Lower Tiers BW UU Hub

DnB

#DnB4608, its way easier on discord :>
is a Tiering Contributor Alumnus
BW UU Hub


special thanks to Fusion Flare for the great banner <3


After seeing the great threads from esche and Pak about DPP/ORAS UU, we also wanted to create a little hub to talk about BW UU, the tier where we set up as many hazards as possible to freely spam V-Create with our beloved Victini. Jokes aside, BW UU is an incredibly fun tier where every playstyle is viable. In this thread, we want to share our thoughts & teams, discuss the latest meta developments and maybe some older folks will give us some insight, in how the tier changed over the past 10 years. These hubs also function as a great resource for new players that want to get into the tier, so feel free to leave questions! :)


Some resources for a quick start into BW UU:
Viability Rankings
Speed Tiers
and of course this thread :)​
 
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DnB

#DnB4608, its way easier on discord :>
is a Tiering Contributor Alumnus
I will start with a little recap of my UUFPL games

So yea, I originally signed up for regular UUPL, but no one picked me up, so i tried again for UUFPL and thank god I ended up with the Blipbug City Battlegirls and we ended up winning the whole thing. I ended up going 10-0 in BW UU, mostly because of the great team support I had, so I did not have to build myself, I mostly just used a team we prepared and made some edits.


Week 1 vs Abyssal Ruins


Ok so starting with week 1, I had this random idea of using a different Victini set every single week. I was just trying to have some fun at the beginning, because I havent played the tier seriously in years. Accel posted some cool looking stuff, I changed some things around and ended up with Specs Victini, a set I wanted to use for a long time now. And well, it did great. Many people rely on physical waters like Qwilfish, Blastoise or Swampert to check Tini, but well, they all get easily 2HKOed by Specs Blue Flare. Scolipede is also super cool, because no one preps for it and you can easily get up some Spikes and after 1-2 layers, Tini just 2HKOes the whole tier, except Snorlax. Its also a huge surprise factor, as many people used special Victini with Exbert Belt before, but the added power of Specs makes it even scarier. The rest of the team is also cool: Cofagrigus blocks Spin and can clean in lategame with Trick Room + Nasty Plot. Both Togekiss and Tini had trick, so I would be able to really cripple annoying walls like Snorlax. Seismitoad is rare in UU, but it has a nice niche. It's not as bulky as Swampert, but being able to freely switching into Scald is really nice and it is amazing against Rain. Overall I didn't prep too much for my opponent in W1 and it was a lot of fun, showcasing the power of specs Tini.


Week 2 vs Martha


On this week SBPC (Frosty) and Tack joined in super hard for prepping. Frosty told me to use fat against martha and I still had this team from choolio sitting in my builder, which he hadn't RMTed by then. (He did later, check it out!) I used this team a few times before in random room tours and it is a lot of fun. I decided to stop the Tini train for this week, but instead, Charge Beam Zapdos would take the spot. It's a super cool set that is super threatening against almost everything, you just have avoid status on Zapdos, which is why it makes sense to use it on a semistall team with Heal Bell Umbreon. I also made the last minute change of giving Hitmontop Foresight instead of Bulk Up, because in my opinion it rarely gets the opportunity to set up. And thank god I made this change. I ran into a pretty bad matchup, Martha used Xatu which completely walls Bronzong, so bad news for trying to get up and also used Virizion, which kinda 6-0s the team. But thank god HP Flying Zapdos got the surprise kill on it and I was able to spin with Hitmontop, after that it was a long grind in trying to get Rotom-Heat low, but Zapdos finally pulled through.


Week 3 vs faded love


Tack built this at like 3am and I just ran with it. Special Tini again, but this time with Charcoal to, other than that its pretty standard. Defensive Roserade & Rhyperior for hazards, Sub Roost Zapdos with Discharge to maybe get some lucky paras on opposing electrics and Scarf Heracross as a cleaner. The game itself was crazy tho. I missed a very important Blue Flare on faded loves Garbodor on Turn 3, which was super bad for me, as it was the only reliable Heracross switchin for him. But luckily I was able to hit a few turns after, when I clicked EQ with my Scarf Hera against his Band Flygon, so I was able to freely spam CC after. The endgame was really crazy tho, it came down to a 5050, after he revealed CM Virizion, which was able to to beat my Kingdra 1on1. Luckily I got the turn right where he clicked Synthesis, so Hera was able to clean up. Also, this was a busy RL week for me, we wrote like 5 messages in the UU chat the whole week, really happy this one worked out lol


Week 4 vs Draphirion


Frosty: "venomoth is unironically fucking insane". And it truly is. Venomoth is this one weird mon, that was always pretty good, but oftentimes got stuck in a tier where it couldnt shine, same goes for BW UU. Frost came up with this idea of phys def mono attacking Venomoth and this set is just great. It walls Heracross and can freely set up on it and in general it can grab some nice surprise kills, because it suddenly lives some attacks. The rest of the team is pretty much straight forward: Scarf Tini + Sub CM Raikou is in general just a great & fast offensive core, combined with offensive Bronzong and CB Snorlax this team can easily punch through most balance teams. The only thing I would change now is Snorlax, I think running a more bulky variant would function better, as opposing band Victini just clicks V-Create and kills everything. The match itself started insanely good for me. This was my first time using Sub CM Raikou and I guess Draphirion did not expect it, as Raikou just grabbed 2 early kills which gave me a huge advantage. After that, Venomoth got its time to shine, as Draphirion expected it being faster than Heracross, which I was not and then it easily tanked a +2 Megahorn from it. To be honest, the game was already over at that point, but Draphirion definitely played his odds, because normally Heracross cleanly kills Venomoth at +2. Also, this was the week where CoolStoryBrobat discovered his love for BW UU again and became a huge part in the prep squad.


