SM UU First UU Team: Cobalion BO

[Twilight]

Hey guys so I haven't played in a few months due to my exams so I have finally come back to try and get back into competitive Pokemon before University starts. I normally play up in the OU tier but I haven't enjoyed the current meta as much so I decided to give UU a try. I am very new to the UU tier and I have really enjoyed trying to climb this ladder. While I have found it more enjoyable I have also been struggling to climb past mid 1400s, this team being the only team that has allowed me to break this barrier. Thus I am posting this team here in the hopes to improve.

Team Building Process

So I decided that I wanted to build around Double Dance Cobalion which in some games has had the potential to just sweep teams with it's checks weakened.

I then added the utility of Mega Altaria to round off the fairy-dragon-steel core. It ended up being my Defog support originally.

Next I added the offensive core of Celebi and Krookodile. Krookodile provides pursuit support to remove Latias and Starmie which can eat a hit from Cobalion easily. Celebi pressures the bulky water types which wall Cobalion as well as Amoonguss.

Moltres was the next addition to the team which helped pressure the bulky steel types and give me a reliable Scizor and Cobalion answer as I want to minimise the damage Cobalion takes.

Nihilego was then added to provide SR and to check threats like Moltres, Pidgeot etc. that I currently struggled with.

After some testing I decided to forgo both Moltres and Celebi. Moltres needed too much support to reliably deal with it's checks imo (And because I opted for specs it lacked recovery) so I decided to opt for Rotom-Heat which provided a more solid check to Scizor and Mamoswine plus allowed my Altaria to run Heal Bell support. Crawdaunt helped me muscle through a lot of bulky Pokemon and lets my Cobalion run a Z-move.

Team Breakdown

@

Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Iron Head
- Swords Dance
- Rock Polish

So this is the Pokemon I wanted to build around, while I have gained some understanding that the SR variant seems to be more popular I opted for this set for better sweeping potential. So with the removal of Celebi it opened up a Z-move slot so I opted for Fightinium Z to break through threats like Aggron, Swampert and Tentacruel that would normally either wall or eat a boosted hit. Standard EV spread for Cobalion and Close Combat and Iron head are the main stab moves. Swords Dance and Rock Polish for the standard double dance set. Rock Polish is nice for using on a predicted Protect for example or making it harder to be revenge killed by Scarf Krookodile or Scarf Hydreigon Fire Blast. Cobalion's amazing typing gives me a solid switch into Scizor unless it is Superpower and other threats like Mega Sharpedo which you can easily set-up on.

Calcs

+2 252 Atk Cobalion All-Out Pummeling (190 BP) vs. 248 HP / 156 Def Tentacruel: 277-327 (76.3 - 90%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery

+2 252 Atk Cobalion All-Out Pummeling (190 BP) vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Filter Aggron-Mega: 343-405 (100 - 118%) -- guaranteed OHKO

+2 252 Atk Cobalion All-Out Pummeling (190 BP) vs. 240 HP / 252+ Def Swampert: 373-439 (93 - 109.4%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO after Leftovers recovery

+2 252 Atk Cobalion All-Out Pummeling (190 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Latias: 263-310 (87 - 102.6%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO

+2 252 Atk Cobalion All-Out Pummeling (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Suicune: 427-504 (105.6 - 124.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Leftovers recovery

@

Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 240 HP / 132 Def / 136 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Flamethrower
- Heal Bell
- Roost

Mega Altaria was my next choice rounding off the fairy-dragon-steel core once you mega evolve. This Pokemon is actually amazing imo being able to wall Crawdaunt, Hydreigon, Krookodile and other threats like Kommo-o. I went for the defensive utility set to support Cobalion. The EV spread lets you outpace max speed Jolly Crawdaunt and OHKO it back with Moonblast or recover up. The rest was thrown into defence to check the threats above. I opted for Moonblast over Hyper Voice in order to OHKO Kommo-o if it has Soundproof. Flamethrower is primarily for Scizor and on multiple occasions I have caught Scizor on the switch or decided to eat a BP to OHKO it. This thing is so bulky it can easily live a CB BP, then I simply heal up on a slow Pokemon. Heal Bell was decided over Defog once I added Rotom-Heat because my team became primarily physically oriented allowing me to play offensively with those Pokemon and remove a Toxic or Burn. Roost is standard for longevity.

