Lower Tiers My UUFPL experience Revisited - A Team Showcase (GSC UU)

[DISCLAIMER]
Please don't just take the teams and expect immediate success. Some weren't great and GSC UU is about understanding how matchups work and understanding why something worked in the context of the game and whether it can bring you success in multiple scenarios. I am no teambuilding genie either, so some of these teams should probably be tweaked to fit the meta, so I hope to give relevant input on that too. I endorse anyone who knows about the tier to comment and give their input on how to improve these teams!

I wanted to make this post more than two months ago, then GSC UU cup was announced so my split conscience said "shit" and "awesome" at the same time, as I automatically signed up to the tournament without batting an eye, despite all of my in real life struggles. I have been in love with this tier for so long that I love to frequently build and want to improve as much as possible in it without it ever feeling very taxing. I even paid Diophantine to give me professional coaching in UU (yes I was willing to do this to show support and have absolutely no regrets from what I got out of this). Needless to say I want to show my appreciation towards all RoA and UU staff for giving this tier so many events this past year by sharing my UUFPL and GSC UU cup experience. Thanks to you guys I haven't had more than 3 weeks without joining a tournament involving this tier and I think that I've learned quite a lot, so without further ado, here is my 5-foot post about my favorite tier ever.

tagging some folks from uufpl and gsc uu guys Rabia Ara Cam Amukamara BigFatMantis Estarossa Earthworm Zokuru parrot <3 Shellnuts Plague von Karma

GSC Underused teamshowcase.jpg

art by me


The first half of 2021 has ended with a big bang of a tournament known as the UUFPL (UnderUsed Farm Premier League). I had little-to-no idea about what this tournament would be like but a lot of people consider that it was a success. It was, in fact, quite awesome!

It was not only a great opportunity for many players to showcase their proficiency in lower tiers —something that many GSC UU players of new and old really needed — but it was a lot of fun getting to interact with some people, help build, ask and give advice for battling and just talking. If you are looking to get more involved in lower tiers and hope to join the UnderUsed Premier League one day, I recommend also trying your hand in the UUFPL.



With that in mind and considering the criminally small amount of attention one of my favorite tiers gets, I want to show some of my replays, comment on some of the teams I brought each week, including team I built which helped Raahel win his Finals game (with this the Blipbug City Battle Girls went tie-breakers and won). And who knows, if I do a good enough job, maybe this will help understand my point of view on the metagame, which I believe is ever-shifting.

FOR THE GOOD VERSION OF THIS TEAM GO TO THE BOTTOM OF WEEK 1
Hypno @ Leftovers
Ability: None
- Psychic
- Seismic Toss
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Qwilfish @ Leftovers
Ability: None
- Spikes
- Hydro Pump
- Sludge Bomb
- Haze

Crobat
Ability: None
- Thief
- Wing Attack
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Omastar @ Leftovers
Ability: None
- Surf
- Reflect
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Chansey (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: None
- Ice Beam
- Present
- Heal Bell
- Soft-Boiled

Piloswine @ Leftovers
Ability: None
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Rest
- Sleep Talk













Just as any beginning should be, the first week filled me with a lot of hope to show what I've learned in the past couple of months of me dabbling with the tier. And what a week it was, perhaps the most unexpected game I played! I faced Electric win, someone who took the stage by surprise. I thought that, since I was facing someone new who probably had never played the tier before, that it would be safe to go with a semi-aggressive stall team [THE PREMISE FOR THIS TEAM IS ALREADY REALLY SHAKY]. A team that prioritised passive damage with Spikes over preserving itself from them, and included Qwilfish. Piloswine was the mon to take advantage of spikes being on the ground, while Crobat, Omastar functioned as checks to Scyther and Granbull. Unfortunately I was not facing either of these two offence threats, and instead was struggling too much to keep my Spikes because of Ewin's Rapid Spin Blastoise (this mon is the death of me). This game lasted rather long because I could see no wincon and I began to autopilot (my chansey also got frozen twice but, eh). I thought I would be able to stall my opponent without doing anything but I was mistaken. My opponent's team was essentially the better version of mine, with Piloswine, Chansey and even Qwilfish, but most of all better spikes control. Aside from a few execution mistakes I had little elbow room to work with because Ewin played very well. Never bring a stall team that has no spinner, and never bring a semi stall team to UU that cannot take care of Blastoise (the answer would have been to give up Qwilfish Haze for a threatening move like Curse).

