ORAS UU One final note, UU Bulky offense


One Final Note


Welcome one and all to my final RMT of ORAS UU, this time with a different sort of team than I'm used to, featuring a Heracross Klefki offensive core.

This team focuses on a guts Toxic Orb SD Heracross, one of the scariest breakers in UU and a mon that plows through defensive teams, and with Klefki it can plow through offensive teams as well after a t-wave.

The main idea behind the team is to break down opposing walls for one of my three setup sweepers to clean up afterwards, with Hera, Aero, and Gyarados having great synergy in that they draw out counters that the other can come in for free on, i.e. Aero drawing out Swampert so that Heracross can get off a huge hit.

The team has options for most things and its an absolute blast to play, especially against more defensive teams that Hera and Lax can blow through.

The teambuilding was somewhat difficult for me as I rarely build teams as offensive as this one, but it was definitely a learning experience and it's pretty interesting how many directions the team went before it settled down.

Teambuilding

I initially built the team around a Krook and Heracross core. I wanted to build around Krook (oops) because I rarely actually use it and I love the rocks set, and I wanted to build with Heracross since I found out it OHKO's Sylveon from full after 1 SD.

I built this a little while after the Klefki suspect test began, and it was on my mind so i decided to test it out since it switches into Hydrei and Sylveon pretty easily and t-waves something letting my somewhat slow core to put in work. As a side note it was originally magnet rise over toxic but I changed it for reasons I'll explain later.

At this point I obviously lack hazard control, so I decided to use offensive Tentacruel to lure in offensive things to make the core put in more work, and since at this point I'm running a pretty offensive team I figured a more offensive hazard remover would work well.

Since Tenta is a horrible Entei switch in and my team loses to any Special attacker ever I decided to add Band lax to the team, originally running return eq facade and fire punch.

For my final mon I wanted something that beats Flying types for Heracross as well as some speed since my team was incredibly slow so the natural choice is Mega Aero. Since I already have rocks pursuit Krook I decided to use Hone claws, as it puts in a huge amount of work vs bulky offensive teams and cleans really easily after a boost.

At this point the team was working fine for the most part but I realized that I autolose to Swampert-M so after talking to Hjkhj I decided to switch Krook for offensive rocks Celebi with earth power rocks healing wish and leaf storm.

After testing the team out for a while the team felt really awkward, I had checks for alot of things but they would get whittled really easily and I couldn't reach my endgame fast enough, so after talking with Highways Mr I changed Tentacruel for rocks Empoleon to help vs special attackers and changed celebi to yache Whimsicott to better check conk and give me a fast uturn while still checking M-pert.

After testing for a bit I realized that I hate whimsicott and decided to switch to Gyarados since it has a much better matchup vs Doublade and other fighting types like Cobalion and Lucario and adding a lot more offensive presence. At this point I made a few minor changes to the team like running pursuit on lax and running toxic on Klefki to help with the Conk matchup (lol I know how crazy that sounds I'll explain in the analysis) but after that the team remained largely unchanged.


The Team


Heracross @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Facade
- Megahorn
- Close Combat

Hera is the main event in this team, and it helps so much vs bulky teams. It comes in for free on alot of bulky water types and it usually gets to get off quite a few heavy hits, often forcing the opponent to sac when it comes in. You have to play really carefully with it as its pretty frail and gets worn down really quickly by toxic orb. It's especially important to keep Hera healthy vs stall teams since more often than not its your main win con, and when facing Cresselia or Lax since this is your only way of dealing with it. You mainly want to be spamming facade when you can since alot of the time teams will have a somewhat frail fighting resist like Crobat that can't stomach a facade well at all, though after their fighting resist is gone spamming close combat usually means they have to sac something every time it comes in.


