The idea for this team originated in a chatroom with several people collaborating on a team (for the simple sake of collaboraton). That team started as a Choice Specs Moltres team, built around luring in and countering CS Moltres’ counters and then clearing the endgame with Moltres. The original version of the team that I proposed and that was edited in that chatroom was not as effective as it might have been; revisions were made by some of the individual members and more effective teams tested, but ultimately I decided I’d go with a new idea entirely.
That idea was CB Scyther, one of the most powerful Pokemon in the UU metagame. The result of that idea is the following team, designed around both Choice Specs Moltres and Choice Band Scyther. The team is offensive but has a core strategy: it relies on allowing the team’s hard hitters to potentially sweep or clear away the opposing team by spinning away rocks and creating openings for them to switch in and threaten powerful attacks. Although some Pokemon like Regirock can cause the team trouble if preserved, I play very offensively. Although I do switch in and abuse resistances (or Intimidate in the case of Hitmontop) quite frequently, the goal is never to simply resist an attack, as sometimes is the case on what are known as "bulky offense" teams—rather, the goal is to immediately threaten attacks or build momentum through the advantageous U-turn (found on both core sweepers).
The team was extensively tested on the ladder, achieving a CRE of ~1500/1600 with multiple accounts and being tested by both myself and Reikken. The valuable input of all the original members of the original chatroom (WJC, Reikken, Reaver, Sniper, Phoenix) are highly appreciated. Even though only a handful of the ideas taken from that chatroom survived, they nevertheless have proven to be integral aspects of this team, without which the team’s great success could undoubtedly not have been accomplished.
Without any further rubbish from me, here is the team:
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Kabutops @ Focus Sash
252 Atk/252 Spd/4 Def
Adamant
-Stealth Rock
-Rapid Spin
-Aqua Jet
-Stone Edge
252 Atk/252 Spd/4 Def
Adamant
-Stealth Rock
-Rapid Spin
-Aqua Jet
-Stone Edge
This may not look like the most effective set at first glance, but it’s actually perfect for this team and the team’s goals. No other lead can get up SR and spin away the opposing team’s SR as efficiently. Because this team has three SR weaks, with two of them being double weaks, leading with a Rapid Spinner is an absolute must. When playing with this lead it’s important to keep in mind that Rapid Spin is the priority, not damage or Stealth Rock; the goal is to let the super-high-damage dealers do their job, not attempt to build up damage and win with a bulky offensive strategy. So, for example, against a tricky Omastar lead, instead of Stone Edging first, I always Stealth Rock, then spin away if Omastar rocks, or Stone Edge otherwise. People usually don’t expect the spin, either, since Kabutops is a lead. Leads are meant to build momentum, so Rapid Spin is rarely seen on them. But for a team like this, nothing builds momentum better than Rapid Spin.
Since Kabutops’ primary purpose is to spin away rocks, it often doesn’t survive into the midgame, allowing me to keep the pressure up and not let a key Pokemon on the opposing side be preserved. Its death can sometimes be advantageous, as then the opponent assumes I have no other method of spinning and will allow his or her SR user to die if it gets a second chance to set up SR. Kabutops also has a useful 4x weakness to Grass—yes, that’s right, a useful weakness. Who knew? Because Moltres and Scyther have 4x Grass resists, and Houndoom and Leafeon take Grass attacks relatively well (and Hitmontop too, due to bulk and Intimidate for dealing with Venusaur Power Whips), a Grass type switching into Kabutops is almost inevitably useful. It’s also useful to scout for (and possibly hurt) Rotom, who gives this team a lot of trouble if not dealt with immediately.
If Kabutops does survive, then it can come back for a priority Aqua Jet to deal with a Sub-Roost Moltres set or something like that. A Flare Blitz Arcanine once did 55% to Moltres, and after that I realized how useful the 4x resist to Fire is. If Hitmontop dies, Kabutops can also serve as a surprise Rapid Spinner later on, leading to a Moltres or Scyther sweep easily.
I kind of miss Waterfall when I run this set, but with two Water attacks Kabutops would be walled in too easily. The nature and EVs are self-explanatory; giving more bulk to a Focus Sasher intended only to spin rocks makes little sense, so maximum offense is the only way to go.