Special off week team
https://pokepast.es/04e9275dd38d17cc
Frosty built this for this fun off week where just some players played each other in fun matches. And while this team looks like a fun team, its serious business lol


Week 5 vs mygrein


Ok so things are getting pretty serious right now, as I am currently 4-0 and everyone was finally talking about Victini and how broken it is, so we decided to bring Band Weavile to trap opposing Tinis, while running Colbur Berry on our own special Tini. I think Tack came up with this build, and while it looks pretty weird, it can definitely put in some work. Its a more defensive build, focusing around Hazards to wear down the opponent, until Tini and Weavile can clean up. mygrein also didn't play BW UU before this tour, so I was feeling confident and yea, Sleep Powder Roserade came in clutch and he made some weird plays, playing around the sleep and also Colbur Berry came in clutch on Tini, the extra health wouldve been really useful against Zapdos in Lategame.


Week 6 vs justamente


So this team was inspired by a team soulwind used earlier in regular UUPL. He used Stallbreaker Mew > Scrafty, but I really wanted to try out Scrafty since its looking really dangerous in the tier. Overall this team just looks super threatening and it truly is: Colbur Special Tini again, this time with Will-o-Wisp to burn Snorlax or any other annoying wall. Nidoqueen, Blastoise, Zapdos + Scrafty as a good defensive backbone that can still hit pretty hard and Scarf Mienshao for my speed control. justamente tried an unconventional strategy in using Sun, which was still super scary, but thank god Mienshao is fast af and was able to outspeed SD Tangrowth in sun. I couldve easily lost if i missed another Heat Wave tho, so it was still super close. Sadly Scrafty just died, because I did not expect SD Tangrowth but this game showed, how strong sun can be and how easily it can defeat more offensive teams.


Week 7 vs rabia


CSB came up with the idea of Special Victini + Lorb CM Raikou + Sharpedo and while I was sceptical at first, Frosty said it looked solid af so I went with it. So this is just straight up HO, Sash Qwilfish for Spikes, Cobalion for Rocks and Mismagius as my Spinblocker. And while the game started off pretty badly, when rabia paralyzed my Tini with his + me getting the full para, I was able to bring it back after Raikou landed a surprise KO on Nidoqueen with a +1 Extrasensory and then things started dying on both sides, but again, my Raikou came out on top thanks to Lorb Extrasensory. This couldve easily gone either way tho.


Week 8 wouldve been a rematch against Rabia , but it never happpened because we already won the week and he got really sick and was not able to play. I hope you are finally feeling better <3


Finals vs avarice


Ok, so I was pretty sure that I wanted to use stall again and although I originally planned to use this team in W8 against rabia, I ended up using it 1 week later against avarice, because we were pretty sure that he is not that confident in the meta. CSB came up with this sick build, looks pretty broing, is pretty boring, but its strong af. Ferroseed is a cool tech against Snorlax, which usually does pretty good against stall with Resttalk. Its also way bulkier than Qwilfish, while still providing Spikes support and Leech Seed is annoying af. So the basic idea is to set up hazards and just force switches, Snorlax was a Resttalk variant with Whirlwind so I could get even more Hazard damage. The game itself was pretty cool, avarice used Bisharp, which was a huge threat and Resttalk Heracross, which is also super threatening but thank god it couldnt hit Cofagrigus, because he used Close Combat + Facade. But overall, still a very hard matchup for him and he just couldnt break my defensive core.


Finals Tiebreak vs splash


So we tied in finals and ramolost decided to put me into the final tiebreak. Frosty and CSB built so many teams in prep for this, but I didnt like any of them, until I saw this. The idea was Life Orb Zapdos, because its just super strong, combined with Hazards ofc and Krookodile, which is super overlooked in BW UU, because Knock Off is still bad this gen. The original version had Kingdra > Scrafty, but then opposing Zapdos or electrics in general would just destroy this team. We tested a lot of version, but I ended up with my trusted Scrafty again, and this time, it finally did something. We were super afraid of rain, because its just a good playstyle in BW UU, thats where Slowking came in, because it walls the super threatening Rain Dance Kingdra. When the game happened, we were already up 1-0 because pokemonisfun did a great job in SS, so this was now my chance to win the tournament. And man, what a game. Splash brought a really threatening team, the highlight being Metal Sound Zapdos. Thank god I scouted early enough that his Zapdos was not max speed, so I knew I had a chance in our offensive Zapdos war. The highlight was definitely turn 40, where I, again, pressed EQ against a Choice Scarf Flygon while it went for U-Turn, allowing me to kill Ferroseed. From that point on I just needed to wait for the right moment to safely trap his Choice Band Victini with Krook, so Bronzong and Scrafty can win.



^this almost happened lol




So yea, this was my little recap about my UUFPL run. This tournament really showed me, how great BW UU can be. I won't be sharing teams this time, because most of them were not built by me, but it will surely happen soon in this thread :)
 

Lily

wouldn't that be fine, dear
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UU Leader


Krookodile Is Good, Actually
I've wanted to talk about things in these old gen tiers for a long time now but I've never felt confident enough in my knowledge about them. Now that I've played a fair share of BW UU across UUSD, BWPL and a few other tours, I'd like to talk about what I consider to be one of the weirder phenomenon I've seen in those who have played this tier for years - a strange and, in my opinion, unwarranted hate for Krookodile.

What I'm talking about here is Scarf Krookodile (specifically this set) since I don't really believe the other sets to be very good (or at least not CB, Rocks might be fine on some offenses). I can kinda say I get why a lot of people don't like this mon much; it's not exactly a hard hitter like some other scarf users (Heracross, Mienshao, Victini) but I find that relying on your scarfer to break isn't really a good thing to do in general. Instead, I've put Krookodile on teams as less of an atomic bomb and more of a guided missile, aimed at specifically strengthening the team's matchup versus otherwise very problematic Pokemon. I'll go into detail on this later on in the post but first I'll cover the most notable example, Victini.