Calcs

252 Atk Choice Band Adaptability Crawdaunt Crabhammer vs. 240 HP / 132+ Def Altaria-Mega: 115-136 (32.7 - 38.7%) -- 99.3% chance to 3HKO

252 Atk Krookodile Earthquake vs. 240 HP / 132+ Def Altaria-Mega: 114-135 (32.4 - 38.4%) -- 98% chance to 3HKO

252 Atk Strong Jaw Sharpedo-Mega Ice Fang vs. 240 HP / 132+ Def Altaria-Mega: 168-198 (47.8 - 56.4%) -- 85.9% chance to 2HKO

252+ Atk Choice Band Technician Scizor Bullet Punch vs. 240 HP / 132+ Def Altaria-Mega: 240-284 (68.3 - 80.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

28 Atk Life Orb Kommo-o Poison Jab vs. 240 HP / 132+ Def Altaria-Mega: 125-148 (35.6 - 42.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

252 Atk Choice Band Kommo-o Poison Jab vs. 240 HP / 132+ Def Altaria-Mega: 174-206 (49.5 - 58.6%) -- 98.8% chance to 2HKO

@

Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Pursuit
- Crunch / Stone Edge / Superpower

Krookodile is a very splash-able scarfer and was perfect for this team giving me a way to block Manectric Volt Switch and provide Pursuit support. Though I have seen an abundance of Signal Beam Manectric when I have been laddering. Choice Scarf lets me outspeed everything up to an Adamant Sharpedo at +1 making it a premier revenge killer. Earthquake is it's main stab coverage alongside with Knock Off which provides more utility support as well. Pursuit lets you trap Latias and Starmie for example something that would hard wall Cobalion to an extent. As for the fourth coverage move I was unsure on what to use. I personally preferred using Crunch as a more solid stab move other than having to press Knock Off. Through testing I found that in most cases I don't use Stone Edge as much unless I predicted like a Moltres Switch-in. I also tested Superpower which isn't too bad but other than hitting Hydreigon (Which I have two solid checks too) it didn't do much for me.

@

Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Grass Knot
- Sludge Wave
- Power Gem​

So I absolutely adore this Pokemon it has so much utility and power to muscle through bulky walls like Hippowdon. After a beast boost it only amplifies it's ability to sweep through bulky oriented teams. Nihiligo's typing was the main reason I chose it, it provides me with a solid Moltres answer and easily eats hits from Special threats like Mega Manectric. It can also absorb T-spikes while also setting Stealth Rock something I currently lacked. Grass Knot is so valuable to pass up letting me break those bulky water / ground types. Sludge Wave are the main stab options to hit everything that doesn't resist this coverage. I opted for Power Gem over thunderbolt as it nails Scizor harder and lets me OHKO Moltres. Finally I decided Black Sludge was the better item over something like Expert Belt for longevity against special threats like the ones listed above.​

@

Ability: Levitate
EVs: 240 HP / 12 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Overheat
- Volt Switch
- Toxic
- Defog​

So Rotom-H has the niche of acting as my Scizor and Mamoswine check whilst being a secondary back-up for Moltres and Pidgeot for example. Overheat is the primary fir stab move to muscle past grass types and steel types like Mega-Aggron. Volt switch provides me with momentum throughout the match. Toxic is to punish the ground types that may switch-in such as Hippowdon, Swampert and Krookodile as well as dragon types like Latias and Hydreigon. Finally Defog as the final coverage move to remove Rocks or other hazards like Spikes and Webs. Not much else to say about this Pokemon, other than Iapapa being the best item for a significant burst in HP when under 25%.

Calcs

252+ Atk Choice Band Scizor Superpower vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Rotom-Heat: 204-240 (67.7 - 79.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252+ Atk Life Orb Mamoswine Icicle Crash vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Rotom-Heat: 94-110 (31.2 - 36.5%) -- 71% chance to 3HKO

252 SpA Moltres Hurricane vs. 240 HP / 0 SpD Rotom-Heat: 82-97 (27.2 - 32.2%) -- guaranteed 4HKO

0 SpA Rotom-Heat Overheat vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Filter Aggron-Mega: 181-216 (52.6 - 62.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

@

Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Crabhammer
- Aqua Jet
- Superpower

Crawdaunt has been a wonderful addition to the team letting me better muscle through Stall and Balance for example. It serves as another potential wincon via Aqua Jet. I opted for the Choice Band set to just nuke things that aren't Bulky Altaria and an Adamant nature because I didn't see much reason to run Jolly. Knock Off as the main dark stab and Crabhammer as the main water stab. As mentioned before Aqua Jet is for picking up weakened threats. Finally I opted for Superpower over Crunch to hit Hydreigon.