Improvements: the stall team I made just takes too much pressure so I’m not even recommending singular changes. Use this.
Blastoise @ Leftovers
Ability: None
- Surf
- Rapid Spin
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Qwilfish @ Leftovers
Ability: None
- Spikes
- Hydro Pump
- Sludge Bomb
- Curse

Crobat @ Leftovers
Ability: None
- Wing Attack
- Haze
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Omastar @ Leftovers
Ability: None
- Surf
- Reflect
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Chansey (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: None
- Ice Beam
- Present
- Heal Bell
- Soft-Boiled

Piloswine @ Leftovers
Ability: None
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Rest
- Roar





Hypno @ Leftovers
Ability: None
- Psychic
- Seismic Toss
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Magneton @ Leftovers
Ability: None
IVs: 26 Def
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Gyarados @ Leftovers
Ability: None
IVs: 14 HP / 24 Atk / 26 Def
- Hidden Power [Flying]
- Hydro Pump
- Thunder
- Double-Edge

Scyther @ Leftovers
Ability: None
IVs: 14 HP / 24 Atk
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Wing Attack
- Swords Dance
- Baton Pass

Nidoqueen (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: None
- Earthquake
- Thunder
- Fire Blast
- Moonlight

Qwilfish @ Leftovers
Ability: None
- Spikes
- Hydro Pump
- Sludge Bomb
- Haze


So stall wasn't exactly proving to be my cup of tea. I wasn't going to make the mistake again in facing another player who didn't really specialize in GSC UU and choking [I actually just discovered while editing this that Yami has played in RoAlympics before]. With no information to gather on my opponent once more, I decided to focus on what I knew best: playing offence. I settled for my good ol' Mag+Gyara team which makes for a really strong offensive core. The two also have an added defensive synergy against the main threats of Scyther and Granbull. Mag is a decent special attacker that I think is pretty underrated for being able to just sit on things for a long time, like Normal-types, Psychic spammers, or even Bellossom. I made some smart but not too daring switches between Magneton and Gyara to scout for the Granbull HP Ground. With Spikes down and such excellent coverage with Gyara, Nido and Hypno, I managed to rack up lots of damage basically every time these pokemon were in. This gave me plenty of room to work with so I took this game quite slowly (something which may or may not end up being my downfall in other games). There was a pretty funny moment where I thought that my Yami's Bellossom had HP dark (something I had found moderate success with while labbing) but I am fairly certain now that it's HP rock. In any case, with the right maneuvering between Hypno and Magneton between turns 38 and 41, I played against my opponent's patience which led them to draw in Granbull for some free Spikes damage. With Granbull out of the way and still having a Gyarados at 100%, the game was basically over.

Improvements or changes: Maybe Frustration/ Double Edge over Wing Attack. Besides that, this team is pretty solid so it doesn’t look like it needs changes. I recommend using the team the way it is for a bit before trying to change it to your playstyle. For example, you can change Scyther’s Hidden Power to Bug if you need to threaten the slowtwins more or change up a couple of the moves to however you see fit. Roar on one of Nidoqueen or Gyarados can be nice to help defend the team a little bit more if you want a surprise check to opposing agility pass scyther instead of Haze Qwilfish, which also enables you to have Curse Qwilfish instead of Haze to better threaten Blastoise.








