Smogon »The Smog »Issue 21 » Featured Ubers RMT

Introduction

I'm not going to tell you how boring the Uber metagame is now, thanks to a certain newcomer. It's pretty easy to use a rain team, and you have to take a lot of risks when playing offense if you want to be original and not be swept by Arceus / walled by Ferrothorn.

So, 6 month ago, my fellow Uber brother, Private, and I decided to build a team that wouldn't use any standard core currently used. We took a look at the current metagame and Kabutops was something that often came in our minds since he could walk through Drown All, shit on random offense, and make his way through Drought teams. This team peaked at #1 a lot of times, but hey, the Smogon and PO ladders aren't what we would call a challenge.

We did something we can be proud of for sure, since this team was our most successful in BW Uber despite being restricted by a lot of things. Anyway, here is the team !

Team Building Process

 

Started with Ogre + Kabu obviously since we wanted to make a rain team around the fossil.

         

We were watching Dr. House and didn't have any ideas, so we used the house trump card : throw everything you have on the board and test it ! Mewtwo for wallbreaking here and there, Deo-A to setup SR and hit the whole metagame hard, Scizor for a cool Uturn and a needed dragon resist that can also "revenge kill" with BP, and DragoCeus in the last spot for a second Water resist and our second main sweeper. After some tests, Ferrothorn walled the whole team, recovering more on Leech Seed than what he lost on U-turn ... Kyogre was also a pain in the ass.

         

Ok so we kept the formula we used previously, removed Deo-A for Dialga LO SR, since it brought another water resist and could setup SR and hit Ferrothorn fairly hard with Fire Blast. However, Dialga doesn't hit hard when not super-effective (hi Arceus / Chansey / Lugia). It was a little better but still not good. And that's where we made the worst choice ever for an offense user ...

         

Removed Dialga for BandChomp for an elec' immunity and very good dual STAB and put GrassCeus over DragoCeus. Ferrothorn wasn't able anymore to spam Leech Seed (free Spikes now though), but God ... it was really bad at best. GrassCeus is the worst Arceus ever for an offense user. He doesn't hit hard, he let a free setup for everything ... anyway, he wasn't what we needed. We also tried SD Chomp, but wow, Arceus eats Chomp alive ...

         

Tried MixKrom over Chomp, we can lure Groudon and Ferrothorn easily and kill them with Focus Blast / Draco Meteor. But the team was a bit too much EH weak.

         

Bronzong on Garchomp for a Groudon check and also to lure Ferrothorn and "kill" him with Hypnosis. He helped vs MindCeus too. Hi Pokemon Online; I never hit with this shit. We also used GroundCeus + Palkia: not bad, but still not what we want.

         

Fuck off Mewtwo, here is TyraniBoss; we tried to make a team without him, but meh, he's too great. Changed GroundCeus for something more manly, with more swag--Ghostceus SD. The team worked really well, but we had nothing for checking Thunder. Since Hypnosis never worked, we decided to get rid of Bronzong.

         

The team was almost perfect, the only thing that was a problem is (again) Ferrothorn and some other mons. We needed something that hit like a truck. Since MixKia wasnt good enough, we changed it for the Specs set and changed Ghostceus for EKceus. Here, it's perfect ! We got what we wanted.

Rider @ Focus Sash

• Sand Stream
• 200 Atk / 56 SAtk / 252 Spd
• Lonely Nature (+Atk, -Def)
• Moveset:
  • Fire Blast - A gift for Groudon, Ferrothorn and Foretress. Groudon is 3HKOed and we're faster, a good thing for the weather war. The two other are 2HKOed.
  • Crunch - Main weapon. Strong enough to not let anything come as they want, perfect coverage with Low Kick and STABed. I used to play Payback back in the DPP days but with its nerf, Crunch became more effective.
  • Stealth Rock - Something we need to hurt Lugia, Ho-Oh and Rayquaza, three things the team doesn't really love. Every team need SR anyway.
  • Low Kick - Perfect coverage with Crunch, 2HKOes any Dialga and Ferrothorn, and does so-so against Fightceus if he try to setup on us.