Victini is an absolute monster. Anyone who's played this tier, regardless of what they think the best mon is, will tell you that the #1 mon you have to keep in mind while building is Victini, because it will just shred you otherwise. Most offensive teams can't really fit much by way of good Victini checks; most of the time you'll see Snorlax, sometimes you'll see mostly some bulkier but stlil offensive Water-types like Kingdra and Swampert take up the role, or you'll see a Rhyperior. None are foolproof of course, Snorlax is the closest but it still needs a trillion EVs to handle the little pixie and oftentimes trades its entire HP bar for it, leaving you open to special attackers like Zapdos, Raikou and friends.

Where Krookodile comes in here is that it's basically guaranteed to kill Victini, oftentimes still being able to handle things later on as well. Even if you fuck up the Pursuit turn, you will live a follow up V-create from even CB Tini, while Scarf bounces off and you can tank a Blue Flare from special sets as well. Plus you often don't have to lose any HP at all if you can get the turn right and just EQ them, or if they've already taken Rocks a couple times. From here you've eliminated a huge threat and, most importantly, you don't have to sack your Snorlax or Druddigon, which can then help in dealing with other threats, most notably the terrifying Electrics.

Of course, if this thing was just a Victini killing bot, it probably still wouldn't be very good. But here are some other very notable things it can revenge kill from pretty high HP, depending on coverage:

- Heracross
- Raikou
- Virizion
- Mew
- Roserade
- Nidoqueen
- Mienshao (LO)
- Weavile (you tank +1 life orb ice shard w/ the bulk)
- Cobalion
- Kingdra (you need a lot of chip for this one though)

probably more I'm forgetting, point is that it revenges a lot. Intimidate is just always a useful tool as well; sacking Krook to a Flygon, Druddigon, Snorlax or whatever can open up setup opportunities for something like your Cobalion, Cofagrigus, Kingdra or whatever else.

It does have some very notable downsides. Being a Ground-type that sucks into (some) Zapdos is obviously not great but honestly most of the other Grounds don't really handle it well either outside of Rhyperior taking on HP Ice variants decently for a short period of time. Being relatively weak does make you struggle to clean quite often (although its STABs are often enough to rip up weakened offense teams as you can see here and here, among other replays I'm sure I'm forgetting). Perhaps most importantly, the BW UU players of old will think you're a noob for using it. Even still, I think it's got a great home on various offensive teams that can make use of its unique traits, and I'm glad its usage has been rising a lot lately to reflect that.
 
Choice Specs Tornadus
:bw/tornadus:
Tornadus @ Choice Specs
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- U-turn
- Hurricane
- Grass Knot
- Hidden Power [Ice]
This set utilizes Torns' great base 125 SpA to break through most of the tier, netting OHKO's or 2HKO's on most prominent threats. Timid nature allows Tornadus to outspeed Cobalion and base 100's, but can be traded for Modest. This set greatly benefits from stealth rock support, netting important OHKO's on offensive Zapdos and other prominent threats. This set is heavily walled by steels aside from Cobalion, but can heavily pressure offense and stall teams alike, and can give its offensive checks a very hard time switching in.

:zapdos:
252 SpA Choice Specs Tornadus Hidden Power Ice vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Zapdos: 244-288 (75.7 - 89.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Tornadus Hidden Power Ice vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Zapdos: 244-288 (75.7 - 89.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Choice Specs Tornadus Hidden Power Ice vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Zapdos: 190-224 (49.4 - 58.3%) -- 98.8% chance to 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Tornadus Hidden Power Ice vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Zapdos: 190-224 (49.4 - 58.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

:victini:
252 SpA Choice Specs Tornadus Hurricane vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Victini: 286-337 (83.6 - 98.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Tornadus Hurricane vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Victini: 286-337 (83.6 - 98.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Choice Specs Tornadus Hurricane vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Victini: 226-267 (55.9 - 66%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

:togekiss:
252 SpA Choice Specs Tornadus Hurricane vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Togekiss: 255-300 (81.7 - 96.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Tornadus Hurricane vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Togekiss: 255-300 (81.7 - 96.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Choice Specs Tornadus Hidden Power Ice vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Togekiss: 198-234 (63.4 - 75%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Tornadus Hidden Power Ice vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Togekiss: 198-234 (63.4 - 75%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Choice Specs Tornadus Hurricane vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Togekiss: 205-243 (54.8 - 64.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Tornadus Hurricane vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Togekiss: 205-243 (54.8 - 64.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

:snorlax:
252 SpA Choice Specs Tornadus Hurricane vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Snorlax: 262-310 (56.7 - 67%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

:kingdra:
252 SpA Choice Specs Tornadus Hurricane vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Kingdra: 298-352 (102 - 120.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Tornadus Hurricane vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Kingdra: 234-276 (66.1 - 77.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Tornadus Hurricane vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Kingdra: 213-252 (60.1 - 71.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

:raikou:
252 SpA Choice Specs Tornadus Grass Knot (100 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Raikou: 159-188 (49.3 - 58.3%) -- 98.8% chance to 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Tornadus Grass Knot (100 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Raikou: 159-188 (49.3 - 58.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

:nidoqueen:
252 SpA Choice Specs Tornadus Hurricane vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Nidoqueen: 327-385 (101.5 - 119.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Tornadus Hidden Power Ice vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Nidoqueen: 256-302 (79.5 - 93.7%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Choice Specs Tornadus Hurricane vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Nidoqueen: 250-295 (65.1 - 76.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

:cofagrigus:
252 SpA Choice Specs Tornadus Hurricane vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Cofagrigus: 274-324 (106.2 - 125.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Tornadus Hurricane vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Cofagrigus: 219-258 (68.4 - 80.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Tornadus Hurricane vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Cofagrigus: 219-258 (68.4 - 80.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock and 3 layers of Spikes