Francisco (Hypno) @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Psychic
- Thunder Wave
- Reflect
- Rest

My leg (Qwilfish) @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Spikes
- Hydro Pump
- Sludge Bomb
- Haze

Keratin (Piloswine) @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

reece-offence (Scyther) @ Leftovers
Ability: none
Happiness: 0
IVs: 14 HP / 24 Atk
- Swords Dance
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Wing Attack
- Baton Pass

Bite the Bull-et (Granbull) @ Leftovers
Ability: none
Happiness: 0
- Frustration
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Curse

no nut crab(Kabutops) @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Swords Dance
- Submission
- Ancient Power
- Hydro Pump

qwilfish meme.jpg


This week was a sudden change for me. I got traded from the Entralink Enteis at the end of week 2 and I passed to Yanmegatron and the Destroyers and I felt a little bit sad about it. Whatsmore, I was afraid of this upcoming matchup because I knew I would be playing no push-over. Vani is a good player but I also knew I would probably have a tough matchup teambuilding wise as well, since his manager Estarossa plays a lot of GSC UU.

I may have slapped this team together in the 2 hours prior to our match, something I do not recommend doing. I doubled down on physical attackers on my team, which meant that there were plenty of things to pass a Swords Dance to with Scyther. The lead Hypno was meant to function as a disruptor with 2 attacks and Thunder Wave. I had a Kabutops with Hydro Pump, Ancient Power and Submission, though Hidden Power Ground might have been a nicer coverage move. I felt safer with Piloswine, but Nidoqueen might have been more helpful. In any case I was a little intimidated and my opponent brought a team which gave me a good reason to feel that way. Vani's team was one of the bulkiest things I ever had to face and to make matters worse he had a Blastoise and an Omastar, which essentially countered my offences. This game is easily one of the most controversial in the series. Considering how hard it would have been to break a team with Chansey, Hypno, Omastar, Crobat and Blastoise, I obviously was going to do anything I could to take out the spinner. I crit the Blastoise and KO'd it. Good, but that wouldn't have been enough. I think that there was another missplay as well from my opponent but it definitely didn't help that I ko'd 3 of his pokemon with critical hits (and even got an ancient power boost). For what it's worth, albeit entertaining, the victory felt somewhat robbed. I can't complain that I tried to focus on wall breaking for Kabutops.


Improvements or changes: Hidden Power Ground on Kabutops makes me not get walled by Qwilsifh and Hidden Power Bug on Scyther, and a standard Rest Talk Hypno set. The only reason Submission was there on Kabutops was to hit a Curse Granbull harder. If you want to really focus on punching holes through your opponent’s teams by passing +2 to something, you could even use Lovely Kiss or Hidden Power Ground Granbull with no sleep talk or even no rest (OML). You already have some decently tanky mons.




Qwilfish @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Spikes
- Hydro Pump
- haze
- Sludge Bomb

S H (Piloswine) @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Granbull @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Return
- Curse
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Scyther @ Leftovers
Ability: none
Happiness: 0
IVs: 14 HP / 24 Atk
- Swords Dance
- Wing Attack
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Baton Pass

Slowbro @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Surf
- Psychic
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Haunter
Ability: none
- Thunder
- Psychic
- Thief
- Destiny Bond



Wahoo! I tried decompressing a little from the week before by removing some setup sweepers and focusing on the Spikes war. The idea behind this team is that Haunter blocks a Rapid Spin and punishes Blastoise with Thief or Destiny bond, resulting in me getting to keep my Spikes. The problem was that I had not factored in that my opponent could just switch to something else and chip it down slowly. Still, that didn't end up mattering too much. I nearly got swept by a +3 scyther which was facing my Piloswine but he ended up switching out his scyther when he took out the Piloswine. I too made some awkward mistakes in this game.
I should definitely have focused on using Curse Granbull to sweep the team. This was not a clean game at all.
Improvements or changes: I am not sure whether to improve this but I am open for suggestions. This team turned out to be pretty good even using it a second time vs Lord Thorx (wait for when I update this thread to talk about the finals game).