• Why this Pokémon?
  • Back in the business ! No true lead anymore with the team preview ? Tyranitar isn't suited for this spot ? Screw the rules ! We made and used this Tyranitar since DP, and God he's still a serious threat to take in account. Truly good at what he needs to do : lure, weaken the team and setup SR. He allows us to lead off well by firing off his STAB and lure out easily Skarmory and Kyogre (always thinking he can brainlessly spam Water Spout since we doesnt have a true Ogre counter). There is no doubt about the fact that Tyranitar was, and still is, THE anti-metagame Pokemon at the moment.

• Speed, item and nature:
  • Enough speed to outrun Groudon, Dialga and any defensive 90 bs. Enough SpA to 3HKO Groudon; the rest goes in attack for obvious reason. Focus Sash to let him take a hit he can't survive.

• Lead matchup:
  • Deo-S : Crunch it if he try to setup SR or setup it if he switch. Crunch does enough to 2HKO it even if he use Reflect.
  • Darkrai : Meh, no SR for us. We'll let Tar take the Dark Void then switch on Kyogre. He's annoying since he can force us to lock our Ogre on Water Spout and lose the momentum. Use SR anyway in case he misses.
  • Kyogre : See if its raining or not; we'll know if he's an offensive or defensive variant. Most of the time, we'll just SR since we dont really fear him.
  • Deo-A : Crunch. He can be annoying because he breaks our Sash and we'll always play without SR. No SR for him too though and we keep the momentum.
  • Dialga : Low Kick then SR. Use it in this order because Low Kick does enough damage to force him to switch out (most of the time for Skarmory or Arceus).
  • Groudon : The sun should shine. Fire Blast, Fire Blast, then SR. If he used EQ in the first turn, use SR instead of FB the 2nd time.
  • Forretress : Crunch/Low Kick to break Sturdy and let him think we cant do shit to him then Fire Blast.
  • Arceus : If its a type we are not weak to, then SR; if it is, then Crunch / Low Kick.
  • Tentacruel : Since we're leading with Kyogre on the team preview, they can sometimes try to lead with him (Protect for choice blablabla). Crunch the fuck out of him for a clean 2HKO then Fire Blast the obvious Ferrothorn incoming.
  • Thundurus : Fairly uncommon but pretty good anti-lead. Crunch or SR, it depends if you think he'll Taunt or not.

Caster @ Choice Scarf

• Drizzle
• 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
• Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
• Moveset:
  • Water Spout - A powerful STAB we use early game to weaken Ferrothorn and Palkia so they can't wall Kabutops anymore.
  • Surf - Strong, STABed and perfect precision.
  • Ice Beam - Good when used with Surf&Thunder if you know what I mean.
  • Thunder - Boltbeam blablabla.

• Why this Pokémon?
  • First of all, we needed the rain since we wanted to build a team around Kabutops. We used the Specs in the beginning for a clean 2hko on Ferrothorn, which is always good to get rid off under rain. However, the lack of speed was annoying and after some tests, it appears to us that the Scarf was the most useful for its revenge kill abilities. Kyogre is extremely important for the rain; his type allowing some pivoting, and his power and speed are simply fabulous~.

• Speed, item and nature:
  • Timid to outrun Deo-A and avoid the tie with the overly common Modest ScarfOgre.

• How does it work?
  • It depends on what we are facing. If we're playing against a sun team, we'll try to keep Ogre in good health so we can come on the field and summon the rain while taking Groudon's EQ should the need arise. He baits the opponent's water resist and opens a path for Kabutops. Against rain offense, Ogre is going to bait Thunder from Palkia or any Thunder user for Excadrill, and we really don't care about losing Kyogre. Of course, if we can sweep with him, we'll not waste it, and we'll be careful and keep him on the side since we don't need him to summon the rain. On the other hand, if we're facing rain stall, Kyogre's only purpose is going to be spamming Water Spout on Dialga / Ferrothorn and baiting the special wall (aka Giratina/Chansey) for a free Excadrill setup.