Houndoom @ Life Orb
Flash Fire
252 Atk/252 Spd/4 SpDef
Naughty
-Crunch
-Sucker Punch
-Pursuit
-Fire Blast
Why run a Pursuiter when I already have two spinners? Well, this team really needs rocks to be away, and some people have gotten into the habit of running two Ghosts in order to block spin! It’s very annoying. Thus, Houndoom makes the team. He's one of the best Ghost killers; it can’t be burned, and Sucker Punch/Pursuit can let it act like an Absol variant. Although less powerful than Absol itself, Houndoom is also more of a surprise—I run Fire Blast over Overheat specifically since people who see Overheat assume that Houndoom is running a mixed set, and that ruins the surprise.
Houndoom has great synergy with the team, providing a useful Fire resist if Kabutops is dead and a useful switch-in once Kabutops falls to a Grass type. He lets me keep the momentum going and even has priority to boot. He can also mess with Mesprit and other annoying Dark-weak Pokemon who like to set up rocks and do generally annoying things (I’m looking at you, T-wave, dual-screen Uxie), and since he only has a single SR weak type, he often doesn’t mind coming in if Kabutops somehow didn’t manage to spin and I need a Moltres variant while I look for a chance to bring in my second spinner, Hitmontop.
Houndoom is the reason Calm Mind Mismagius doesn’t sweep me. Since Mismagius has Sub and CM, it can only run two attacking moves. If it runs HP Fighting and Shadow Ball, Houndoom dies (potentially) but Moltres and Scyther can deal with it easily, the latter being able to outspeed because of the Speed IV. If it runs Thunderbolt and Shadow Ball, Houndoom takes care of it easily. Rotom is a similar but tougher case—without Houndoom, the team would easily fall to Rotom (Choice Scarf Rotom outspeeds all members, and ignores three of four non-Houndoom priority moves because of its typing). Admittedly, Rotom’s still a threat, but Houndoom at least can allow Leafeon or someone to KO Rotom as a last resort by weakening the Ghost first.
Most importantly, perhaps, Houndoom acts as a lure. He brings in Milotic and other bulky water types and nails them with Crunch or Fire Blast, making them much easier for Moltres to deal with when the time comes (and Scyther appreciates it too). He can also bring in Chansey, whom Moltres has a tough time dealing with, and Crunch and Pursuit it for the kill. The best Chansey can do is T-wave and Toxic, but Pursuit and Sucker Punch make Houndoom not care so much about paralysis, and poison isn’t worth much on a relatively frail Pokemon that’s intended to be a segway into heavier-hitting options.
EVs are pretty standard. Attack is maximized so Houndoom hits as hard as possible, since that’s his job (Chansey isn’t OHKO’d by Pursuit). Speed is also maximized (without the +nature) because there’s no point in letting Houndoom survive longer due to his role. Fire Blast only gets used over Overheat because if I run Overheat people realize it’s physical and not special, which fails. Crunch finds its way onto the moveset because Thunder Fang is only 10 more base power when it’s effective (and Crunch is not) and has a chance to miss (95 Accuracy). In other words, it’s useless—more useful is Crunch’s ridiculous base power vs. Slowbro, who is actually annoying for Moltres if Moltres doesn’t predict the switch-in and nail it with HP Grass. Running only Dark moves isn’t a problem because I have two good Fighting resists on the team—I want Fighting types to switch in. Once Houndoom has eliminated the Ghost or the Grass that came in after Kabutops/Hitmontop died, the Fighting is more than welcome to show up and try to KO him, so that I can begin scouting for more counters to my sweepers or start laying down destruction.
Hitmontop @ Leftovers
Intimidate
252 HP/252 Atk/4 SpDef
Adamant
-Foresight
-Rapid Spin
-Close Combat
-Mach Punch
Ah, Hitmontop. What do I say? He’s essential. He’s got amazing synergy with the team, providing a Rock resist where 3 of the Pokemon are weak to it (two doubly weak) and killing Pokemon like Steelix, Rhyperior, and Aggron, who might pose trouble to the team otherwise. He also does pretty well vs. Regirock, even Curse variants thanks to Intimidate.
Speaking of Intimidate, it’s a really useful ability on a team that relies so heavily on offense. Instead of surviving lots of hits, it’s more important that the team be able to force a switch—Intimidate does that while maintaining some kind of defense when I’m in a thick situation. Hittmontop can even beat physical Venusaur one on one after coming in, despite Close Combat being resisted by Poison types, due to the -1 Atk.
