Offensive Threats (Physical)
Hitmonlee: Type – Fighting
120 attack, 87 speed, 110 special defence and immunity to paralysis. Offensive options include STAB Close Combat, Reversal, Mach Punch and Hi Jump Kick, Blaze Kick, Stone Edge, Earthquake and Bullet Punch. Switches in relatively safely into most special attacks and will usually be holding a Choice Band and occasionally Scarf. Main threat is speed coupled with STAB Close Combat making one of the most powerful attacks in UU.
Primeape: Type – Fighting
105 attack, 95 speed and immunity to sleep. Incredibly diverse movepool includes STAB Close Combat, Earthquake, Aerial Ace, Overheat, Punishment, elemental punches, Taunt, Bulk Up and Reversal. It is the only other Fighting type in the game besides Infernape to have access to U-Turn. Learns Focus Energy and has access to two powerful high crit moves in Stone Edge and Cross Chop. Main threat is due to speed and U-Turn allowing hit and run.
Hitmontop: Type – Fighting
95 attack, 95 defence, 110 special defence. The epitomy of balanced with no clear weaknesses and two very powerful traits, Intimidate the defensive and technician the offensive. Other options include Agility and Bulk Up to further boost its offensive/defensive capabilities. STAB Close Combat, Stone Edge, Earthquake offer much needed power. Moves affected by Technician include Pursuit, Triple Kick, Aerial Ace, Fake Out, Mach Punch, Bullet Punch and Quick Attack giving it an incredible priority game. Incredibly easy to switch in due to Intimidate, high defenses, Rapid Spin and resistance to Stealth rock. Due to this reason it is also one of the top defensive threats as well. Hitmontop threat is having no true weaknesses to exploit easily, it is also the 2nd most common UU Pokemon in the entire game.
Hitmonchan: Type – Fighting
105 attack, 110 special defence. Has access to all three elemental punches boosted by Iron Fist and in turn the most powerful Focus/Drain Punch in the game. Bulk Up or Agility can be used to further its offensive capabilities. Main threat comes from its near perfect type coverage, relative sturdiness with a speed booster and its access to most of the other offensive options of the Hitmon clan.
Kabutops: Type – Rock/Water
115 attack, 80 speed with Swift Swim and double STAB on one of the best offensive typings. Aerial Ace, X-Scissor, Night slash offer extra coverage and a STAB priority attack in Aqua Jet. Rain Dance will boost both speed and offense, Swords Dance serves to enhance its high attack. Other support options include Stealth Rock, Knock Off, Confuse Ray, Rain Dance, Rock Polish and Swords Dance. Main threat is its overwhelming power and speed.
Relicanth: Type – Rock/Water
100HP, 130 defence enables it switch in quite often although its attack is only decent at best. The top threat here is a recoilless STAB Head Smash packing over 225 power! In short it means that even if you resist Head Smash it can sometimes be still powerful enough to do neutral damage regardless. Rock Polish, Stealth Rock and Yawn will be the main support moves, Earthquake and STAB Waterfall its main coverage. Main items it carries are Choice Band, Stone Plate, Life Orb or Muscle Band.
Rapidash: Type – Fire
100 attack, 105 speed, 80 special attack and immunity to fire. Main offense lies in its STAB Flare Blitz and Megahorn and its ability to fast Hypnosis when in trouble. Main threat is a fast sleep and powerful physical STAB, if you see it set up Sunny Day than expect a possible mixed set with Solarbeam.
Swellow: Type – Flying/Normal
125 speed makes it among the fastest in all of UU. It will regularly be carrying Burn Orb in conjunction with the Guts ability. STAB Facade and Brave Bird with U-Turn and Pursuit will be its main methods of attack. Main threat is its near unmatched speed.
Kingler: Type – Water
130 attack, 115 defence and respectable 75 speed. Swords Dance with STAB Crabhammer gives it the tied highest attack in the whole of UU. Main coverage will be Brick Break, Rock Slide, X-Scissor, Return or occasionally Flail. Be warned it will occasionally use Knock Off and may occasionally have a Choice item. Overwhelming power will be hard to deal with.