Berseker @ Choice Specs

• Pressure
• 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
• Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
• Moveset:
  • Spacial Rend - A powerful STAB that can 2HKO the whole metagame beside Chansey/Blissey and the Steel type. Groudon and Dialga can be OHKOed with previous damage.
  • Hydro Pump - The "I dont give a shit" button when under rain.
  • Fire Blast - Can OHKO Ferrothorn even under rain, what a beautiful thing to see ... Used for the other steel type too but Hydro Pump is enough for them usually. 3HKO Ho-Oh too without SR ... nuff said.
  • Thunder - OHKOes Kyogre, Lugia and is powerful enough to hurt anyone trying to setup.

• Why this Pokémon?
  • He was the last mon to be picked. We had absolutely nothing for Kyogre and we needed a check, so Palkia came in and saved our ass. But we needed also a strong wallbreaker, so we obviously tested MixKia. After some testing, he wasnt as good as we thought. Ferrothorn was a pain in the ass under rain since he was able to take Fire Blast and use leech seed. Arceus was in the same boat, coming on Palkia and setting up Calm Mind like if it was nothing. We tested every Kia: Expert belt was weak as fuck, Lustrous Orb wasnt powerful enough against Ferrothorn, and Life Orb drained Kia's health too much (no surprise factor anymore too). So we thought about the specs. We didnt believe it was worth the try at the beginning but we gave him a shot and god, that was the best decision we could make. Even though we had to switch when locked on a resist, SpecsKia was THE pokemon we needed. We didn't even have to use Fire Blast for getting rid off Ferrothorn under rain which is just awesome. Some of you might think "why not SpecsOgre and ScarfKia ? You still 2HKO Ferrothorn and revenge kill Rayquaza !" Fool ! The main advantage over Kyogre is his Dragon type. Palkia will NEVER come on Palkia, fearing Spacial Rend, so we can easily fire off Hydro Pump and catch Ferrothorn. In conclusion, SpecsKia can do the same job as MixKia, if not better, by luring and killing Ferrothorn, AND still having a fucking retarded Hydropump that 2HKOes almost everyone.

• Speed, item and nature:
  • Timid to outrun Rayquaza, obvious is obvious.

• How does it work?
  • Come on the field when he can/you need to take Water Spout, then see what the opponent has. If it's raining and Chansey is below 82%, use Hydropump; we dont care about Ferrothorn or any other special wall (Giratina will never come on you, same for Palkia) and you get a free 2HKO/OHKO. If it's not raining, use one of the 3 other move (Fire Blast if you think the steel type is coming, Spacial Rend if there is no Steel, Thunder if you can OHKO something with it; if there is Chansey/Blissey, switch on Excadrill. He is simply here to wreck shit.

• Calc. Damage
  • I'm not asking to trust me, but here is some calc. damage to show you how sad is the truth :
  • - Hydropump on Chansey 4/252+ : 35.51 - 41.74%
  • - Hydropump on Blissey 4/252+ : 43.71 - 51.53%
  • - Hydropump on Ferrothorn 252/252+ : 46.59 - 54.82%
  • - Hydropump on Kyogre 4/0 : 53.21 - 62.86%
  • - Hydropump on Kyogre 252/0 : 45.04 - 53.21%
  • - Hydropump on Arceus 252/0 : 94.14 - 111.03%
  • - Hydropump on Arceus 252/0 after a Calm Mind : 62.83 - 73.87%
  • - Hydropump on Giratina-O : 61.67 - 72.78%
  • - Hydropump on Giratina physically : 41.15 - 48.5%
  • - Hydropump on Lugia 252/80 : 75.96 - 89.66%
  • - Fire Blast on Ferrothorn 252/252+ : 82.95 - 98.86% (under rain, yep)

Lancer @ Leftovers

• Sand Rush
• 180 HP / 52 Atk / 48 Def / 196 SpD / 32 Spe
• Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SpA)
• Moveset:
  • Swords Dance - We could have used Rapid Spin, and it's viable, but SD is more useful since it allows us to be put the pressure on the opponent and can sweep if needed.
  • Substitute - What makes our Excadrill a boss. It allow him to rape Gira(-O); if allowed a free set-up, he can be easily at +2 ... WITH a sub. Useful against Ferrothorn, who can try to leech seed your face, and sometimes against Mewtwo under sand to bring him on the EQ range.
  • Rock Slide - EdgeQuake, hits Gira-O, Lugia, Skarm, Ho-Oh and Ray.
  • Earthquake - STABed, hits shit blablabla.