Thanks to Foresight, a single type of attack (Fighting) is all Hitmontop needs to be effective. This guy tends to draw in Swellow, which is useful since Mach Punch hurts Swellow a little (frail defenses and SR weak) and Swellow gives trouble to Moltres/Scyther. So Hitmontop enables a sweep by luring as well, at least in some ways. He does let opposing Moltres and Scyther in, but I usually have rocks up, and if I don’t, then that means I’m usually on the offensive already, having spun away the opponent’s rocks and bringing in my own Moltres and Scyther to deal with the opposition. Plus, I have lots of priority on my team, so I often don’t mind Moltres and Scyther coming in (though admittedly Kabutops is often dead, so I can’t Aqua Jet Moltres).
Most importantly, Hitmontop spins, and he spins well. His priority is to spin, and if he needs to lose his life in order to do so, so be it! Foresight + Rapid Spin is really useful, especially since Close Combat can one-hit Spiritomb. Even running two Ghosts, people can’t keep switching between them forever, especially not if SR is up. Sooner or later a mispredict is bound to happen, and a sticky situation arises for my opponent. If Kabutops and Houndoom couldn’t do the job, Hitmontop is guaranteed to, at least in 90% of cases not involving hax of some sort.
I considered Donphan here to absorb Electric attacks, but Foresight Hitmontop is just too useful. Plus, Hitmontop is my check against rain teams—being SE against Kabutops and Omastar (with his huge Special Attack) is useful, especially when my team fears Rock types.
Leafeon @ Choice Band
252 Atk/252 Spd/4 HP
Adamant
-Leaf Blade
-Quick Attack
-Double Edge
-Heal Bell
252 Atk/252 Spd/4 HP
Adamant
-Leaf Blade
-Quick Attack
-Double Edge
-Heal Bell
I really can’t believe how effective this set is. CB Leafeon is my favorite Pokemon on this team, and it’s served me excellently in almost every match I’ve had with it.
Leafeon was put on this team for one reason and one reason only: to get rid of bulky Waters. And there’s no better Pokemon for the job. I’ve only seen a Water type switch out of CB Leafeon once or twice, and that was generally on stall teams, which have rough times dealing with Leafeon anyway once Steelix or whoever is worn down. For some reason or other, no one ever wants to switch Milotic, Azumarill, or even Gastrodon out of Leafeon—it’s probably because everyone expects Leafeon to take the opportunity to try to Swords Dance, but instead the Water Pokemon are one-hit-KOed by a +1 Leaf Blade. Would you believe people keep SD Feraligatr in on this thing too? Well, believe it. They do. It's exceptionally absurd at first blush, but it makes sense on second and is a wonderful mechanism for Water elimination.
Leafeon also has excellent synergy with the team, providing a much-needed Electric resist (though it can’t take a whole lot of special attacks) as well as drawing in Grass types that Moltres and Scyther prey on. Fire types are also drawn in, which can lead to opportunities for Moltres to switch in or Houndoom, so that I can start scouting Moltres’ counters.
Leafeon is my go-to guy for many different Pokemon, such as Regirock, who takes ~70% from Leaf Blade with or without Sandstorm. The other Pokemon on the team can all be killed easily by Regirock, and can’t do much back, while Leafeon survives two Stone Edges (if both connect) and then kills back easily (or at least puts it in range for someone else to kill, such as Brick Break Scyther).
The EVs and nature are obvious: hit hard, hit fast. Leaf Blade and Quick Attack are also obvious—a high-bp STAB move, and a +1 priority move for taking down things like Swellow and rain teams (which, I might add, are dealt with effectively by Hitmontop and Leafeon, even though Hitmontop isn’t Technician’d). Now, why Heal Bell and Double Edge? I have to give credit to Reikken for Heal Bell, because he’s used it on his CB Leafeon. It’s amazing. Without a way to absorb status, and with so many physical attackers and Speed-reliant Pokemon, I really needed a way to heal Toxic, Thunder Wave, Will O Wisp, and Sleep, and Heal Bell fit the bill.
Speaking of Sleep, I hate Venusaur. Really hate it. That’s why I have Double Edge instead of Return or X-Scissor, because it (Double Edge) can potentially 2HKO Venusaur (non-bulky), and they like to switch in a lot. I usually hit with Leafeon, absorb the sleep with some Pokemon (sometimes Moltres or Scyther depending on what I’ve seen of the enemy team), switch to Moltres or Scyther (if I haven’t already) to U-turn as the Venusaur user switches, and then bring Leafeon back in to Heal Bell. Not as effective as outright blocking the status, but it still works and it doesn’t require me to expend a Pokemon slot on something that doesn’t contribute to my final sweep.
Moltres @ Choice Specs
252 SpAtk/252 Spd/4 Def
Modest
-U-turn
-Overheat
-Hidden Power Grass
-Air Slash
252 SpAtk/252 Spd/4 Def
Modest
-U-turn
-Overheat
-Hidden Power Grass
-Air Slash
In the absence of Stealth Rock, Moltres is quite possibly the biggest threat in all of UU, with the possible exception of one other Pokemon.
Choice Specs allows Moltres to threaten a two-hit KO on any Pokemon besides Chansey and Sandstorm Regirock. It has an extreme amount of destructive power. All the team builds up to supporting this thing in its sweep—no rocks so that it can survive priority (besides Aqua Jet) and weaker super-effective hits (like two Lopunny Thunderpunches, believe it or not); no bulky Waters since Houndoom and Leafeon took care of them; and many Grass, Ground, and Fighting types that were lured in for Moltres to safely come in on and threaten. From here, it’s simply an Air Slash sweep to victory.
SubRoost is too slow and inefficient to be offensive; the LO set doesn't hit hard enough. This thing, however, hits hard, and there are essentially no counters besides good prediction. With a little bit of team support, this set might as well be called unstoppable. Moltres is bulky enough to survive some priority and fast enough that it can threaten most things in the metagame (faster things generally can’t kill Moltres, with the exception of like Arcanine’s Flare Blitz and strong attacks like that).
U-turn is the best move in the game. Period. After coming in on something like Hitmontop, Moltres gets a completely free scout for the next counter and builds momentum for my team. This is the third part of my team’s strategy—after spinning rocks and starting to eliminate counters, the team sends out Moltres and U-turns to Scyther. This is a brilliant move without rocks up, because Scyther and Moltres share the same strengths (4x Grass resist, Ground immunity, and a resist to Fighting) while hitting from different sides of the spectrum—physical and special. They’re also effective against each other’s specific threats. You wouldn’t believe the number of Chansey that have tried to switch on Moltres only to meet Scyther, and the number of Steelix that have tried to switch in on Scyther only to meet Moltres. It’s hilarious. Pokemon like Claydol can be cleanly killed with a simple Moltres à Scyther à someone U-turn combination, with little to no risk.
For the other moves, Overheat > Fire Blast because I rarely find myself using more than one Fire attack in a row. If I sweep, I sweep with Air Slash, since Rock types should be eliminated by the time I begin my sweep if I play right. Also, I don’t like Fire Blast’s Accuracy. HP Grass nails Rhyperior and other Rock types, so it’s an obvious choice. I don’t really have a lot of time to heal—I have the opportunity, but not the time (mustering time for Heal Bell is already a chore a lot of the time). I need to be using every chance I get with Moltres to scout or attack.
I haven’t seen a real need to run Timid yet. Other Moltres are difficult to deal with anyway, speed ties or not, so it’s not worth losing the extra attack power from Modest to have a shot at beating them.
Scyther @ Choice Band
Technician252 Atk/252 Spd/4 SpDef
Jolly
-Aerial Ace
-Brick Break
-Quick Attack
-U-turn
Jolly
-Aerial Ace
-Brick Break
-Quick Attack
-U-turn
You’ve done it. You’ve broken my Moltres’ sweep. You managed to get those final Mach Punches you’d been conserving (or maybe that Aqua Jet?) to whittle down all my other Pokemon, and my most threatening sweeper is gone. You might have had to sacrifice your Rock type to HP Grass in order to create an opening, but you’ve definitely got the match now. My strategy has failed—using Houndoom and Leafeon to kill Moltres’ counters, like Chansey and Milotic, having two spinners to sweep rocks off the field, and even going as far as going Fire Blast > Overheat on my Pursuit user so you wouldn’t expect the Pursuit on your spin-blocking Ghosts . . . all of that was for nothing. Now you need only to take out my final Pokemon, and you’ve got the match won. gg.
But then you realize in horror—the Pokemon that you’ve overlooked all this time, since it’s only been coming in and U-turning at every opportunity. It seemed so much like support—but no, instead, it now looks like a sweeper, and a threatening sweeper to boot. It’s Bandther, and it's ready to sweep . . . or clean. Remember how I said that there was one other Pokemon vying with Moltres for being the biggest threat in UU in the absence of rocks? Well, here is that Pokemon.
Scyther is a beast, with huge Speed and Attack, an amazing ability, amazing resists, STAB U-turn, and a limited but great movepool. Scyther also has great synergy with Moltres, although it may not seem like it at first. You’ll notice that they both share resists to Grass and Fighting and an immunity to Ground—this is extremely useful as it keeps the opponent guessing all throughout the match. Am I going to go to Scyther to take that Hitmontop Close Combat, or will I choose Moltres? Depending on which one I pick, what Pokemon are you going to sacrifice to make sure I can’t sweep? Which Pokemon will you conserve for the next time I bring out one of my flying types? These questions are difficult to answer, and if I’ve done a good job of keeping up the pressure (lol Moltres pun) all throughout the game, then the questions may as well be impossible, or a totally wild guess.
Both Moltres and Scyther are double weak to Rock attacks. This is very useful, as it allows for each to wear out of the other’s counters. If Moltres has already gotten Sandstorm Rhyperior down to 20% health with HP Grass, Scyther can finish it off with Brick Break, no sweat. Both Moltres and Scyther also tend to use Flying moves to sweep (Aerial Ace and Air Slash, respectively); this is even more of an advantage. It’s similar to using both Dragonite and Salamence in OU play; every player is going to have difficulty stopping both from sweeping, as one alone is hard to stop. Building common team support for both at the same time only makes it harder.
Throughout the midgame and for part of the lategame, Scyther’s role is to come in and U-turn, as I’ve described above in Moltres’ description. U-turn is a fantastic move and lets Scyther, like Moltres, get the jump on its counters and ensure that they are eliminated before attempting to sweep. But unlike Moltres, Scyther has another reason for U-turning besides simply scouting for problem Pokemon—STAB CB U-turn hurts, even to things that aren’t weak to it. A typical lead Omastar takes about 33% from it, for example. It frustrates stall immensely, since that playstyle relies on a lot of advantageous switching, and it maintains the advantage on offense while dealing absurd amounts of damage in the process.
But then comes the endgame, and Scyther is sweeping, not just U-turning in and out. Quick Attack is awesome for priority sweeping if I know my opponent still has fast Pokemon like Sceptile or Swellow. Otherwise, Aerial Ace gets the nod; it has a lot of power with STAB and shouldn’t have many resists left alive by now. Brick Break is mostly for wrecking Reflect, since that stops everyone on the team besides Moltres cold, and Light Screen, which shuts Moltres down. Jolly is run over Adamant because being faster than HP Fighting Mismagius is extremely useful, and cleanly outspeeding non-+-Spd Mismagius is also very useful. Scyther can outspeed Scarf Aggron (who ruins this team except for Hitmontop) and Brick Break for the OHKO (almost guaranteed with SR down).
The beauty of this team is that by the time Scyther wants to sweep, he should know exactly what he's up against, because of U-turn and constant pressure (lol did it again), and which moves he's going to use. If there's just no way to eliminate a Rock type, he's going to come in for one last Brick Break before another one of my Pokemon tries to finish the game. Scyther paired with knowledge of the opponent's team is not just annoying: it's deadly, and lies at the heart of this team's strategy.
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Although I wanted to showcase the awesome power of Moltres and Scyther in the absence of Stealth Rock, there is another purpose served by this RMT: to show that strategies work. This game isn’t just about using the best Pokemon and the best movesets—it’s about making cohesive teams that come together to form a strategy, to achieve a goal. For good stall teams, the goal is to stall PP until residual damage takes over. For good offense teams, strategies can vary. The strategy of this team is to use essentially 4 support Pokemon in order to clear the way for 2 very powerful ones, who complement each other in turn (in U-turn, that is). Each Pokemon does not have to or be an individual win condition or be amazing offensively and defensively. Kabutops has a Focus Sash; Hitmontop only has Normal and Fighting moves. Neither is a win condition. Yet both are irreplaceable members of this team because of the unique contributions they provide; to switch them out and place in two more “threatening” Pokemon such as Azumarill and Venusaur would hurt the efficacy of the team.
To see that strategy matters, play this team and try to Stone Edge opposing Omastar leads—the match may be lost because of that action. Then play this team and Stealth Rock. Now the match becomes much easier to win (of course, that depends on the opponent, but in general this is a true example). Every action taken must align with the overaching strategy, and this is in a way the reason I play Pokemon, and the reason I enjoy building teams.
As a threat list for this type of team is pretty much unnecessary (specific threats like Regirock and Rotom have been acknowledged and can be played around while adhering to the team’s basic strategy), I’ll leave you with these words: hope you enjoyed.