:heracross:
252 SpA Choice Specs Tornadus Hurricane vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Heracross: 1192-1408 (394.7 - 466.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Tornadus Hurricane vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Heracross: 936-1104 (257.1 - 303.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO

:mew:
252 SpA Choice Specs Tornadus Hurricane vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mew: 286-337 (83.6 - 98.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Tornadus Hurricane vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mew: 286-337 (83.6 - 98.5%) -- 75% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Choice Specs Tornadus Hurricane vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Mew: 226-267 (55.9 - 66%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

:roserade:
252 SpA Choice Specs Tornadus Hurricane vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Roserade: 548-648 (209.1 - 247.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Tornadus Hidden Power Ice vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Roserade: 214-254 (81.6 - 96.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Tornadus Hidden Power Ice vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Roserade: 214-254 (81.6 - 96.9%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Choice Specs Tornadus Hurricane vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Roserade: 438-516 (135.1 - 159.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Tornadus Hidden Power Ice vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Roserade: 170-202 (52.4 - 62.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

:Cobalion:
252 SpA Choice Specs Tornadus Hurricane vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Cobalion: 373-441 (115.1 - 136.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Tornadus Hurricane vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Cobalion: 277-327 (71.7 - 84.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
 
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With BW UU finally a monthly ladder I thought I would finally have an opportunity to share some sets I've been using or thinking about as fun or worth exploring in the current meta. I obviously can't say in good faith these sets will be mine and when I can I'll give credit but I haven't been digging enough to give credit to everyone, you'll be warned. I'll also admit the post above enticed me to write this so here they are:

raikou.png

Raikou @ Grass Gem
Ability: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 SpA
- Calm Mind
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Extrasensory / Roar / Protect

+1 252 SpA Raikou Hidden Power Grass vs. 248 HP / 244 SpD Solid Rock Rhyperior: 357-423 (82.4 - 97.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+1 252 SpA Grass Gem Raikou Hidden Power Grass vs. 248 HP / 244 SpD Solid Rock Rhyperior: 537-633 (124 - 146.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

It's really that simple. Raikou's lower special attack stat compared to Zapdos can really let it down when it needs 2 calm minds to ohko Rhyperior and grass gem is exactly what it needs to push through it and Raikou's item is customizable just like anything else. Side note on Roar on Raikou: the annoying part of running an electric check that isn't Rhyperior (or technically Piloswine but it's UR so rip) is that Substitute Zapdos becomes quite the pain to handle, Raikou handles such a Zapdos and Roar allows you to bypass subs. The reasoning of Roar being a valid option is actually the same as using Substitute on your own Raikou, both are moves you use because the pokemon forces switches so if sub is an option so can be Roar. Pair with spikes for maximum havoc wreaked and potentially Heal Bell Togekiss so a random para doesn't ruin you.


:bw/escavalier:
Escavalier @ Choice Band
Ability: Swarm
EVs: 208 HP / 204 Atk / 4 SpD / 92 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Megahorn
- Iron Head
- Pursuit
- Sleep Talk

I have said it several times in the UU discord but I am a major Escavalier fan in bw uu, the combination of defensive and offensive presence it brings to the table is really difficult to replicate. It is one of the best Cofagrigus answers out there (and by extension the best pursuiter for it) and unlike other pokemon that people throw on their team to handle Cofagrigus such as Roserade, Togekiss, Zapdos or even Meloetta it smashes Weavile real good. Being able to reliably pursuit the vast majority of Roserade, smash Venomoth as it's both incredibly strong and incredibly bulky and even serve as a decent non electric gem Raikou answer while having easy entry against Bronzong early game to spam an incredibly powerful Megahorn that 2hkos offensive nidoqueen and 3hkos the defensive ones. Low speed alongside vulnerability to Victini, Zapdos and Cobalion do hold it back but I always find its low usage quite puzzling as supported well it will not disappoint.

204+ Atk Choice Band Escavalier Megahorn vs. 100 HP / 0 Def Nidoqueen: 180-213 (52 - 61.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
204+ Atk Choice Band Escavalier Megahorn vs. 252 HP / 232+ Def Nidoqueen: 129-152 (33.5 - 39.5%) -- 84.3% chance to 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Black Sludge recovery
204+ Atk Choice Band Escavalier switching boosted Pursuit (80 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Roserade: 229-270 (87.7 - 103.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

:bw/bronzong:
Bronzong @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature / Sassy Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Trick
- Protect / Gyro Ball

Not my idea, it was a set Joey (or aim) used long ago and that picked up in popularity at some point in SWSH NU when Zong was in the tier. Bronzong is nice and all but its standard set is completely blanked by Xatu and adding pursuit for it so it doesn't get sat on is both restrictive and unreliable due to how frail or specific the pursuiters are and the double switch to the electric is also fairly exploitable in its own right. Magic Bounce bounces back Toxic but doesn't bounce back Trick so this way the bird is completely ruined and many don't even run Heat Wave because they want other moves and bank on being able to pp stall Bronzong. Ruining Refresh Blastoise thinking it can sit on you is also nice. Relies a bit on the element of surprise but there are few things more devastating for Xatu or Blastoise.

:bw/rotom-heat:
Rotom-Heat @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 SpA
- Overheat
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Trick

Another forgotten threat. Rotom-Heat is pretty neat rn I think, kind of a mix between Zapdos and Victini with some valuable defensive utility and with very few actual counters. It has an above average speed tier, completely blanks taunt wisp Mew that runs Earthquake for Victini and Raikou, is a will-o-wisp switch in not weak to Foul Play which is important against the occasional Sableye, can lure Rhyperior for a ton of damage and Trick against bulkier builds while Flygon doesn't like such a powerful Overheat and Druddigon gets volt switched on. Defensively the key resistances to fire and electric make it a prime offensive Victini check and the ground immunity alongside an ice resistance make it one of the very mons able to switch into the Nido twins safely. It's Rotom-Heat, it does Rotom-Heat things but I think it's more effective than its usage might suggest at first.