• Why this Pokémon?
  • A thunder resist was needed, and a steel type too. Excadrill combines the two of them; not only that, but he can also setup on them ! He's the base of our pivoting that we use for our defense. He's often the one who opens a path for Arceus by hurting Skarm/Gira.

• Speed, item and nature:
  • A homemade spread that has became common by now, sadly. Enough in HP to make Substitute unbreakable by Seismic toss, enough in defense that allow the sub to survive Giratina-O's Dragon-Tail Adamant, full Atk, and finally enough Speed to outspeed any 90 bs stall and Deo-A under sand. The special defense allow us to take 2 Fire Blast under rain.

• How does it work?
  • He's got a lot of purpose. First of all, he's our main weapon against the most common stallmons (Lugia, Giratina, Chansey, Ferrothorn, Forretress) since he can setup on them and put a lot of pressure on the opponent. So against stall, it's not that difficult to kill/hurt Giratina/Ferrothorn, which can lead to a Kabutops sweep. However, do not try to setup when the opponent has Groudon on his team ! When facing offense, we need Excadrill to check Dragons, mostly Zekrom, and Thunder. He's not a sweeper, just a wrecking ball against them.

Saber @ Life Orb

• Swift Swim
• 252 Atk / 36 Def / 220 Spe
• Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SpA)
• Moveset:
  • Waterfall - STABed, perfect accuracy, and can flinch.
  • Stone Edge - Covers the main threat that Waterfall doesn't kill like Lugia and Ho-Oh. Oh, and misses a lot, a lot ...
  • Low Kick - Hi Ferrothorn and Dialga ! Do a pretty good 75% on EKceus.
  • Aqua Jet - Needed to kill Terrakion since we're outspeeded by the Scarf even under rain. Can be useful against Blaziken and Excadrill under sand (75-80%).

• Why this Pokémon?
  • Since rain teams were the main archetype in Uber, he was somewhat the sweeper we dreamed of. Keeping the rain isnt difficult, his dual STAB is extremely good, the only cons : he doesnt hit THAT hard, but the team compensates for this. Kabutops was chosen instead of Kingdra because of his Rock type; a Normal resist is really useful for Arceus. Also, the metagame is more specially oriented, so something like Kabutops can really shake things up. Also, he doesn't need to be locked on Outrage for killing Kyogre, and his greatest advantage is Low Kick, really, FUCK YOU Ferrothorn, you heard that ? Fuck you !

• Speed, item and nature:
  • Enough in speed so you can outspeed ScarfChomp, Adamant because we need moar power, the rest goes in defense.

• How does it work?
  • Comes in late game, when the team is weakened enough, and sweep the opponent. Don't bring him just for a revenge kill, its stupid, really. The team hate switch; it also hates not having the momentum, so yeah. Nothing difficult to understand.

Archer @ Silk Scarf

• Multitype
• 252 Atk / 4 HP / 252 Spe
• Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SpA)
• Moveset:
  • Swords Dance - Do I need to explain, really?
  • Extremespeed - STABed, priority, blablabla.
  • Shadow Claw - Giratina and Ghostceus, perfect coverage.
  • Brick Break - Fuck you Ferrothorn.

• Why this Pokémon?
  • Why not? I always, always use Arceus on any Uber team. He fits so easily and is so broken, omnomnom, it's just ridiculous to not use him. Needed something to revenge kill things without the rain, and I didnt wanted to be choice locked. Something that can sweep a whole team, something that setup so easily that you stop the BW Uber when beaten by him and something that can make you some coffee.

• Speed, item and nature:
  • Full speed Jolly because I didn't want to be outstalled by Ghostceus; punching him in the face with a +2 Shadow Claw is always nice. Silk Scarf because Arceus is so bulky that it'd be a shame to use LO. Full Atk, because it's like that, and don't bother trying something else.

• How does it work?
  • Arceus is what I usually call "The pokemon of the situation of any situation". He come on the field when I think he can make a game over, sets up SD because he dont give a fuck since he's bulky as fuck, then use the most obvious moves... difficult isnt it?