Absol: Type – Dark
130 attack, 75 speed and Swords Dance with STAB Sucker Punch ties it for highest attack in UU and gives it the strongest priority attack in the entire game. Night Slash in conjunction with Super Luck ability threatens with regular critical hits. Coverage will be through Psycho Cut, Stone Edge, Aerial Ace and X-Scissor. Also has access to a multitude of support options in Will O’Wisp, Thunder Wave, Magic Coat, Mean Look and Baton Pass. Immunity to the common UU Psychic attacks lets it get in easily and Swords Danced Sucker Punch is the biggest threat here.
Kangaskhan: Type – Normal
95 attack and 90 speed is relatively low for a sweeper but Scrappy with STAB Return negates Ghost immunity. Main coverage moves will be SubPunch or Hammer Arm, Earthquake and Crunch. However be warned it has access to elemental punches, Avalanche and a strong priority game in Sucker Punch and STAB Fake Out. Main concern is the simplicity it can be used with due to its monstrous bulkiness of 100 HP and 80 for both defenses. Also commonly seen using a Choice Band/Muscle Band to make up for its power or Lum Berry since it hates Burn.
Scyther: Type – Flying/Bug
110 attack, 105 speed coupled with Swords Dance and respectable defences. Technician turns its STAB Aerial Ace into a deadly attack, Brick Break, Night Slash offers coverage and STAB U-Turn will let it hit and run very hard. Scyther also offers an incredibly powerful Reversal game. Resistance to fighting and immunity to ground gives it ways of switching in. But the main threat is its hit & run tactics being able to Baton Pass out stat boosts when in danger making it very hard to kill. Focus Sash, Salac and Lum berries are its items of choice.
Armaldo: Type- Rock/Bug
125 attack with Swords Dance and very strong double STAB. Its defenses and typing also gives it a distinct level of tank like properties. Rock Polish and Earthquake only serve to round out its offensive abilities.
Cacturne: Type- Grass/Dark
Usually seen as a lead. Cacturne is orientated towards the physical however despite double 115 offenses. A deadly Swords Dance STAB Sucker Punch is the main form of attack. This, complimented with STAB Seed Bomb which breaks many common walls apart is the main selling point. Counter with Focus Sash is another of its favourite tricks commonly seen.
Offensive Threats (Special)
Venomoth: Type- Poison/Bug
90 speed, 90 special attack is pretty mediocre. However Tinted Lens means 2x resistance are negated, effectively meaning nothing resists its STAB Bug Buzz. Add in its fast Sleep Powder and ability to Baton Pass speed boosts with Agility. Fast sleep and no truly safe switches are the main concerns here. Bug/Poison resists fighting, bug and is neutral to ground allows it to switch in easily despite its low defense. Items it may carry range from Petaya Berry, CSpecs and Focus Sash.
Ninetales: Type- Fire
100 speed and Hypnosis coupled with Nasty Plot and a solid movepool of Energy Ball, Dark Pulse, Extrasensory and STAB Flamethrower. Solid special defence and HP also make it very easy to switch in. Obvious reasons for being a threat are clear.
Omastar: Type- Water/Rock
115 special attack gives Omastar the most powerful special attack of any non-Uber water type in the entire game. Swift Swim and Rain Dance only serve to enhance this, STAB Ancientpower lets Omastar boast having possibly the only reliable Rock special attack in the entire game. High defence lets it set up quick and hit incredibly hard.
Ampharos: Type- Electric
115 special attack and STAB Thunderbolt will injure almost anything that’s not resistant or immune to it. SubPunch and Hidden Power will be the common coverage moves. It’ll mainly rely on its bulk to make easy switch ins and take full advantage of its high coverage. Though there is a tendency for it to appear Scarfed or in Trick Room teams.
Glaceon: Type- Ice
130 special attack and STAB Ice Beam/Blizzard will completely cripple near anything in any metagame. Shadowball offers good additional coverage and Fake Tears lets it enhance the damage caused. Most often it will also have HP Fighting for coverage. Chances are its normally Choice Scarfed or Spec’d.