:bw/druddigon:
Druddigon @ Custap Berry
Ability: Mold Breaker
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Filler
- Filler

Drudd is neat. When playing more and more with it I have been constantly impressed by how versatile it is, I think Dragon + Ground coverage is mandatory but from there you have a ton of options in the last two slots in conjunction with whatever evs you want and whatever item. This customizable ev spread makes it a prime user of custap berry imo as Druddigon both gets down to low health a lot and you can plan for it in your ev spread against the electrics, offensive Azelf, Cobalion and other things that hit it neutrally letting you activate custap and get one last strong hit while fixing Druddigon's number one issue in its low speed. Custap is the set I wanted to highlight here since it's the one I've been using but many other items are equally viable, be it Yache Berry to turn into a Sharpedo check, Sitrus Berry for extra recovery, the known Dragon gem and even Dark Gem in conjunction with Sucker Punch or Pursuit to nuke offensive Azelf, Victini, Mew and even hit Raikou hard. Even lefties can work with a bulkier spread. The fact that Drudd can run all of those items and run them all well is a testament to its balanced stats and excellent pure dragon typing that make it an easy fit on a lot of teams.

The next few are more up in the air but I think have potential still:

:bw/heracross:
Heracross @ Choice Band
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Megahorn
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Knock Off

252+ Atk Choice Band Guts Heracross Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 204+ Def Gligar: 170-201 (50.8 - 60.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Guts Heracross Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 232+ Def Nidoqueen: 189-222 (49.2 - 57.8%) -- 97.7% chance to 2HKO
-1 252+ Atk Choice Band Guts Heracross Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 204+ Def Qwilfish: 142-168 (42.5 - 50.2%) -- 92.6% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock

I think we saw it this UUPL? The premise is simple: with its first three moves CB Heracross is a threat to everything except Gligar, physdef Nidoqueen and Intimidate Qwilfish and no move you can run other than Knock Off will help you or your teammates get past Gligar while the other two don't have reliable recovery and dislike losing their black sludge and as shown by the calcs above if you get a guts boost it's curtains even for them. Of course you could still run Earthquake, Pursuit or Sleep Talk and say Gligar is exploitable enough to get around with its eviolite on still but I think CB Hera's fourth move is customizable enough to find a place for Knock Off.

:bw/scrafty:
Scrafty @ Choice Band
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 72 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 180 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Crunch
- High Jump Kick
- Ice Punch
- Zen Headbutt

252+ Atk Choice Band Scrafty High Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Blastoise: 195-231 (53.8 - 63.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Scrafty Zen Headbutt vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Heracross: 282-332 (93.6 - 110.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

Should be strong enough? Scrafty is a curious case, its stab combination is only resisted by Heracross and Toxicroak in gen 5 but unfortunately for it the former is incredibly common in bw uu. Additionally, dragon dance is incredibly difficult to pull off on it because it still can't outspeed anything sitting at base 112 and higher after one dragon dance and it's still outsped and ohkod by Choice Scarf Mienshao after two while Bulk Up sets threaten to dismantle stall while bringing valuable defensive utility against special attackers but are similarly ill-fated against offense where Heracross resists its stabs and the lack of power means even frail ass Regenerator Mienshao still switches into it repeatedly. Needless to say, most teams cannot afford to give something as fast and as skull-crushingly powerful as Life orb variants of Mienshao entry multiple times a game. Still, I think choice band can be a decent threat into the right hands, not least because it can spam hjk rather freely as no ghost in its right mind wants to switch into it initially (an advantage over the other fighters in the tier) and its access to both Zen Headbutt to lure Heracross and Ice Punch for Gligar while being able to switch into Rhyperior early fairly easily. Also it's surprisingly the least respected Scrafty set meaning your opponent might just give you a free ko. Obviously quite team specific still but maybe the least specific of all the Scrafty sets.
 
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Lily

wouldn't that be fine, dear
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UU Leader
:bw/azelf:
Azelf, the Forgotten Threat
BW UU is a tier with many, many high octane threats that can feel impossible to cover when building. A tier where hazards are nigh-permanent with an excellent Spiker on top of a multitude of fantastic Rockers, alongside wrecking balls like Victini, Zapdos, Kingdra, Togekiss, Mienshao and Heracross means there's definitely a lot to handle in the builder. This, in my opinion, is what leads to surprise factor (if you can call it that?) being super important in a lot of BW UU matchups; having the right threat in the back that teams just pass over because it's not relevant enough can be gamechanging. We've seen stuff like Scrafty, Darmanitan, Porygon-Z, Azumarill and Virizion have matchups where they just pop off because like, a team that's prepped for Heracross isn't necessarily prepped for Scrafty, and a team that's prepped for Victini isn't necessarily prepped for Darm, and a team that's prepped for Togekiss isn't necessarily prepped for PZ... you get the idea. Recently, though, I've really started to like Azelf.

Azelf @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Psychic
- Flamethrower
- Energy Ball
- U-turn

I used this set in a game vs choolio in the finals of the most recent UU Snake Draft. The idea was pretty simple; bluff lead Azelf, catch another lead off guard, and ideally take out the Pursuiter that comes to revenge you too (or chip it with U-turn and dip in the case of Snorlax). I even got the dream matchup; I ran into lead Life Orb Mienshao which could be popped by Psychic, and I'd even get to smash the (what I thought could be) Pursuit Weavile with a Flamethrower or U-turn the turn after. Sadly I choked my game and just... clicked U-turn turn 1 after overthinking. I guess pressure got to me? Idk. I had this whole sequence planned out before the game and just flubbed it. Oh well.