Klefki @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic
- Spikes
- Thunder Wave
- Dazzling Gleam

Klefki is a fantastic support mon for the team as spikes and toxic help wear down teams for a sweep pretty nicely and its usually not very hard to either get rid of the opposing hazard removal or pressure them with spikes and t-wave. Vs offensive teams you need to make sure to keep Klefki alive, as its your main way of dealing with scarfers or faster threats that Aero can't deal with. Toxic was added over magnet rise to help with the cress matchup and as a last resort check to bulk up Conk, with the idea being to toxic it on the bulk up, and spam dazzling gleam until you die and go into Gyara and spam sub until it dies.


Snorlax @ Choice Band
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Return
- Pursuit
- Facade
- Fire Punch

Lax is a great early to mid game breaker and helps relieve some of the pressure on Heracross as a status absorber. Lax is the main way of dealing with forretress as it lures it in and fire punches it to death, as well as being my main fire check and a passable pursuit user for Heliolisk and Chandelure. You have to play pretty carefully with lax as its slow and gets worn down really fast by multiple hits, and especially so since its your main counter to special sweepers like Celebi. In general it hits super hard which is really nice to break things down for a later sweep.


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

Aero is obviously a fantastic mon, and this set puts in alot of work for this team. Aero is a great offensive check to birds, Beedrill, and fire types. I also love using Aero because when I miss a stone edge I can blame the miss on my loss, rather than my shitty playing. Hone claws means I can set up and beat fatter things that can't really touch me, like Sylveon, and guaranteeing KO's on things that are slower than me but can usually stomach a hit. I considered using pursuit Aero before, but decided against it so that I can stick with the triple sweeper theme and pressure the hell out of my opponents to guarantee a sweep at some point.


Empoleon @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Scald
- Defog
- Knock Off

Empoleon is a fantastic spdef wall, the best hazard removal in the tier, and a great way for the team to wear down troublesome things. Since I can come in for free with Empo so often, I can usually fire off free scalds, knocks, and rocks, usually crippling something on the opponents team. Generally Empo can put in alot of work just by sacking itself, as alot of things can wear it down enough to kill it but wearing it down comes at the cost of being crippled or getting weakened to the point that I can blow past it in a sweep late game. Often times people will expect Empo to switch out on stuff like Cobalion so I can aggressively stay in and hope for a burn like the scum I am. Roar over Knock off is an option I've thought about but the utility that Knock gives me is really nice and I rarely need roar since I can usually count on Hera to deal with bulky setup sweepers like curse Lax and cm Cress.


Gyarados @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Bounce

Gyarados is a pretty broken great mon and it plays a pretty vital role on the team as the main fighting check, a dangerous setup sweeper, and my M-Swamp check all in one slot. Sub dd was chosen to set up on passive things and because it naturally comes in on stuff like Doublade that walls Heracross and can get up a free sub to start up a sweep, and is a neat pseudo physically defensive mon thanks to intimidate. Gyarados by itself puts so much pressure on balance teams that all that I need usually needs is a little push and maybe some hazards or damage before an easy sweep.

Threats


Metagross
Metagross is a pretty big threat to the team since Gyara's intimidate doesn't do anything to it and it can basically get a kill most of the times it comes in. The key when playing it is to get initial damage on it at all costs and get your toxic orb off on Hera, because after about 25% it's KO'd from full by close combat. You can also sac something and go into Gyara and set up on it but that's pretty dangerous considering you don't know whether or not it has Tpunch.



Fighting types
Fighting types in general give this team hell, but most can be dealt with by Gyara. Machamp and Conkeldurr are the only ones that aren't, and while they're manageable and I have offensive ways of taking them out it can be a total pain to switch into.



Electric types
My main way of dealing with electric types is Snorlax, so volt switch users like Heliolisk are a real pain. I can usually apply pressure between Lax and Aero, but Lax gets worn down really easily and I usually have to play incredibly aggressively against it.



Subseed Whimsicott
This is kind of a niche one, but subseed Whims causes my team some trouble, since I don't have a good taunter, a grass type, or hyper voice/infiltrator. Not a really big deal since it's rarely seen and I have ways around it, but I figured I'd mention it anyway.