Golduck: Type- Water
Hypnosis with Calm Mind, respectable speed and special attack are the main cause for concern here. STAB Surf with Ice Beam or a Hidden Power are the normal methods of attack. Also an ideal counter to the common UU rain teams due to its trait Cloud Nine which cancels out all weather effects and resistance to water.
Clamperl: Type – Water
DeepSeaTooth doubles Clamperl’s special attack to astronomical levels which allows it to tear most things in the game apart. However this threat is only limited to Trick Room due to its poor speed but its good defence and typing allows it to switch in once its setup.
Froslass: Type- Ghost/Ice
STAB Ghost/Ice, 110 speed, Thunderbolt gives it very high coverage and it also gains all the other benfits of a ghost like Confuse Ray, Destiny Bond, Disable and Thunder Wave. Also occasionally comes equipped with Specs or even Spikes. Its typing also lets it easily switch into fighting attacks which are arguably the most common attack type in UU. Froslass also boasts being the most common UU Pokemon in the entire game.
Persian: Type- Normal
115 speed puts it very high up in terms of speed. Technician offers it a much needed power boost in both physical and special categories. Nasty Plot and Hypnosis has caused Persian to orientate more towards a special sweeper role despite a low 65 special attack. Water Pulse, Shock Wave and Swift offer great Technician'd special options. It can also provide an effective scout with Fake Out and U-Turn being viable physical options.
Manectric: Type - Electric
105 speed and 105 special attack makes Manectric into a solid special attacker. Overall generic electric with Hidden Power Grass + STAB Thunderbolt as its main options. However people unfamiliar to UU are caught off guard by the incredibly powerful Overheat which hits even harder than its STAB. This will wreck havoc on most traditional counters and makes Manectric great for hit and run. Normal held items are Specs, if it holds Life Orb expect either Thunder Wave or a Crunch.
Offensive Threats (Generic)
Nidoking: Type- Poison/Ground
Absolutely incredible movepool and good all round stats mean it can hit almost anything super effective in the entire game from either side. Reliable STAB Earthquake only serves to enhance the threat. Most commonly it will be carrying Life Orb or Expert Belt as its item of choice. Resistance to Fighting/Rock a normally reliable combination works in its favour.
Sharpedo: Type- Dark/Water
Although unable to switch in often except on psychic attacks, 120/95 offenses and 95 speed means it can hit incredibly hard and fast from both sides of the spectrum. It’ll mainly carry Life Orb or any of the 3 Choice items. Main attacks will consist of Aqua Jet, Waterfall, Hydro Pump, Crunch, Dark Pulse, Ice Beam, Ice Fang and Earthquake. Surf is actually seldom used since it needs more power to justify its fragility.
Toxicroak: Type- Poison/Fighting
106/86 offenses and 85 speed with Nasty Plot and Swords Dance as options with a multitude of both special and physical priority and power attacks. Dry Skin also grants a Water Absorb ability and high HP regeneration in rain allows it to carry Life Orb regularly. It is dangerously unpredictable and incredibly easy to switch in due to some major resistances.
Lapras: Type- Ice/Water
130HP, 80/95 defences give some amazing bulk to setup with despite a poor defensive typing. STAB Ice Beam with Thunderbolt gives some solid special coverage along with Surf. However Dragon Dance also offers it the option of physical sweeps with Ice Shard and Waterfall at its disposal.
Clefable: Type- Normal
Clefable is relatively sturdy and has a movepool out the wazoo, Clefable practically learns near everything in the game whether it be healing, attack or defense. Magic Guard a unique trait to Clefable ignores all passive damage thus making Cleffy immune to Stealth Rocks, Spikes, Poison, Burn (but still gets attack cut), Leech Seed and even Life Orb recoil! Respectable offenses allow it to take advantage of its many options however the most dangerous sets tend to be offensive. Common setups may include Facade/Toxic Orb, Life Orb Boltbeam, Gravity /Blizzard/Thunder, defensive setups will be Calm Minders usually. However average stats and low speed usually means it will have to specialize making prediction possible and fighters often constantly threaten.