Dawson (Hypno) @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Psychic
- Seismic Toss
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Joey (Nidoqueen) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Earthquake
- Thunder
- Fire Blast
- Moonlight

Pacey (Granbull) @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Curse
- Return
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Audrey (Qwilfish) @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Spikes
- Hydro Pump
- Sludge Bomb
- Haze

Jen (Haunter) @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Psychic
- Thunder
- Destiny Bond
- Explosion

Jack (Gyarados) @ Leftovers
Ability: none
IVs: 14 HP / 24 Atk / 26 Def
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power [Flying]
- Thunder
- Rest

This game was not perfect, but everything else about this game felt that way. The fear of facing someone who has a much greater understanding of the meta than me, yet the comfort of facing an opponent I had faced a lot in this tier in friendlies. It was the premise for an exciting match (for me at least).
The funny part is that I was feeling secure when this season started that I’d never have to face him because we were on the same team. That's how being traded works.
The parrot at this point was the person I had played most friendlies of this tier with, so I basically learned it from him. I usually got super lucky. But in tournaments his understanding about the game carries him a far distance, which shows how up until this point the luck I've always found playing friendly matches with him hasn't always carried over.

I was mostly afraid of him bringing Blastoise stall again so I tried to come prepared, without straying to far away from what I was decent at: Granbull, Qwillfish and Hypno things. I just needed to make sure I felt 100% comfortable vs stall and I've been hearing about new Gyara sets being all the rage [wink wink] so I wanted to try one out for myself. I brought this 3 attacking set over my usual All-out-attacking one which had Hydro Pump, Hidden Power Flying, Thunder and Rest. Rest felt good because it meant that if I took out some key pokemon in his defences, Gyarados could live forever. Not only did he not bring stall, but it hardly played out like that, though I do have to say that this match had some exceptionally good play from both ends, with a few mistakes from my part.
For the greater part of the game I was managing to dictate the pace of the game thanks to the magnificent Gyara. I happened to have a good matchup, namely I was facing an Ice Beam Omastar and an HP grass Bellossom so that was two less potential soft-checks to worry about.
I did unfortunately lose my Granbull without being able to do anything with it but there wasn't much for me to do once I started making a few poor decisions in the end game.
It was a crushing defeat and a gut wrenching one, but exciting none-the-less. I am still astonished at how he pulled off staving off the offence I was throwing at him for more than 100 turns to then just pick me off at the end.
Looking back at this game with different lenses, I also see that the thief from Mr.Mime t5 could have been redirected to something other than Hypno, as it was painfully obvious, and I might have been able to do something more if I hadn't decided to ko my Haunter so precociously.

Improvements or changes: it’s alright. I like Rest on Gyara because it can sit on Water types this way pretty effectively although it does struggle with Slowbro.


1630534795059.pngWEEK 6 VS YAMI1630534804485.png

or
the game that all the spectators got instead of Ewin vs Diophantine

Garlic Necklace (Hypno) @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Psychic
- Body Slam
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Magneton @ Leftovers
Ability: none
IVs: 26 Def
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Slowking @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Surf
- Psychic
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Grand-bull hotel (Granbull) @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Curse
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Return

Nido-thot (Nidoqueen) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Earthquake
- Thunder
- Fire Blast
- Moonlight

Mr.Puff (Qwilfish) @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Hydro Pump
- Sludge Bomb
- Spikes
- Haze

While all 4 fans of the series are looking back at how we didn't get to see the two undefeateds face each other -boohoo who cares-- I will talk about this. It was a fairly straightforward game of standard granbull offence vs gsc agility pass.
I think Granbull should be spammed more so THIS is the moment where you can start to just take the teams and see for yourself how easy it is to win certain games. There are generally a handful of reasons why I spam it so much, especially the mono-attacking curse sleep talker:
-it can switch in relatively safely on certain physical attackers (you have to be super cautious about your switches because Granbull is slower than an Italian bureacrat on a Sunday. FACTS)
-it has a decent matchup against Scyther and Nidoqueen
-normal types go booop (even boosted pokemon have to avoid letting it get multiple curses)
-it's a reliable check to most variations of baton pass teams, including full baton pass ones.