Replays

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-494522225
Me losing to Hjkhj because I'm bad, but the matchup Hera has in this match is amazing, and if I hadn't let it take damage like a dummy it could have done serious damage.

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-494510176
Empo and Aero putting in a ton of work and Hera doing 40% to a +4 CurseLax.

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-494507191
Lax gets in enough damage onto a Tentacruel followed by a clean sweep from Gyara.

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-494479308
Lax killing a Forretress and getting damage off on a conk followed by Hera demolishing this dudes team, and Aero cleaning up.


Conclusion
This team has been a blast to use and really enlightening to make, and its really taught me alot about building and playing offense. The team has a few large threats but most of them can be played around and some of the obvious fixes I've thought of involve completely reworking the team in a different direction, though I would be very interested to hear other thoughts and opinions!

I'd like to give major shoutouts to hjkhj, Mr. Highways, Accelgor, CoolStoryBrobat, PinkDragonTamer, Killintime, and everyone in the UU room that I'm forgetting for help with the team and for being so amazing and helping me grow as a player. Lastly thank you for reading, and I can't wait to start SuMo UU and deal with degenerate bullshit for a few months until the meta cools down and hopefully becomes a nice and balanced place.

Notewire



Heracross @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Facade
- Megahorn
- Close Combat

Gyarados @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Bounce

Klefki @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic
- Spikes
- Thunder Wave
- Dazzling Gleam

Snorlax @ Choice Band
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Return
- Pursuit
- Facade
- Fire Punch

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

Empoleon @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Scald
- Defog
- Knock Off
 
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Hi, Band lax and sd hera are very fun mons so props to you for using them. This team honestly looks pretty awkward to me. In regards to your defensive synergy, you get eaten alive by volturn because you have 2 water mons that invite electrics in (they cant even stop forry from volting out) and your sponge (lax) lacks recovery. You're really weak to entei since your fire resists are susceptible to sacred fire and once again, your lax doesnt have recovery. You dont have a good stop to conkeldurr while having 2 mons that it uses as set up fodder. You're pretty weak to reuniclus. It doesn't really need to cm up to pose a threat, it can cm on empo and klefki but just clicking attacks vs the other mons wear your team down pretty easily. You're also weak to curse lax even tho you have hera because every time it's in you're forced to go into it and the lax user can easily predict that and wear hera down. That's an easy fix tho, just roar over knock on empo means empo can act as a mid game check to it while keeping hera in the back for last mon lax. The issues of your team stem from you trying to throw on a band lax to perform a role that's already fulfilled by other members and not having adequate counter play to the mons you open yourself up to. If you're gonna use a lax, then keep in mind the things lax invites in and make sure to have counter play to those things.

The first step is changing the lax set. By using a curse lax you gain a sponge to volt switchers, a sturdy entei check, and a reliable way to defeat cm cress. This still leaves the conkeldurr issue, reuniclus issue, and metagross issue. The second change I recommend is using Doublade over klefki. This covers reuniclus and most metagross sets (you can predict around mixed sets and pressure it with aero / hera). This still leaves the conk issue so that's why my last change is Sylveon over gyarados.

Along with checking most of your threat list, these changes create new interactions between the members of your team. Lax now acts as a win con that can weaken steels for HC aero and vice versa. Doublade being pursuited by a band krook means you can set up with hera or aero. SD doublade also appreciates hera weakening physical sponges. Sylveon rounds it up by being able to heal back the members.

Even with these changes, the team is still too entei weak for my taste seeing as it can easily pressure lax. I think running pursuit on aero would help with this a lot. Pursuit also eases the celebi match up.

A summary:

BandLax -> CurseLax
Klefki -> Doublade
Gyarados -> Sylveon
Pursuit -> Hone Claws on Aero
Roar -> Knock Off on Empo
 

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