Anyway that's about it for the team I've definitely had most success with this over the others I have tried making. I have struggled adapting to UU a little bit, for instance I found there is sometimes little I can do vs a Trick room team for example or against certain HO teams I have seen, but I think I'll eventually get there. If you have any tips on how to improve this team do share your opinions and if you have any tips in general about UU pls do pm me or try to include it into your post maybe. Hope you enjoy reading!​

 

[vivalospride]

Yo, this is a pretty solid team as it is. But I definitely think there could be some improvement. Just to note a few things, the Latias m/u is relying a little too heavily on Krookodile, and the matchup vs fatter teams is shaky at best. Regardless I think this team is pretty neat and I'll try my best to patch it up and make it as best as it can be n_n. So let's see.

- So the first big change I wanna make is CB Scizor > CB Daunt. What this does is improve the Lati matchup a lot and gives more Pursuit support for Coba to put in work. It also gives a pivot that can reliably get Coba in vs steels to setup, as well as extra speed control with CB BP.

SET

Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 164 HP / 252 Atk / 92 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- U-turn
- Pursuit

- Moltres works very well here to form a good defog core with Malt + Moltres. It's a much more reliable Scizor check then Heattom but the main reason I'm going Moltres > Heattom is because of it's fighting resistance, it's capable of checking things like Cobalion and Infernape much more reliably. I went with Charcoal because there's no room for a zmove on it and charcoal helps chip things like Stakataka and Empoleon which can usually come in on Moltres pretty easily.

SET

Moltres @ Charcoal
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hurricane
- Fire Blast
- Roost
- Defog

Set changes n shit:
- The changes I made ultimately led to having a poor stall matchup and the easiest way to fix that was making Cobalion -> CM > DD. Not the most optimal set in the world but it does wonders for the stall matchup and honestly it works very well here with double pursuit support and having an otherwise subpar stall matchup.
- Body Slam > Moonblast on Mega Altaria. Body Slam is simply way better because it not only hits Kommo-o but it also hits CM Lati which is important for this team. You don't need neutral SpA nature to OHKO Scizor anyways.

Importable

Cobalion @ Fightinium Z
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Flash Cannon
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Grass]

Altaria @ Altarianite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 240 HP / 132 Def / 136 Spe
Impish Nature
- Body Slam
- Flamethrower
- Defog
- Roost

Krookodile @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit
- Earthquake

Nihilego @ Black Sludge
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Power Gem
- Sludge Wave
- Grass Knot

Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 164 HP / 252 Atk / 92 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- U-turn
- Pursuit

Moltres @ Charcoal
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hurricane
- Fire Blast
- Roost
- Defog

I think this improves most of the matchups, definitely a decent team regardless! I hope this helps and lmk if you have any questions :).

 

[Twilight]

Yo, this is a pretty solid team as it is. But I definitely think there could be some improvement. Just to note a few things, the Latias m/u is relying a little too heavily on Krookodile, and the matchup vs fatter teams is shaky at best. Regardless I think this team is pretty neat and I'll try my best to patch it up and make it as best as it can be n_n. So let's see.

- So the first big change I wanna make is CB Scizor > CB Daunt. What this does is improve the Lati matchup a lot and gives more Pursuit support for Coba to put in work. It also gives a pivot that can reliably get Coba in vs steels to setup, as well as extra speed control with CB BP.

SET

Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 164 HP / 252 Atk / 92 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- U-turn
- Pursuit

- Moltres works very well here to form a good defog core with Malt + Moltres. It's a much more reliable Scizor check then Heattom but the main reason I'm going Moltres > Heattom is because of it's fighting resistance, it's capable of checking things like Cobalion and Infernape much more reliably. I went with Charcoal because there's no room for a zmove on it and charcoal helps chip things like Stakataka and Empoleon which can usually come in on Moltres pretty easily.

SET

Moltres @ Charcoal
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hurricane
- Fire Blast
- Roost
- Defog

Set changes n shit:
- The changes I made ultimately led to having a poor stall matchup and the easiest way to fix that was making Cobalion -> CM > DD. Not the most optimal set in the world but it does wonders for the stall matchup and honestly it works very well here with double pursuit support and having an otherwise subpar stall matchup.
- Body Slam > Moonblast on Mega Altaria. Body Slam is simply way better because it not only hits Kommo-o but it also hits CM Lati which is important for this team. You don't need neutral SpA nature to OHKO Scizor anyways.