This game is an example of reasons #2 and #4. The trick against baton pass teams is knowing when to use Curse or when to attack, since there aren't that many pokemon that Scyther can baton pass to that will easily tank a +1 Frustration.
I do exactly this so as to prevent Yami from passing. Even if he did pass, then I could threaten to attack him on the turn he chooses to Belly Drum and KO quag. And EVEN then, at +1 I still live a +6 EQ and KO it back guaranteed. That can be a good or bad trade depending on the situation but
many full pass teams only have 1-2 physical sweepers.
My team also consists of a Body Slam Hypno which deals decent damage to some Psychics while also being able to paralyse different things.

Improvements or changes: This team has two bulky psychics which might have a hard time getting past other sleep talking psychics. Having Thunder on Magneton can make that much of a difference in securing some early KO’s against the likes of Hypno (or Bellossom in Slowking’s case) and it has the increased chance of spreading paralysis which is great for a slow team.


¿¿¿
1630535886289.png
WEEK 7 vs Raahel (Link in the paragraph below)
1630535897025.png
???

At the end of week 6, the Yanmegatrons were 1 of 2 teams already qualified for the playoffs, the other one being the Tropical Malamar Militia which had yet to lose a single week or something. But our performance this week, unlike with them, would definitely have affected our seeding in the next two weeks. As far as I was concerned I felt pretty confident I was gonna get a chance to perform well the following weeks and secure myself a positive record. I was sooo wrong.


This game was dumb. I was tired and dumb for how I played. I even had the crits to just win this game quickly but I got so frustrated at how I was nearly losing to a curse Qwilfish with my Slowking refusing to attack or wake up that when I finally did manage to KO it, the next thing I knew, I was facing a Scyther.

My summary of this game later on the UUFPL podcast was “the forfeit button looked pretty attractive ngl”.

That’s a dumb thing to say for so many reasons because:
-A) I was going to regret not trying to beat this scyther
-B) Our opponents were the exact same in the playoffs.
There was still a solid enough chance that I could have beaten the scyther. I mean, it wouldn’t have hurt trying. I was also kind of shook that my Omastar was so useless. One rest and it’s out of commission for the rest of the game. And the biggest crime was that I didn’t even give names to this team.

I don’t even know if I want to give this team. It would be for everyone’s good, really. Anyway, here it is.

Qwilfish @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Spikes
- Haze
- Sludge Bomb
- Hydro Pump

Omastar
Ability: none
IVs: 14 HP / 28 Atk
- Surf
- Thief
- Hidden Power [Electric]
- Rest

Slowking @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Surf
- Psychic

Granbull @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Curse
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Return

Nidoqueen (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Thunder
- Moonlight

Scyther @ Leftovers
Ability: none
IVs: 26 Atk / 26 Def
- Hidden Power [Bug]
- Wing Attack
- Swords Dance
- Baton Pass



Playoffs SemiFinals

UUFPL semis.jpg

art by me again. Check out the UUFPL podcast

I was really shook by the loss from this week but I was still 4-3 and with potentially anothe r2 shots at securing my first tournament positive record. I mean, there was no way I was going to lose to the same player by the hands (or in this case scythes???) of the same Pokemon… right?

1630587573663.png
WEEK 8 VS Raahel
1630587577867.png


Woop-dee-doo
I threw
You played very well

Who knew?

Looking back at this game, I can start to see how quick I had been to write off this match as a mistake in the teambuilder, but the truth is… it’s absolutely fine. I just played pretty badly and my opponent duly got the better of me.
You could say, judging by how I made some pretty big mistakes in all my games, that I am not all that great, and I wouldn’t disagree with you. It was my first time making it this far in a team tour and I had been playing for 8 weeks at this point. The only thing I’d do to keep myself motivated was think things like “I am totally gonna beat this guy” or “I’m gonna get destroyed by my next opponent”. Instead of doing that, I should have been focusing on playing well in the here and now, so that I could learn and perform better there and then. I thought I was gonna beat Raahel but he just played better by sticking to a gameplan. Very nice!