With that said, I think sets like this on Azelf are pretty cool. It's still really good at the whole get-rocks-up-and-die thing, and ofc it does a great job of doing that + Rain on teams that need it, and there are screens teams that make use of its talents too (including my own). But heck, this mon's movepool is endless and it can really patch up some weird matchups that you might find tough otherwise - this set is pretty tough to switch into already with rocks up, since nothing resists all three of your moves outside of Victini, but if your team is particularly Tini weak you can fit Shadow Ball, or if you wanna hit Togekiss SE you can run Thunderbolt which also has the benefit of popping Xatu that think you're running SR. Stuff like Nasty Plot is also really cool on Azelf - Celebiii actually inspired me to write this post by bringing a Ghost Gem Azelf that just dropped my Cofagrigus in 1, unboosted, and I was like damn that's cool as hell. Also slams Mew and Xatu! Gems could get their own entire post and probably will since I feel they're wildly underutilised in this tier, but hey that's not the post for today. Scarf, Specs, Belt, Band... there are so many things you can do and I feel like we've only scratched the surface.

All in all, there are mons like Azelf in this tier that are tough to build with but can have really fun results. I'll make people who have been around a long time mad by saying this, but I think this tier is pretty severely underdeveloped - a lot of its activity is primarily composed of a new generation of players that recycle teams from the old guard, and I think that gets pretty abusable over time. People like Liam and even recently dingbat have shown that there is a lot of creativity to be had even keeping the old standards in mind, and I think that's really cool and fun to play with.

I'm super hyped to get the chance to play this tier again in the next UUSD and BWPL (assuming it happens again lol). I think this post ended up being a bit more substanceless than expected but I mostly wanted to breathe some more life into this thread and set up for upcoming posts, of which there will likely be many. Thank you for reading!
 

Lily

wouldn't that be fine, dear
is a Tutoris a Site Content Manageris a Top Social Media Contributoris a Community Leaderis a Community Contributoris a Top Tiering Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Smogon Media Contributoris a member of the Battle Simulator Staffis a Dedicated Tournament Hostis a Senior Staff Member Alumnus
UU Leader
:bw/togekiss:
The Fall of Togekiss
another incoherent 3am rant
All things considered, Togekiss is a BW UU staple. It has been considered broken by many a player over the course of my time here. In recent times, though, this Pokemon has signficantly dropped off in usage. At a glance, it's difficult to see why; BW UU isn't a tier that changes often in terms of tiering status, with the only recent things being the banning of some cheese strategies (Baton Pass, Prankster Phasing) that were already not allowed in team tournaments. Togekiss is an S-rank threat, and just a few years ago its usage was upwards of 20%, but in the most recent UUPL, it sat with an incredibly underwhelming:

Code:
| 35   | Togekiss           |    3 |   4.84% |   0.00% |
and it's only at 4 uses in the current UU Snake Draft, too. Very strange results for something ranked as highly as Zapdos and Victini, right? So here's what, at least in my opinion, has gone wrong for the broken bird.

Togekiss is by all accounts an extremely lethal Pokemon. It doesn't have a single counter in BW UU; even stuff like Rhyperior is vulnerable to coverage, and since you can paralyse Electric-types this generation, you can rest assured knowing that Zapdos and Raikou are always flinchable. It does, however, have a multitude of very strong checks. The first of these is Zapdos, and I'll be touching on Raikou too.

:bw/zapdos: :bw/raikou:
Zapdos is a maaaaajor problem for Togekiss. Like okay, it's not a very good switch-in to Tri Attack, of course... but it's not taking a huge amount from it if it has bulk investment as it oh-so-commonly does, and threatening to clip Togekiss's wings immediately as something that can both switch into it and outspeed it is really frustrating. This wouldn't be a huge problem if Zapdos was just a decent, A-rank threat type of thing that you'd see on occasion, but sadly, Zapdos is the best Pokemon in BW UU. This has always been the case though, right? What's changed?

Well here's the thing. In the past, Zapdos most frequently ran stuff like Life Orb and couldn't switch into Togekiss too comfortably because of the immediate 50/50 that was forced, but these days, bulky Roar Zapdos is so much more common and even Specs Tri Attack isn't doing too much. You can feasibly Roost it off or threaten the immediate KO with Thunderbolt, which means that every time the Togekiss user runs into the very common max HP Zapdos, they're in for a tough ride. And then there's Raikou, which with its great special bulk, can switch into Togekiss once or twice and force it out easily. This wouldn't be so bad if Togekiss wasn't weak to Stealth Rock, but it is, soo....

The thing is that Togekiss often just isn't worth the support it requires. It doesn't get going quickly enough to justify removing Stealth Rock for it, as opposed to something like Victini which like, yeah it'll probably only get 2 or 3 chances to nuke shit, but in those turns something is probably dying. The same can't be said for Tri Attack bc, as frustrating as it is to deal with that 40% status rate, it just doesn't hit hard enough. Bonus points for having to predict every time there's a Steel-type or Rhyperior or something on the other side, while other nukes like Victini just enjoy their V-create go brr buttons.

In reality, while it's a big builder threat, Togekiss is just not an S-rank threat in modern BW UU. Too much goes against it; I've obviously only really touched on Specs here, and we do still frequently see TWave, NP etc. all do their thing, but they all have their own flaws in that Togekiss is not providing much defensive utility outside of raw bulk (being a bird that's neutral to Fighting SUUUCKS so bad). The usage just isn't there, I mean 7 uses in the past year of tournaments is just pathetic... Scrafty has more than that, and that thing's sitting in C+.

At the end of the day, Togekiss is obviously not bad. It's still a massive threat that needs to be respected, and you can't just use typical "okay well Snorlax can handle special attackers Lol" type of teams and expect to be good against it. But its current ranking and level of prestige is just not reflective of its actual viability.
 