Importable

Cobalion @ Fightinium Z
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Flash Cannon
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Grass]

Altaria @ Altarianite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 240 HP / 132 Def / 136 Spe
Impish Nature
- Body Slam
- Flamethrower
- Defog
- Roost

Krookodile @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit
- Earthquake

Nihilego @ Black Sludge
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Power Gem
- Sludge Wave
- Grass Knot

Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 164 HP / 252 Atk / 92 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- U-turn
- Pursuit

Moltres @ Charcoal
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hurricane
- Fire Blast
- Roost
- Defog

I think this improves most of the matchups, definitely a decent team regardless! I hope this helps and lmk if you have any questions :).

Thank you very much for the suggestions I have been testing it out and it works out well. Sometimes I do find that this Cobalion set can't achieve as much in certain match-ups unlike the dd variant, but you are right about me being weaker to stall with the changes you made. The double pursuit has been really solid as of so far opening the door up for Moltres and Cobalion. I never considered running that moltres set due to my Z-move being on Cobalion so thanks for the pointer there. Double defog definitely is nice for keeping hazards off my field tho I do occasionally miss the utility of heal bell, but without defog on Altaria Moltres is limited so I understand that.

The only question I have is about the Scizor spread, just wanted to know what the additional HP lets you survive in particular, or what the speed investment lets you outpace. Other than that thanks for the rate greatly appreciate it.

 

[vivalospride]

Thank you very much for the suggestions I have been testing it out and it works out well. Sometimes I do find that this Cobalion set can't achieve as much in certain match-ups unlike the dd variant, but you are right about me being weaker to stall with the changes you made. The double pursuit has been really solid as of so far opening the door up for Moltres and Cobalion. I never considered running that moltres set due to my Z-move being on Cobalion so thanks for the pointer there. Double defog definitely is nice for keeping hazards off my field tho I do occasionally miss the utility of heal bell, but without defog on Altaria Moltres is limited so I understand that.

The only question I have is about the Scizor spread, just wanted to know what the additional HP lets you survive in particular, or what the speed investment lets you outpace. Other than that thanks for the rate greatly appreciate it.

Ah I shoulda included an explanation for the scizor spread that's mb. But it basically outspeeds Klefki and everything slower than it, while dumping all the leftover EVs into Hp to be as bulky as possible while also being offensively threatening. Nothing too fancy.

 

[Amane Misa]

Cool team!

• Nowadays, Cobalion rarely gets to set up both Rock Polish and Swords Dance, so it usually foregoes Rock Polish for Stealth Rock. That's what I decided to do here, simply because that'd free up a slot on Nihilego later on.
• Defensive Mega Altaria isn't too good right now as well, because the lack of Leftovers and inability to attempt to check Scizor make other choices pretty much better here. Hence, I changed Primarina > Mega Altaria. Primarina basically does the same thing as Mega Altaria; while it does not have Heal Bell, it can still absorb status and heal it off with Rest. Furthermore, it allows the team to keep the valuable Water-typing, as I am going to change Crawdaunt.
• So far, the team struggles against stall and it hates switching into the kinds of Latias. While isn't a reliable Latias switch-in, together with Cobalion, Krookodile, and Primarina, Scizor can do the job here. I replaced Scizor > Crawdaunt and the set I used is Choice Band with Bug Bite as the filler move. Bug Bite is honestly disgusting for stall to play against, as its damage output is insane - it is even able to 2HKO Alomomola with small chip; 252+ Atk Choice Band Technician Scizor Bug Bite vs. 40 HP / 252+ Def Alomomola: 202-238 (41.9 - 49.4%) -- 25.8% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery.
• Lastly, I replaced Mega Aerodactyl > Nihilego because I felt like the team needs another wincon that is relatively fast and could clean late-game. Hone Claws is the set I used here. It is really underrated and it works exceptionally well with Cobalion and Scizor weakening physical walls like Alomomola and Quagsire for it to sweep late-game.

importable with changes

Cobalion @ Fightinium Z
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Iron Head
- Swords Dance
- Stealth Rock

Primarina @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Moonblast
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Krookodile @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Pursuit
- Crunch

Aerodactyl-Mega @ Aerodactylite
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Aqua Tail
- Hone Claws

Rotom-Heat @ Iapapa Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 240 HP / 12 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Overheat
- Volt Switch
- Toxic
- Defog

Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 156 HP / 252 Atk / 100 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Bug Bite

I went with a bit unorthodox direction with the team; sets such as Choice Band Bug Bite Scizor, Hone Claws Mega Aerodactyl, and Defensive Primarina aren't seen every day, but I feel like the synergy they have with the team members and the surprise factor may result in great results and fun. I hope that the rate helped, feel free to ask any question!