[Breakdown: my biggest mistake was versus his Gyarados. Basically when I finally got the window of opportunity to bring in my Scyther I was staring at Raahel’s Gyarados. I was sort of caught by surprise by the Roar set I am all too familiar with right now, so my Baton Pass move proved useless.
The problem is that Baton Passing out your stats isn’t always the best thing to do in GSC. Here’s why:

Scenario A) Gyarados has Roar:
Gyarados uses Roar, I attack with +2 move
This will chip down the Gyarados, meaning that the next time the scenario presents itself, the risk of it just getting KO’d is greater.

Scenario B) Gyarados doesn’t have Roar and attacks:
I attack with +2 move anyway.
The reason I didn’t see this as a good idea was because of a lack of experience with Scyther’s coverage moves. I always thought that a STAB move on scyther was obligatory and have brought Wing Attack in every game. But it turns out that Return + HP ground can be huge for these types of scenarios because Return does more damage than Wing attack, giving me a slight chance to 2HKO Gyarados. Gyarados can 2HKO back guaranteed, but I can always just attack once and then baton pass my boost to another attacker.
{+2 Scyther Wing Attack vs. Gyarados: 158-186 (41.9 - 49.3%) +2 Scyther Frustration vs. Gyarados: 178-210 (47.2 - 55.7%)}

Since I baton passed to Hypno which had Body Slam, I didn’t get anything out of it because he used Roar.

When Raahel had the same thing happen to him but inverse, he had a +2 scyther and I had my Gyarados, he attacked with Return, which was the right thing to do (even though my Gyarados didn’t have Roar.
He then passed to a Nidoqueen, which was really good, took out my normal immunity with a +2 Earthquake and slowly crept in a Granbull which swept me.]

Hypno @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Psychic
- Body Slam
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Scyther @ Leftovers
Ability: none
IVs: 14 HP / 24 Atk
- Swords Dance
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Wing Attack
- Baton Pass

Gyarados @ Leftovers
Ability: none
IVs: 14 HP / 24 Atk / 26 Def
- Hydro Pump
- Thunder
- Hidden Power [Flying]
- Double-Edge

Nidoqueen (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Thunder
- Moonlight

Qwilfish @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Spikes
- Sludge Bomb
- Haze
- Hydro Pump

Haunter @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Thunder
- Psychic
- Substitute
- Explosion
I was on one of two teams that during the season were already projected to make it into the playoffs, and some even thought the finals. It’s funny but my team ended up losing again. That meant that my record ended breaking even at 4-4 so I didn’t get a positive record rip.
Simultaneously, the only other team it seemed looked like they stop us lost as well.

That left the GSC Finals to be decided between Lord Thorx and Raahel.


UUFPL Finals (1).jpg

this was made solely for this post. enjoy!

:gs/granbull: FINALS :gs/granbull:
:gs/scyther: Raahel VS LORD THORX :gs/scyther:
So I was out of the tour in terms of competition, but not in spirit. When Raahel hit me up to ask for a team that he needed for finals, I quite egotistically thought I could use the opportunity for the lime light, hehe.

I had two ideas to give him. One was the exact same team I beat Lord Thorx with, and the other was a team Raahel would end up using against me a few months later in a really awkward GSC UU cup match (it was an exact mirror match and he beat me with it, lol). The idea of bringing the same team probably revolved around the idea that he had a team that Granbull would, in all likelihood, plough right through.