BW UU's matchup moth
:ss/venomoth:
(I'm using a modern model because the bw sprite doesn't loop perfectly and i hate it, don't mind it)
In recent times I've been wanting to write more about this tier, in large part because I think it is in a pretty good state right now and that's a nice change of pace compared to how some others UU tiers are when I am writing this and also because it is sorely lacking in modern resources to the point where an exterior eye can seriously struggle to know where to start. This thread has been a start and I really appreciate what Lily has already written but still, resources are lacking for a fun tier and this is a disappointment. While the lack of resources implies that even the top threats of the tier would need their own post, writing something about how Zapdos is so hilariously better than everything else in the tier would just be saying stuff everyone who plays this tier already knows and as such wouldn't help stirring up discussion that much. As a result I've been more inclined to write about lesser seen threats that are nevertheless potent when played right and this is why here I'll be paying particular attention to something that is only sitting at a meager B rank...

Long intro out of the way here I'll be talking about a pokemon for which the calc shows "blank set" and whose analysis is still all about Quiver Pass, a strategy banned eons ago: Venomoth, who might as well be a competitive non-entity to the unknowing eye I will thus make an attempt at giving Venomoth a formal competitive existence. Back when Black and White was current gen Venomoth was mostly known for its ability to baton pass its quiver dance boosts to other pokemon who would then proceed to end the game on the spot and for anyone who wants a glance at what it consisted of,
Kolokoko's historical Kaleidoscope provides an in-context example. Point being that Venomoth wasn't really its own sweeping threat but more a way to bolster its teammates' threat level to absurd heights because as it turns out passing a calm mind and a salac berry boost at the same time is a perfectly healthy strategy that absolutely didn't get an NU pokemon kicked from UU at one point... Jokes aside, Venomoth's place in the tier has had to shift as a result of the ban of Quiver Pass and it became a genuine sweeper on its own merit, and as it has shown Venomoth is actually a big threat in the tier, for reasons I will discuss shortly.

While there are variations in Venomoth sets I think it's fair to say that the most consistent set has been this one:


Venomoth @ Black Sludge / Bug Gem / Charti Berry
Ability: Tinted Lens
Whatever evs
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sleep Powder
- Bug Buzz
- Quiver Dance
- Roost

Some players will use something like Substitute in the last slot but I think it is clear at this point that the first three moves are close to mandatory on any Venomoth. Contrary to the somewhat provocative title I am of the opinion that Venomoth isn't actually that dependent on match up to be effective and the biggest reason why is the very first move you should add to any set: Sleep Powder. BW sleep is incredibly powerful as anyone knows since the sleep countdown resets upon switching out effectively making it a death sentence in the majority of cases. Additionally, unlike other pokemon that can use sleep in this tier you compromise next to nothing by using Sleep Powder on Venomoth. Sure Roserade can use Sleep Powder but thanks to gen 5 breeding mechanics this means you give up on Spikes and the trade off is hardly ever worth it. Tangrowth and Amoonguss also have access to sleep moves but using them means you are not using other grass types who are more offensively threatening like Roserade, Virizion or Shaymin so there is major opportunity cost in using them. Additionally Tangrowth struggles to check much of anything that isn't physical Kingdra or Rhyperior and Amoonguss despite being the closest to a durable Mienshao counter the tier has to offer and stun spore being annoying doesn't do much of note post sleep. By contrast Venomoth stands as arguably the only drawback-less user of sleep moves in bw uu, there are only upsides in using it;
letting you beat pokemon like Snorlax you should have no business beating. As a result of Sleep Powder Venomoth has one of the highest ceilings in the tier and is one of the most difficult pokemon to handle both offensively and defensively since switching in the wrong pokemon to fodder to sleep may result in the moth quiver dancing twice and that might be gg right there. All the while if sleep powder connects you will be playing 5 vs 6 the rest of the game if your sleep fodder wasn't packing sleep talk.

A drawbackless sleep move is Venomoth's greatest quality but of course it has other qualities as a sweeper, most notably it resists arguably the most important type in bw uu: fighting. It is no secret that fighting types are some of the most dominant offensive threats in the tier, with Heracross and Mienshao maintaining their status of top tier pokemon throughout the years and both commonly running choice scarf. There is a clear distinction between sweepers in this tier where the most effective ones have proven to be those that resist fighting or are straight up immunes and those who are neutral to fighting or, worse, weak to the type being much worse sweepers. In short, if your sweeper cannot pass the test of scarf Heracross or scarf Mienshao it is not a good sweeper. It is no coincidence that set up offense has been featuring pokemon like rock polish Mew, double dance Cobalion, Cofagrigus, Venomoth and Sharpedo rather than dragon dance Scrafty, swords dance Bisharp or swords dance 3 attacks Cobalion most of the time; the first group can attempt to ignore the omnipresence of the scarfed fighting types while the second seriously struggles. That's not to say the second group is made of unviable garbage as they can be threatening in the right conditions but they are noticeably much worse off than the most common sweepers of the tier. It is thus incredibly crucial that Venomoth resists fighting, forcing those scarfed fighting types to lock into an 80% accurate move is much better than letting them unleash their more accurate and mightier stab especially considering Moxie in the case of Heracross. To say nothing of how this fighting resistance forces an uncomfortable situation for the Heracross/Mienshao user if Venomoth comes in as they are locked into their stab.

I haven't even mentioned Tinted Lens nullifying simple resistances, noticeably shrinking the pool of pokemon that can reliably handle Venomoth's bug buzz without even adding sleep into the mix as you most notably always drop Mienshao with a +1 bug buzz after stealth rock but this is because this is the most self-explanatory part, it is nonetheless an excellent ability. Finally Venomoth's speed stat of 306 is possibly one of the biggest knocks against just slapping non sleep talk scarf Heracross on your team, having a scarfer slower than Venomoth after a quiver dance can force you into making sure the rest of your team doesn't just fold to Venomoth and as I've tried to argue this isn't actually easy. Finchinator once had a comment about how his teams were consistently weak to Venomoth and one cannot accuse Finch of simply building bad teams, if his teams were weak to Venomoth then this just means Venomoth threatens a large portion of the tier.

