Nixon73
Scuttlebug Jamboree
Introduction
**
So this team is built around making Kyurem-W playable, in part as it was my favorite pokemon from the BW days. Back then, Kyurem could just come into anything slower than it, and basically just click draco-meteor and just watch something die. Unfortunately, Kyurem was almost entirely destroyed by the rise of Xerneas, who can boost with a smile on a choice-locked draco meteor and sweep whole teams. However, I think a team like this allows Kyurem to still be very effective, taking advantage of the currently bulky offensive meta to very effectively fill the offensive role on a semi-stall team.
No one really cares about ladder peaks that much lately, but this allowed a shitty player like me (usually like 1500) to actually hit top 7 on the ladder (after I stopped using this I fell right back down, so I know it was the team that was good, lol). The team takes advantage of four defensively-inclined mons to wear the enemy down until Xerneas can sweep, with Kyurem acting as a mallet to break anything that the rest struggle with.
**
Teambuilding Process
**So I started with Kyurem-W, which is meant to be a wallbreaker and the main offensive presence of this team. Kyurem hits high and wears down even the things that resist it extremely quickly, making it a strong lead and a favorable matchup against anything with less than 317 speed.**
**Xerneas was added to the team as a wincon and to complete an offensive core with Kyurem. Xerneas benefits from sharing switch-ins with Kyurem, so Kyurem can just wear them down enough for Xerneas to sweep. **
**Mega Scizor was added as perhaps the single best counter to Xerneas now that HP Fire is not used anymore. Since this team would otherwise be begging to be swept by GeoXern by running specs Draco Meteor, Scizor manages to remedy the biggest downside to using Kyurem.**
**
The team so far is really vulnerable to Mega Salamence and Ho-Oh, so I added Rock Arceus’ bird antidote set to kill birds. Also can burn Extreme Killer, and provides valuable Defog support for Kyurem.
**
**Since we have a defogger on our team, it lets me add Defensive Yveltal to check Pdon and add more physical bulk to the team. Foul play destroys most setup sweepers, and it works as a stallbreaker rather well.**
**Finally, Pdon was added to do its supremely splashable role as Stealth Rock setter. It also adds some needed bulk, and spreads status with Thunder Wave so that Yveltal can just come in and revenge if a sweeper gets one too many boosts.**
The Team
Kyurem-White @ Choice Specs
Ability: Turboblaze
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam
- Draco Meteor
- Fusion Flare
- Sleep Talk
Ice Beam hits anything that doesn't resist it for enormous damage (example: usually OHKOs Lugia), crucially landing a 2HKO on Xerneas and thus preventing it from being a good switch-in to Kyurem. Fusion flare is essential coverage, one-hitting pokemon like Aegislash, Ferrothorn, and Steel-Arceus on a predicted switch. The last move is usually Focus Blast, but I find its coverage to be kind of redundant (doesn't do anything that Draco-Meteor can't bar one-hit Extreme Killer, which this team doesn’t really fear much) so I went with Sleep Talk to surprise-KO Darkrai and partially cover this team's glaring weakness to it.**
Xerneas @ Power Herb
Ability: Fairy Aura
EVs: 184 HP / 28 Def / 252 SpA / 44 Spe
Modest Nature
- Geomancy
- Moonblast
- Thunder
- Focus Blast
Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 60 Atk / 200 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Roost
- Pursuit
- U-turn/Toxic
Mega Scizor used to be a staple in XY Ubers, due to its incredible effectiveness at stopping Fairy-types. Xerneas in particular is downright hard-countered by Scizor unless it runs the uber-rare HP fire. Just switch into a Moonblast, Roost, and pivot (or own them if they’re dumb enough to boost). On the (rather rare) situations the enemy doesn’t have a Xerneas, Scizor works as an effective revenge-killer if threats like Salamence somehow overpower their intended checks. It is the team's go-to answer for Deoxys-A, who it should beat reliably barring some weird coverage move (to a lesser extent, it can similarly take Mewtwo). It can absorb Toxic and Thunder Wave from Chansey/Blissey/Klefki before pivoting with U-turn, stopping them from landing status on the switch. It also completely walls Judgment-less Water Arceus, which this team really appreciates.
Bullet Punch is the obvious attacking move on Scizor, with Roost allowing it to switch in endlessly on Xerneas with no problem. Pursuit allows it to trap Latios (who do on rare occasion run HP-fire, so watch out for that) and U-turn allows it to pivot away from Groudon. Toxic can be used instead of U-turn though, hitting things like Pdon on the switch and allowing the team to more easily deal with Blissey and defensive Arceus. Somewhat counter-intuitively, Toxic gives a better matchup against more offensive teams, since it helps Yveltal focus on walling and keeps pressure up, while U-turn allows for more smooth switching against defensive teams, so just pick the move that reflects whatever is in fashion.
