XY UU attempt

[CactusPiquant]

Hey all. First, you have to know that I'm just a beginner to pokemon strategy. Just playing since 3/4 (intensive) weeks. Maybe you will think about obvious things that I missed.
Also, never played this tier, so it's a first try; and the team isn't finished now. The fact is that I don't know well the metagame at the moment, so maybe I will change things later (by seeing a huge threat, or listening your advices).
I'm french, so maybe there is some mistakes in my english.
I don't really like common teams, so I'm always trying to find some uncommon things. And I guess this one is pretty cool.
So here we go.

Aggron (M) @ Aggronite
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 4 Def / 252 Atk / 252 HP
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Stone Edge
- Iron Head
- Heavy Slam
- Earthquake

The physical tank of the team, for sure. But he can also do a lot of damages with his strong atk stat. This set is working good. Heavy slam and Iron Head are two good stab move, and really powerful with Aggron. Stone edge is another good move, here for coverage. Earthquake for the last move, for coverage too. EV spread is for tanking and doing damages while the opponent is switching (most of the time).

Swampert (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Waterfall
- Stealth Rock
- Roar

Kecleon was here before, but that wasn't a good idea at all. So now, thx to the advice I got from Ununhexium, Swampert is here. Electricity immunity can be cool. Also, now I have someone with sr. I put waterfall and not scald for some reasons : the BP is higher, physical (and the base atk is better than the spe atk for Swampert), and I already have toxic spikes on Tentacruel, so won't be able to burn someone if he is already poisoned. Roar for SR damage, and for stopping boosts maybe (will try this). EQ and SR are ok.

Raikou @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Extrasensory
- Hidden Power [Grass]

Here is Raikou, classical set. Finally someone who is attacking with spe atk. I think I don't have to explain a lot of things here, as this set is quite common. Volt switch for a volturn core with Crobat and because it's a good move. Thunderbolt is more powerful than Volt Switch (and still stab), and I dont have the switch (good for 2hko). Moved from HP Ice to HP Grass, seems to be useful, specially for Swampert and Quagsire. Extrasensory as 4th move for coverage, suggested by Eatthepear.

Malamar (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Contrary
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Substitute
- Superpower
- Psycho Cut
- Night Slash

Malamar is my favourite pokemon of the 6th gen. The contrary ability is really cool, even if superpower is the only move that you can use with it. Psycho-cut and Night slash are two stab moves. For the last move, I put Substitute. I tried Topsy Turvy, but Malamar is really slow. If you have to switch on Malamar, you won't have the time to do Topsy Turvy. More than this, Malamar isn't really Bulky, he got a double weakness insect, opponents may burn/toxic you and - again - he is slow. That's why I put Subsitute. EV spread seems obvious to me.

Crobat (F) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Infiltrator
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Roost
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Super Fang

I thought a flying pokemon was required for the end of the team, because of Raikou and Aggron. Why this one? One of the reasons is the speed stat of Crobat, which is really cool. U-turn is a cool move with the speed I have. Roost + Brave Bird is good imo. Super Fang for the last move, because usually, tanks are coming in front of Crobat (thx dinotrek27 for the suggestion). EV are ok here, nothing to explain. Good volturn core with Raikou.

Tentacruel (F) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Liquid Ooze
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Hardy Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic Spikes
- Scald
- Ice Beam

At this point, I thought a poemon quite Bulky was needed. Also, I didn't have any SR/spikes in the team, same for defog/rapid spin (and Crobat is here now). His typing is also pretty good with the rest of the team.
That's why tentacruel is here. Also, Liquid Ooze enables me to switch into him on a Drain Punch or on a Giga Drain. Toxic spikes on the switch (usually). Rapid spin is to throw spikes/sr/... away. Scald is a stab move, and the secondary effect is good here. As for Crobat, I'm not really sure about the last move. I put Ice beam for the moment. I don't really know the metagame now, need to play more. 252HP ok. 252 SDef is because Aggron is already a really good physical tank, and I have no one in the team to tank spe atk.


