Sorry to interrupt - I love keeping up with this thread - but I think this is where I would make such a post, so please excuse.
DPPL has really reminded me how much I absolutely adore the joyous beauty that is DPP UU, and I would like to share my recent thoughts with you other kind, intelligent appreciators of this wonderful metagame.
Arcanine @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
Adamant / Impish / Careful
- Flare Blitz
- ExtremeSpeed
- Morning Sun
- Roar
One Roar from Arcanine with SR and a layer of Spikes down is enough to put serious pressure on its switchins, which is particularly nasty when it drags in something else that doesn't want to go 1-on-1 with Arc (which is a lot, most notably including Venusaur) and means damage on that thing as well as more potential Roar fun, and 2) sets the stage beautifully for its teammates to capitalize on to clean up lategame - Milotic won't be able to switch into or check much when it starts at 50%. Roar also completely ruins Sub Entei and Moltres.
Qwilfish @ Black Sludge
Ability: Poison Point
Adamant Nature
- Spikes
- Aqua Jet
- Poison Jab
- Explosion
My favorite Spiking partner for Roarcanine because both are would-be Dugtrio targets that smack it hard with priority; even if it survives one, it now won't be able to check the other. It's generally a great Pokemon because people think of midgame Spiking Qwil as not directly threatening, but it can fulfill its excellent defensive niche of Spiking all over bulky things while still posing a threat. I like Poison Jab so it can check Sub Azumarill, but if you've got that covered, you can of course fit your usual bulky Qwil moves like Taunt and Pain Split in that slot. Waterfall and Thunder Wave are also worthwhile. However, I find Jet and boom are generally too good to give up. Bulky Adamant is definitely the way to go; surviving CB Azumarill Return after rocks is a good minimum Defense benchmark.
Leafeon @ Leftovers
Ability: Leaf Guard
Impish Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Leaf Blade
- Knock Off
Defensive Leafeon and Tangrowth are both amazing - so reliably handling huge physical threats like Torterra, Rhyperior, and the physical Water trio of Azumarill / Kabutops / Feraligatr is invaluable. Tang's high Special Attack is more useful when you need to handle DD Altaria and SD Leafeon, but if those are covered, I prefer Leafeon for its excellent support movepool - I just love Wish. In a similar vein, another really sweet Leafeon set is Leaf Blade / Synthesis / Knock Off / Heal Bell or Roar; the last two are more excellent options Leaf has over Tang. You
could use them together and it'd be solid, but I often find Knock too good to not use (and I wouldn't drop it on Tang, either). I also like some Special Defense on Leafeon - being able to take an LO Ludicolo Ice Beam after Stealth Rock is really valuable. As long as you can tank LO Rhyperior's Megahorn after rocks, you're physically bulky enough. (You can potentially skimp on a bit of SpD for the Ludi scenario if running the Wish variant, since you're gonna want to Protect for extra Leftovers and to waste rain anyway.)
Primeape @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Vital Spirit
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Close Combat
- Ice Punch
- Encore
ScarfApe is excellent in general, and it often only really needs U-turn, Close Combat and Ice Punch. Stone Edge / Rock Slide is generally the best filler for Moltres and Scyther, but it can also use Punishment for boosted Mismagius and Uxie. However, they're hardly essential; while Encore isn't either, it also has some really unique, useful applications, and it's incredibly abusable for several turns thanks to the move's lengthy duration in this generation. I most appreciate its ability to help play around Milotic forced to Recover, but it can also be great to thwart a Cursing Registeel, a Subbing Moltres / Entei, an SDing Leafeon, or a healthy DDing Feraligatr. Generally a great tool to have that gives an offensive team a lot of flexibility in dealing with some of the more annoying Pokes they'll face.
Kabutops @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Rapid Spin
- Stone Edge
- Superpower
Tops' last move is definitely up for grabs; being able to instantly threaten such huge damage / potentially a KO on Registeel and Clefable is a game-changer.
As you may have gleaned from the Leafeon / Tangrowth segment, I think Knock Off is both excellent and underrated in UU. In addition to those two Grasses, I like it most on Venusaur (best as the last move over Synthesis or Sleep Powder on offensive sets), Uxie and obviously Clefable, who don't have much trouble fitting it into their movesets; bulky Hariyama is generally underappreciated as well. However, I've also considered bulky / utility variants of Kabutops, Omastar, Donphan, Drapion and Toxicroak centered around using the move - they deserve further exploration.
Exeggutor @ Leftovers
Ability: Chlorophyll
Modest / Rash Nature
- Sleep Powder
- Leaf Storm
- Psychic
- Explosion
Exeggutor as a whole is crazy underrated - right off the bat, its Leaf Storm is as powerful as Moltres' Overheat. It has many options for potential sets, but my favorite way to use it is like an offensive Venusaur with several distinct advantages - it can draw in and destroy Pursuiters for the benefit of teammates, STAB Psychic ensures it is not walled in the slightest by Weezing (whose Sleep Talk set won't want to try and absorb Sleep Powder, either), it performs the crucial task of checking RP Torterra, and it can of course Explode. Walling SD Venusaur is great too! I don't think Eggy really needs the power of LO; it's a fine option of course, but I find Lefties' survivability almost too good to pass up, letting Eggy get the most out of its great 95/85 physical bulk, as well as not getting worn down nearly as quickly by hazards / small hits.
Azumarill @ Leftovers
Ability: Huge Power
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Toxic
- Ice Punch
- Superpower
Like the classic Sub/Toxic/Focus Punch Azu, except you can freely use your Fighting move without needing a Sub - big for pressuring Clef, or hitting Registeel when at low health - and since you don't need Sub, you can run Ice Punch and no longer be walled by Venusaur and Altaria. Being able to actually hit Toxicroak is really important, too.
I'll use my games as examples of some of the things I've discussed here and some other cool stuff.
vs. brewfasa
Team:
Midgame Qwilfish baits in Hitmontop and blows it up. The surprise factor helps it out, but it enhances the set more than being a selling point - even if it's expected, it's still a bulky Spiking Qwilfish, and Explosion is a great move in general; being able to threaten Blastoise is valuable as well, ensuring Mismagius isn't over-relied on and it can thus focus on its job of baiting in and bringing down answers to the mighty Specs Alakazam.
Boom Qwil threatening / removing Spinners lets Arcanine operate with maximum efficiency. It's got a mixed spread here to answer both Venusaur and CB Scyther, giving it plenty of opportunity to throw around its ruinous Roars. In addition to completely neutering SubMolt, this game also shows Arc's capability to act as a second method of forcing in and weakening / KOing Dark-types (and opposing teams in general), acting as further support for a Zam (or Zam-like) lategame cleaner.
Leafeon devours Feraligatr, heals teammates with Wish,
and helps soften the opposing team into cleanup range through Knock...what a monster.
Also, I wanted to highlight brew's use of Skuntank. That is a seriously underappreciated Poke - in addition to the great Pursuiting capabilities, Drapion's typing on a Poke with Sucker Punch and Explosion is wonderful. Aftermath is a great tool as well; I thought about pairing it with Jaboca Berry.
vs. M Dragon
Team:
Scarf Primeape shows how much of a beast it is (or has the potential to be, given how messy this game was) against offense even without that fourth move.
Dark Pulse / Pursuit / Sucker Punch / Will-o-Wisp @ Dread Plate is my preferred Spiritomb on offense for maximum efficiency in both removing Mismagius and hitting as hard as possible without the frustrating power split of Shadow Ball / Spell Tag. I didn't miss SB, as the amazing, perpetually underrated offensive Milotic is here to answer Blaziken.
Silk Scarf Kanga is a great alternative to CB.
vs. Thiago Nunes
Superpower elevates Kabutops from good to incredible against a team with Registeel and Clefable.
Scarf Primeape is still amazing at threatening balance teams when part of an offensive ensemble like this, and here is a matchup where Encore could've really come in handy to ensure nothing got out of hand.
MixKen is the truth. I would use it over the underwhelming, bafflingly popular SD set ten out of ten times.
I'm always happy to see Slowking. Underrated as hell.
vs. Chill Shadow
Knock Uxie pays major dividends in this game. It's such a useful move in every matchup.
I used Eo's Specs Dugtrio here to deal with otherwise-obnoxious Torterra. The insurance against Leafeon is huge as well.
Normally, I hate Refresh Milo, but I have to admit that on teams like this that otherwise despise Sub Moltres, it is a perfect fit. Here it was great for CS' usually brutal combination of Toxic CurseSteel (a great set in its own right) and VinTei.
Max HP and SpAtk is the way to go on the amazing CM LO Clef.
vs. Ark
This game is a great demonstration of how phenomenal Exeggutor can be. Its great natural physical bulk - helped out by the few Defense EVs I gave it to always survive CB Kanga's Return after SR - helps it not just take Leafeon's Double-Edge (which often breaks 50 on offensive Venu), but take it well enough (in conjunction with Leftovers - they're really, really important) so that it can switch out and come back later, even though the field was littered with hazards right from the first time it switched in!
On this team - and hopefully others in the future that will incorporate our eggy friend - Exeggutor's strengths over Venu really shine. Defensively, the RP Torterra checking is invaluable, and offensively, it baits in and destroys Pursuiters, allowing for easy Scarf Rotom cleanup lategame. Explosion is a generally great facilitating tool for sweeping purposes as well. It finds its way in much like Venusaur does - it has to take greater care when switching into Milo with Ice Beam, but it's well worth the effort. After it sleeps something, it fires off an absolutely brutal Leaf Storm. With hazards up, Pursuiters can't switch in reliably. Feel free to check the calcs for yourself - even the most popular, splashable Pursuiter, the Grass-resistant Houndoom, can't switch in safely!
At absolute worst, Egg will sleep something and bring these Pursuiters to the brink of death, which will later be abused by a teammate - in this team's case, Scarf Rotom. If the opponent wants to bring the Pursuiter in safely, they'll have to let something get KOed first; however, even if it's the sleeping Pokemon that gets sacced, that's still worthwhile - it's not like the opponent will be eager to straight-up lose a Pokemon to Egg, and that's an advantage in and of itself. Also worth mentioning that immediately Leaf Storming is quite a good move in many scenarios - it's effectively the same thing if you suspect your opponent is just going to sac whatever you sleep, but it also has the benefit of completely destroying Lum Pursuiters trying to switch in.
Furthermore, the Pursuiters taking the hazard damage just to try and deal with Egg will already make them significantly worse later in the game. I specify "try" because it's not like they can just safely grab a Pursuit KO, since as we've already established, Egg packs sizable physical bulk and threatens them with Explosion - it can potentially switch out and do the whole thing over again. A significant portion of the tier is bulky and slow, and thus Egg can often come in and grab a KO even from low health (as seen in this battle).
If the opposition isn't immensely fast-paced and doesn't pack a Pursuiter - as is the case for many UU teams - Eggy will run circles around them; safe switchins are in short supply. Once it's sufficiently bludgeoned the opponent with sleep and its STABs, it'll boom and take another KO. Even if the opponent runs the theoretical best answer possible, Sleep Talk Registeel, it's far from ironclad - switches in, takes hazards, takes a hit, gets slept, isn't threatening while it's sleeping, can't heal or control its sleep turns, and will be threatened out for more hazard damage (and destruction to its defensive core) by Eggy's teammates, two of which should have a STAB super effective move for it. All the while, thanks to Lefties, Eggy is staying healthy, healing off even potential Spikes (which many CurseTalk Steel teams do not pack), ensuring it's going to find room to come in over and over (especially if you pair it with an excellent U-turn Poke like Scarf Primeape).
I want to once again stress the importance of Egg's physical bulk, not just for defensive utility, but for allowing it to get the most out of these ferocious destructive capabilities, and as an extension of this principle, how critical Leftovers are for this purpose (or, at the absolute least, not taking Life Orb recoil). If you do want to boost Exeggutor somehow, I recommend Meadow Plate, which I do think is quite good; the survivability isn't as great, but it's still fine, and the benefit is quite tangible - switching even seemingly-perfect anti-Egg Pursuiters like Drapion and Skuntank becomes downright impossible with hazards up, as Leaf Storm deals hilariously absurd damage to them, and you get this benefit without having to deal with the cursed, oft-taken-advantage-of recoil of Life Orb. Colbur Berry is also definitely worthwhile.
I wrote way more than I was intending to - that's just how strongly I feel about the incredible, amazing, fantastic, terrific Exeggutor.
Arceus has blessed us with the existence of this tier. May He bless us further by helping us remove Damp Rock, hail, Sand Veil and Baton Pass.
by 