**
Arceus-Rock @ Stone Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Defog
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
- Judgment
Everything in this team so far loses to Ho-Oh and a boosted Mega-Salamence pretty badly, so I’m running bird antidote Arceus as an obvious check to them. Its role is basically simply being the bird antidote and burning Extreme Killer/Khan in an emergency. Against a team with Ho-oh in particular, Arceus should be kept healthy at basically any cost, since while it is the one best counter in the game for Ho-oh, it is also this team's only answer to it.
Judgment is an obvious choice, one-hitting the mons its meant to beat. Defog is good support, keeping Kyurem and Yveltal healthy throughout the match. Will-O-Wisp cripples physical Arceus forms (as well as stuff like Lucario if it switches) and Restore is the mandatory healing move.
**
Yveltal @ Leftovers
Ability: Dark Aura
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
- Foul Play
- Roost
- Toxic
- Taunt
Defensive Yveltal is the next mon in this team, serving as a blanket check to physical attackers such as Pdon, Arceus, and Salamence, as well as a way to beat Ghost-types like Giratina which this team otherwise would fear. Yveltal is the main status spreader, and also an effective stallbreaker through use of Taunt. With physical investment, Yveltal can tank nonboosted Stone Edge from Groudon, Return from Salamence after one boost, and Extreme Speed/Shadow Force from Arceus after two, making it great at stopping sweepers overall. Generally, one should switch to Yveltal against any non-Flying physical sweeper, with Rock Arceus as backup. It does a decent job of handling Mewtwo (not Mega-Y, though) and a few other special attackers, but it will usually require sacrificing Yveltal, which should only be done after physical attackers have been removed.
Foul Play after Dark Aura will OHKO almost any physical threat dumb enough to boost, and Toxic is a good way to hurt things like Water Arceus and Xerneas if they try to switch in. Roost is the obvious healing move and will allow it to heal in the face of slower pokemon using coverage moves, and Taunt is there to make annoying slow things like Blissey or Ferrothorn easy to handle.
**
Groudon @ Red Orb
Ability: Drought
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Precipice Blades
- Rock Slide
- Thunder Wave
To round up the team, Pdon serves its role as the most splashable pokemon on Ubers, helping deal with the team’s weaknesses. Specially defensive Pdon sets Stealth Rock, can spread Thunder Wave to dangerous sweepers, hits decently high, can switch into Kyogre (which this team still isn’t all that fond of), is a backup check to Xerneas, and is just a bulky hard-hitting thing that makes the defensive pokemon have an easier time of keeping things together.
Stealth Rock is a mandatory move, and Pdon is the default setter for a reason. Precipice Blades severely hurts things like Kyogre and one-hits annoying things like Lucario and Rock/Steel Arceus. Thunder Wave makes sweepers far less threatening to the rest of the team and let Yveltal revenge any dangerous sweeper in an emergency, and Rock Slide is there as coverage against flying types, especially Ho-oh.
**
Threats
Conclusion
**This team is fun to use, sturdy, and reliable, and shows that with good support Kyurem can be a powerful threat even post-Fairies. Feel free to try it out and tell me what you think!**
Kyurem-White @ Choice Specs
Ability: Turboblaze
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam
- Draco Meteor
- Fusion Flare
- Sleep Talk
Xerneas @ Power Herb
Ability: Fairy Aura
EVs: 184 HP / 28 Def / 252 SpA / 44 Spe
Modest Nature
- Geomancy
- Moonblast
- Thunder
- Focus Blast
Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 60 Atk / 200 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Roost
- Pursuit
- U-turn
Yveltal @ Leftovers
Ability: Dark Aura
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
- Foul Play
- Roost
- Toxic
- Taunt
Arceus-Rock @ Stone Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Defog
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
- Judgment
Groudon @ Red Orb
Ability: Drought
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Precipice Blades
- Rock Slide
- Thunder Wave
Ability: Turboblaze
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam
- Draco Meteor
- Fusion Flare
- Sleep Talk
Xerneas @ Power Herb
Ability: Fairy Aura
EVs: 184 HP / 28 Def / 252 SpA / 44 Spe
Modest Nature
- Geomancy
- Moonblast
- Thunder
- Focus Blast
Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 60 Atk / 200 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Roost
- Pursuit
- U-turn
Yveltal @ Leftovers
Ability: Dark Aura
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
- Foul Play
- Roost
- Toxic
- Taunt
Arceus-Rock @ Stone Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Defog
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
- Judgment
Groudon @ Red Orb
Ability: Drought
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Precipice Blades
- Rock Slide
- Thunder Wave
Last edited: