Gen 7 [USUM UU] Stronger Specialist

avarice

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It has been a while since I've done an RMT (left this one sitting in sandbox for some time now lol) and I wanted to feature one of my preferred stall teams in SM UU post-Quagsire. The iconic "AloBliss" remains intact, having to let go of their lovable unaware wall after the attack on stall for being too consistent. It's difficult to not view removing Quagsire as the wrong choice and merely hate toward the playstyle. I believe as these team tours featuring SM UU (and classic) go on, the team dumps people are working with will gravitate toward the Mega Manectric and Mimikyu builds rather than AltRotomHShroom#23489 or Robjr SubPrim etc. Without stalls in the mix, the opportunity cost for running Hyper Offense and Mega Manectric is significantly lower. Having them so strong on top of the already oppressive Latias + Scizor makes the tier much more limiting. Stall is still viable, but no Quagsire severely hurts the options and killed off a few unique styles/niche mons. Terrakion of course gets monstrous, though it's not like stall did amazing against it before. Terrakion will always have the same old Latias and Scizor ruling the tier holding it back (Gligar getting demoted and outright referred to as "g-word" aside) at least. This is nothing compared to the matchups against real Voltturn where Hidden Power Ice Manectric is nearly impossible to effectively pressure. Rhyperior and to a lesser extent Seismitoad get some usage, just not enough to justify Hidden Power Grass post-Quagsire. The Spikes HO matchups thrive in this environment. Quagsire previously walled half the opposition and now leaves Alolomola susceptible to being overwhelmed. Mimikyu stands out more than the other Pokemon as a winner due to its anti-offense nature being useless against the Alolomola and Quagsire completely. Overall, while stall is viable the gains made for other playstyles may become overbearing.

While the "checks and balances" of SM UU feels off without stall at its full potential, building stall is still pretty formulaic. Special wall, physical wall, set sweeper wall, hazard control, steel-type, and filler. I started this team with Registeel in mind going off of "people are just going to spam Togekiss still post Quagsire anyway" and Choice Specs Latias starting to gain popularity. Blissey and Alolomola are too solid to pass up on and were the obvious teammates. While Registeel is no slouch at walling special attackers, the decline of Calm Mind Psyshock Latias in addition to the typical walling all special attackers is great. Alomomola's physical sponge prowess gives a callback to ORAS RU with the infamous "RegiMola" plaguing the tier. For a mega, I decided on Mega Altaria since Mega Aerodactyl trapping Latias simply is unnecessary with fatass Registeel and similarly, the other Mega Steel-types overlapped in their utility. Mega Altaria is not very easily pressured into getting in to mega evolve with such a durable backbone. Gligar and Pyukumuku round out the team as the mandatory Electric-type immunity, hazard removal, and Unaware respectively. They are by no means very fat, merely do their jobs. Gligar is somewhat a win-con with Curse and alleviates pressure from Mega Altaria and Alomomola to deal with all the various Fighting-types. In spite of not being Quagsire, Pyukumuku has still proved to be a valuable member of the team with its special defense and movepool with just enough range to be worth scouting. Altogether, with Registeel this stall aims to have a more playable matchup against Manectric and standard BO teams without resorting to Hippowdon or Nidoqueen. Primarily at the cost of conceding to Terrakion. This six has been pretty consistent for me, and I admit that it is pretty close to Amane Misa's Muk stall but I think this is a solid improvement for the metagame shifts since 2019. I look forward to seeing how other stall teams choose to adapt if Quagsire is never freed.

Set Details


Registeel @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Seismic Toss
- Protect

While not nearly as threatening as it is in SS with its "Demon" set, Registeel can still be rather durable and difficult to take down despite the lack of reliable recovery. In SM UU nearly every team has a Choice Scarf user, and Krookodile is the most common one. Krookodile being the main Knock Off user that can be scouted with Protect makes it relatively easy to keep Leftovers and stay healthy. Registeel is able to take pressure off Blissey as it can deal with Latias (notably not caring about Psyshock and can Protect on Z-Moves). It can also tank hits from Celebi, Togekiss, etc. who are more likely to break past Blissey.


Alomomola @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 40 HP / 252 Def / 216 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Toxic
- Scald

The infamous partner to Registeel from ORAS RU, Alomomola is able to blanket nearly every physical attacker in the tier. No offensive presence is necessary when one has the ability to burn with broken Scald, spread Toxic, or remove items on top of Regenerator and fat wishes. The Wish support is still amazing for Registeel since it can sometimes afford to take a Knock Off. Its bulk on the special side isn't totally horrible either, so it can be used to scout moves or stomach a Volt Switch in a pinch.


Blissey (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Seismic Toss
- Toxic
- Soft-Boiled
- Heal Bell

Blissey is a stall staple. It'd be difficult to pass up on a Pokemon that can wall nearly half the tier on its own, Registeel being a formidable special tank or not. Seismic Toss and Toxic are rather effective at the very least wearing down Pokemon not named Gengar. Toxic screwing with set-up sweepers will always be great, and the fall of Facade (Dragon Dance Altaria in general) is cool too. Heal Bell is essential for any stall team and allows one to be more reckless with the fishes, can remedy getting Scald burnt with Registeel, etc.


Altaria-Mega @ Altarianite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 Spe
Relaxed Nature
- Return
- Flamethrower
- Defog
- Roost

The puffy dragon is still solid in SM UU despite the dropoff from it and Scizor/Latias becoming way more noticeable as time went on. While it may not be as scary as the other two titans, its role on the stall is welcomed with Registeel not taking up a Mega Slot like Aggron or Steelix would. 56 Speed EVs let Mega Altaria outspeed Crawdaunt. Its physical bulk remains sturdy, as it can reliably threaten foes like Terrakion and Scizor that cannot OHKO it unboosted. No Pokemon ever really wants to run Defog, but having a solo defogger is a no-go in a generation without Heavy-Duty Boots. It has a nice matchup against aggressive setters like Krookodile and Chesnaught.


Pyukumuku @ Poisonium Z
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Counter
- Toxic
- Soak
- Recover

Poisonium Z allows Pyukumuku to Toxic Taunt users like Hydreigon and Jellicent. The former isn't too threatening with Mega Altaria, but it Flash Cannon sets are not totally unviable and Jellicent would be an x relying on pp stall. Poisonium Z does also come with a defense boost from Toxic, but this will almost never come in handy, with the exception of some Counter endgames. I think it's ultimately still worthwhile over Leftovers though since A. Flex and B. Reduced Knock damage.


Gligar @ Eviolite
Ability: Immunity
EVs: 252 HP / 216 Def / 24 SpD / 16 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Curse
- Roost
- Defog

"G-word" has pretty much died out since the generation has ended. This is not too surprising given its flaws like relying on Eviolite while barely being able to answer the tier's Fighting-types like Terrakion and Infernape. The nail in the coffin is there being no drawback to Hidden Power Ice Manectric currently. However, its typing and bulk is still just enough to work well on the stall. Curse in particular gets helpful as it can punish Terrakion, Scizor, Dragon Dance Altaria, etc.

Threat list
:terrakion: - The aforementioned demon Terrakion can muscle past Alomomola and Gligar with Swords Dance sets. Pyukumuku is not nearly as reliable as Quagsire, especially when running a specially defensive spread here.
:celebi: - Celebi is notorious for demolishing fat teams with Nasty Plot and being able to keep itself healthy with Natural Cure and Giga Drain or Recover. Blissey and Registeel can beat some Giga Drain variants, but none of the Pokemon can pressure Leaf Storm Recover variants fast enough.
:scizor: - ban scizor pretty fine on its own thanks to Pyukumuku standing in for the typical Quagsire, but a Mega Manectric + CB Scizor Voltturn core can be rough if they can outmaneuver the Gligar + Altaria hazard removal.

Notable Replays

This game against umbry during the Silver Wind Invitational is a solid example of how the team fares against Voltturn.


During the RoA Olmpics, the game against Spl4sh was pretty much just won the moment they were caught on the Suicune switch. Though, Superpower Nidoking, Togekiss, and Pursuit support could still have the potential to break.

Against Lily during the Silver Wind Invitational, I definitely should have played better instead of having to risk crit toward the end. It is still a good example of how solid the team is against pretty standard bulky offense though. Altaria-Amoonguss-RotomH teams have a large number of variants.

Bulkier compared to the Spl4sh team, Rodriblutar has a unique Salazzle supporting CroCune. This game was also from RoA Olympics.



 

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