That's all for the team.
The biggest problem imo is that Raikou is the only one to atk in spe. Also, ground type is a big weakness. And I have nothing to counter sleeping. Breloom can be a problem <- after some fights against him, he is a big threat.
I'm need to do more fights to see the threats.
I'm using Raikou/Crobat as lead, Aggron/Tentacruel/Swampert rarely (depending on the opponent team).
I will play more soon, and add some threats/changes probably.
Thx for reading. All advice/opinion is appreciated.
Also, it's my first RMT, so I hope all is good here.

Edit history :
1) Swampert over Kecleon (which was bad)
2) Changed Aggron set : Ev spread and moves. Was something like mixed sets, not working really well.
3) Raikou scarf
4) HP grass on Raikou (instead of HP Ice)
5) Super Fang over Cross Poison on Crobat
6) Roar over Ice punch on Swampert



Importable :

Aggron (M) @ Aggronite
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Stone Edge
- Iron Head
- Heavy Slam
- Earthquake


Swampert (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Waterfall
- Stealth Rock
- Roar


Raikou @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Extrasensory
- Hidden Power [Grass]


Malamar (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Contrary
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Substitute
- Superpower
- Psycho Cut
- Night Slash


Crobat (F) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Infiltrator
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Roost
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Super Fang


Tentacruel (F) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Liquid Ooze
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Hardy Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic Spikes
- Scald
- Ice Beam

 

[Ununhexium]

Aggron's moves/evs is not for "obvious reasons" you appear to be trying to mash 3 sets together unsuccessfully. you either want 252 HP and 252 Def/SDef with Stealth Rock, Thunder Wave, Iron Head/Heavy Slam, and Earthquake; a bulky tank (252 HP 252 Atk) with some attacks like Iron Head/Heavy Slam, Earthquake, Stone Edge (rock head doesnt carry over sadly) ice punch, the possibilities are endless; or 252 Atk and 252 Spe with autotomize.

Kekleon is just a bad pokemon. If you want something tanky, try swampert or donphan who can both do it much better

Raikou should not be an AV user (but i guess it is salvageable) but a scarfer, specser, or a SubSMer with max speed and Spa.

With malamar, run a Jolly/Adamant nature. It has no need for Spa because the set you have doesnt even use it.

No real issues with Tentacruel and Crobat.

Hope i helped

 

[CactusPiquant]

Ok, ty for your advices.

Malamar was already adamant, was a mistake in a previous version u_u
i'm ok for Raikou, a scarf one sounds good. Will try it soon.
For aggron, the thing I'm trying to do is this : "a bulky tank (252 HP 252 Atk) with some attacks like Iron Head/Heavy Slam, Earthquake, Stone Edge (rock head doesnt carry over sadly) ice punch". So I will try it.
About Kecleon, after more attempts, I agree that he is probably the worst pokemon of the team. Need to do something here.

Thx for your help. I'm still quite bad, and your support is appreciated :)

 

[dinotrek27]

With crobat, you might wanna run super fang? It deals good damage to the many meaty walls and tanks in UU and can help aggron and Raikou in cleaning up late game. I think you can swap it with cross poison since I don't really think you would need to use it much. But it's up to your personal preference so yeah.

 

[CactusPiquant]

This is definitely a good idea to put Super Fang on Crobat. Cross Poison is not so useful, this is just an implicit weapon most of the time. So should be ok without it. Thx for this :)

 

[Ununhexium]

little nitpicky thing. its not entirely relevant, but you said malamar was your favorite pokemon of last gen but it didnt even exist last gen.

just thought you should fix that

 

[CactusPiquant]

Yeah, my english sucks. Thx for noticing this. Still good to improve my english.

 

[Eatthepear]

Nice team! There are some things you should change to make it more effective though.
First off, for Mega Aggron Brick Break is very unnecessary. A STAB Heavy Slam hits harder than Super Effective Brick Break does, as proven by the following calculations:
252+ Atk Mega Aggron Heavy Slam (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Umbreon: 210-247 (53.2 - 62.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Mega Aggron Brick Break vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Umbreon: 176-208 (44.6 - 52.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
Also, following the banning of the numerous dragons in the tier, Ice Punch becomes very unnecessary as well, as most things are hit hard by Stone Edge already.
The change I would suggest you to make is switching Ice Punch and Iron Head to Earthquake and Heavy Slam, as Aggron will be more effective with those moves. EV spread seems fine though.
For Swampert the only change I would suggest is swapping Ice Punch for Roar, as Ice Punch is not quite as useful without so many dragons around.
On Raikou Pressure seems somewhat pointless to me, as you'll be switching out and hitting things hard, not PP stalling them. So instead of Pressure, switch to Volt Absorb. This will allow you to absorb opposing Volt Switches and other Electric-Type moves. Also, Shadow Ball may seem good, but it is still somewhat weak, as most of the things weak to it are hit hard by Thunderbolt anyway. I think switching Shadow Ball to Extrasensory is a good idea, as then you can hit some other pokemon.
Sorry I don't have any more time to continue this rate, nice team!

 

[CactusPiquant]

Damn, your post is so useful.
I think I should follow everything here, and try this soon, as all seems really good.
Never tought that Brick Break was weaker than Heavy Slam, even if it's a super effective hit.
I'm ok for ice punch. But I think I have to keep one, since I'm currently moving on HP Grass with Raikou, which seems to work really good.
Volt Absorb was obvious, don't know why I didn't thought about this.
And sure, Shadow Ball is weak. Extrasensory is weak too, but the coverage is better as you said.
So yeah, will try things and edit team after this. Thanks for the rate!

Edit : volt Absorb isn't allowed. That's why Raikou was on Pressure :p

 

[Ununhexium]

yes with the EVs that youre running, roar is a very nice option. maybe you could even run scald over waterfall with a -Spe nature. the burn can really come in handy sometimes and since swampert is sufficiently bulky, it can set rock and roar while also spreading burns

 

[dinotrek27]

Damn, your post is so useful.
I think I should follow everything here, and try this soon, as all seems really good.
Never tought that Brick Break was weaker than Heavy Slam, even if it's a super effective hit.
I'm ok for ice punch. But I think I have to keep one, since I'm currently moving on HP Grass with Raikou, which seems to work really good.
Volt Absorb was obvious, don't know why I didn't thought about this.
And sure, Shadow Ball is weak. Extrasensory is weak too, but the coverage is better as you said.
So yeah, will try things and edit team after this. Thanks for the rate!

Edit : volt Absorb isn't allowed. That's why Raikou was on Pressure :p

Remember to edit your first post with all the changes so we can see how all the changes look like and there won't be reposts

 

[CactusPiquant]

Edited. For the reason I already mentioned in the Swampert description, I think I will still use Waterfall.
The rest is changed. I don't even think I need an ice punch, so remove all ice moves. Will see the repercution later, but should be ok with neutral moves.
Again, thx all for the help.

 

[Lil'Al]

Hey im pretty new myself but as you see common leads like choice scarf u-turn/volt switch users or hazard set ups with focus sash you should try to cripple them. You say you have problems with breloom? I see great talent in your crobat. Simply add taunt to him. Taunt, u turn, BB & cross poison.
With that breloom lead are completely screwed. After outsped taunt the opponent would probebly wantto switch so where you go for u-turn to automatically pick up ur paise as a 2nd turn typing advantage.
You also have 2 pokes with seperate hazard set ups. I'd consider removing TS on tentacruel for protect/sludge bomb. Poison imo is the least chaotic status ailment, but others would probably disagree. Have a nice day (:

 

[WhiteSmoke]

I am an avid malamar user in uu and suggest you try assault vest on it and put some speed investment in it this really helps it pick up the KOs. Hope I helped :)

 

[Kevun]

I am an avid malamar user in uu and suggest you try assault vest on it and put some speed investment in it this really helps it pick up the KOs. Hope I helped :)

Yes, I strongly agree with this. Assault vest is probably the best item you can put on Malamar. With the defense boosts from Superpower, an assault vest patches it up on the special side. You have to forgo Substitute, but the extra bulk makes up for it. If you do decide to do this, I'd recommend Rock Slide, to hit flying types. However, Facade can also be a decent option to get past burns.

 

[Ununhexium]

You should replace tentacruels hardy nature with a different one as it has no need for attack.

Maybe you could replace super fang, u-turn, or roost on crobat with taunt. Taunt is awesome for helping to crack walls and crobat is the fastest tanter in UU iirc.

 

[Taehl]

Raikou should not be an AV user

Have you even tried AV Raikou? It's amazing (especially in ou), and is imo beter than all it's other sets.