The final result of the team crafting was that Estarossa implemented some minor changes to better fit more threats while also making Granbull much harder to switch into. Scyther became the lead(which 99% of the time will be HP Bug, also probably Miracle Berry) which has a good advantage against Hypno and Mr.Mime leads that way it could pass a Swords Dance as quickly as possible to one of Piloswine or Granbull, who now was HP Ground + Rest Talk instead of Curse. A good call imo because exactly these two mons, ended up winning him the game. Had it not been for this and the valiant effort of his team members, the Blipbug City Battle Girls would not have been able to set the tie breaker and win the tour. Yay!

Scyther @ Miracle Berry
Ability: none
Happiness: 0
IVs: 26 Atk/ 26 Def
- Swords Dance
- Wing Attack
- Hidden Power [Bug]
- Baton Pass

Qwilfish @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Spikes
- Hydro Pump
- haze
- Sludge Bomb

S H (Piloswine) @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Granbull @ Leftovers
Ability: none
IVs: 14 HP/ 24 ATK
- Return
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Slowbro @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Surf
- Psychic
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Haunter
Ability: none
- Thunder
- Psychic
- Thief
- Destiny Bond

[Breakdown: T1 Raahel immediately gets the advantage he needed by Swords Dancing in front of what Lord Thorx reveals to be a Thunder Punch Hypno. With all the momentum and concealed team members, Raahel gets to baton pass on the switch in. His Granbull hits the opposing Omastar with a +2 HP Ground, so Lord Thorx is forced to basically attack the next turn. Unfortunately Raahel's Dog gets a bad sleep talk roll and goes to Slowbro. Fast forward a few turns and he uses Destiny bond to take out Politoed behind a light screen (although he may have been able to keep Haunter for the Granbull and just switched to Qwillfish, assuming that's still the last mon). Raahel's only option may be to set up a swords dance and pass to something, because a curse Granbull from Lord Thorx could potentially be fatal (though he has a healthy Slowbro in the back). Fortunately Hypno comes in and Raahel's Scyther OHKO's it and passes to Piloswine once Ampharos comes in. At+2, Piloswine has no switch ins, and tanks not only a Surf from Oma but an Eq from Nido by the skin of its teeth. Piloswine ends up eventually taking out not 1 but all 4 of Thorx's remaining mons. Very nice!]

Pros and cons with this team: a real threat to this team is without a doubt Slowbro and even Jumpluff. Jumpluff has the speed to speed creep scyther and lock it into a move or do just the same with any of the other pokemon here. Scyther should be able to handle Slowbro, especially since it's HP bug, but a smart player can use Scyther's complete lack of recovery as an advantage, not to mention it is also forced to baton pass out against many threats, including Haunter, Magneton or Nidoqueen to a much lesser extent. The pros would be that Granbull and Piloswine have virtually the best coverage and are naturally some of the best beneficiaries for a +2 or +3 from a swords dance, but they are very slow.

Improvements: judging by this team Spikes are a great asset but not the be all end all. Another pokemon that could help spread paralysis may be a good idea over qwillfish or something with a general speed control.


:crobat: BONUS! :crobat:
There can't possibly be more right? WRONG!
If you had noticed in the text I said under week 8, that I had been playing already for 8 weeks! I meant not including week 8. That's because by the end of the 4th week the UUFPL staff decided to organise an ALL STARS WEEK that I absolutely did not want to participate in and would have preferred sparing myself the time from playing, not because I didn't like the idea, but because I wanted to focus on preparing against Dio.
What is the all stars week? It's a for fun event that is not part of the main event where all the players from each tier with at least 3 wins could get drafted to play in a made up team of "all stars" (I don't like calling it that). I got lucky to get picked but I didn't want to build so I used a sample team. I faced Ewin and had a lot of fun in this rematch. I think I saw some things that I never would have expected.

I actually had the right team to counter this Crobat. I will never forget how awkward it made me feel to have a mon that counters Crobat lose so badly... by its own hand. I got the right idea after trying to fight back with Sandslash, but I could have done this earlier and save Ampharos instead of switching into it. I believe LpZ made this team that Ewin used, or at least the set.

Hope you all have enjoyed.
 
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