All of those qualities make in my opinion Venomoth one of the most dangerous pokemon in the tier, one that should be seeing more usage and the one reason I would gladly see sleep getting banned from this tier. All the other sleep users have notable issues when using the move but Venomoth using sleep powder can only have upsides, either pulling off a clean sweep or being an integral part in letting its team race to a win. If I find the time to write more I will try to give my thoughts on some other aspects of the tier. In the meantime I really wanted to get this post done to give justice to a pokemon that really deserved it. Kokoloko's words that Venomoth is a "mid-risk/ really high-reward" pokemon still ring true to me 10 years and I'll take that as the mark of a consistent threat. Do you have your own thoughts on Venomoth? I would gladly hear them.
 

sanguine

friendly fire
is a Tiering Contributor
3880E769-0202-48C4-A0EF-96B62B4552AF.jpeg

Bulky Kingdra Is PRETTY FUCKING COOL!

As many of you know, I built most (every week except one) of the BW teams for the Volcanions during the second half of UUSD III, to great success, with eden and Alkione collectively going 5-0 down the stretch of the season with me in the driver's seat supporting them. I have more reflections on the tournament to come, but for now I wanted to focus on one set and one team specifically. Alkione's surprise upset of Fakee in week 6 was all thanks to one Demon Kingdra set that I cooked up. For context, I was thinking about the previous week's affair versus Sage, where my team's primary late-game answer to DD Kingdra was a Slowbro with Psyshock and Thunder Wave. I was sitting there, wondering what I should build, considering Fakee looked weak to DD Kingdra in the scout, that could effectively flip a matchup like that on its head. Additionally, I realized that a lot of DD Kingdra counterplay either relies on either an obnoxious do nothing fat mon (Ferroseed / Milotic / slow Taunt Qwilfish) or revenge killers that didn't hit it super effectively (Scarf Victini / Shao / Hera and Ice Shard Weavile) that have to click extremely punishable moves. After mulling over extremely well worn and known to be mediocre at best Resto Chesto DD variants, I asked myself why not make a bulkier Kingdra with Protect to abuse its decent stats and defensive typing and tendency to force in low damaging walls for fear of the other sets? Now, the set I gave to Alkione was a little slower, only outspeeding Heracross at +2 because I was erroneously obsessed with having some amount of Attack investment, but this revised variant still hits all the same defensive benchmarks regardless and additionally outruns Raikou at +1 Speed.

What are those benchmarks, you may ask?

Well, this spread allows you to beat both Fighting-type scarfers from full (Heracross never 2HKOes you with Leftovers and Protect from full, Shao doesn't kill you unless you're really chipped and you can mess around with Protect), have Slowbro never break your Substitute with Psyshock and boost past it by stalling between Protect, Substitute and Dragon Dance, and never get 2HKOed by most Zapdos even after Stealth Rock.

I'm not interested in writing a hagiography like some would when discussing a set they've created from wholecloth, so obviously I will acknowledge this set's somewhat annoying but still workable flaws. It doesn't do as much damage as you'd like, relying on multiple boosts or opportunities to boost throughout the game to effectively break some cores, it still doesn't offer *that* much defensive utility even if it is improved in that aspect, and struggles against teams with a whole lot of phazing or with a lot of pressure. I would however, like to provide some points of my own to mitigate the apparent magnitude of these weaknesses.

One, because of the bulk investment, it often does get multiple chances to boost, especially against opponents who don't know what's coming because it slots on all the same cores as common Kingdra sets. However, even if they do know, the bulk investment allows you to trade favorably into vast swaths of the metagame especially with hazards on the field with notable exceptions in Cobalion and Rhyperior who don't have recovery and generally beat you anyway, almost inevitably forcing a trade at minimum or chip on Blastoise as it Roars you out (letting you setup later)

Two, the lack of defensive utility is offset a lot by how reliably this thing can force progress compared to other similarly defensively oriented Water-types with a better defensive typing. Slowbro, Blastoise, etc are all notoriously passive outside of Scald burns and struggle mightily into the preeminent Electric- and Grass-type threats and coverage moves the tier has to offer, which can serve to limit how often they can find chances to be useful against a sufficiently aggressive player.

Three, offensive builds almost always end up either giving this thing free chances to boost, or at the very minimum taking a trade because this thing is so bulky and they're scared of standard offensive Kingdra. Phazing heavy builds often give this thing chances to get in and wreak havoc as they usually pack at least one or two mons that do not damage this set that well and you're still strong enough to beat all the phazers in the long term with some team support.

I don't think this set is the greatest thing ever, but it's definitely useful to catch lazy builders reliant on Spikes and the same recycled answers to deal with standard Kingdra. A lot of people don't really believe in pushing this metagame's boundaries outside of random uses of completely niche bullshit like Scrafty or cheese with
Accelgor but I still believe a decade since this generation's expiry that there is still room for creativity within the constraints of somewhat "optimal" and also consistent teams, if you have the imagination for it. Black and White is easily the most dynamic of the iterations of UU given how powerful hazards are and how deceptively bulky the offensive threats can be and how easily offensive counterplay slots onto teams and that volatility can allow you to get away with some incredibly creative stuff without feeling like you've built something unviable. Pardon my Melodrama, but it would be a shame if we didn't at least try to expand our horizons further, run a little harder into the limits of feasibility, and see if we can overturn at least some part of the currently prevailing black-and-white / dogmatic orthodoxy in regards to team composition. This set is a shining example in my mind of the potential for exploration still available to us in such a fun and constantly exciting metagame, senescence be damned.
 
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