocks. I was a little worried that Kyogre wouldn't perform well enough as a Groudon check, so Gliscor gave me both the defensive check I wanted, but with the rocks and pivoting potential that Giratina lacks. He is also yet another check to Toxic - at this point, not a single mon on my team cares about it.
At this point, I found myself at a loss. I wanted to have another special sponge, as many special attackers such as Kyogre would laught at Gliscor as a special check. Looking through the tier, I was unable to find inspiration, until I remembered an old trick I used in ORAS Megamons. That format was stall-obsessed as well, filled with mega steelixes and mega audinos, and all kinds of dick moves. And I found the perfect stallbreaker while playing around in there.
Give Him a Hug (Kangaskhan-Mega) @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Parental Bond
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Toxic
- Seismic Toss
He beats Father. He beats Xerneas. He beats all kinds of things, while providing Wish support for the team.
To put it simply, Parental Bond Seismic Toss isn't okay. With Toxic support for Giratina, this allows me to beat all the defensive checks that harass my core, sans Skarmory. And who runs Skarm nowadays?
The real advantage of this is no-one sees it coming. People know Kanga has bulk, and they know that Toxic and Seismic Toss aren't that unusual on it, but no-one expects the Wish support.
Sigh (Xerneas) @ Fairium Z
Ability: Fairy Aura
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Geomancy
- Thunderbolt
- Aromatherapy
At this point, I wanted three things. A fast sweeper, a final attacker, and something to actually abuse my Wish support, as my other mons could mostly recover themselves.
Sick and tired of using my imagination, I chucked this guy on the team. Thunderbolt allows my team to finally beat the Steel-Flyings that would otherwise plague me, and aromatherapy is there because of Glare Father shitting on him in my first game.
Strategy
You need rocks. If you don't have rocks up all the time, you're going to lose. Punish Defog switchins with Kyogre and Kangaskhan. Get toxic on the key targets that can remove hazards. Do whatever you can to lure in and kill Excadrill.
You don't care at all about rocks on your side. The team has so much recovery that it just doesn't matter, and there's no rocks-weak mons. You dont want your opponent to get full layers, but one of spikes and rocks isnt the end of the game either.
Use your main defensive core to wear things down. Solgaleo switchins are key to maintaining good momentum, and Gliscor's u-turn can provide them nicely. Using Xerneas offensively in the early game can often set up for an Arceus sweep.
Checks
The day I build an ubers team that beats Chansey, shoot me in the head. You see this, you in trouble. Its true that the team is super toxic-resistant, and Gliscor can pivot off of Chansey all the time, but its still a huge pain in the ass if it carries Wish.
This guy is a problem. At +1, he can sweep through the team so long as Gliscor is weakened, or he's carrying something that hits it hard enough. It can take some godly predictions to actually beat this, although Xern helps a bunch.
Focus Blast Ice Beam Landorus-Incarnate eats our core. However, it's not used enough that I'm going to bother building around it.