Hey so I decided I'll make another post and share a team I've had the most success with while laddering. So far I have peaked around 1500 but I've since tilted back down to high 1300s LUL. Personally I feel like this team is pretty solid but the biggest issue it has is it's consistency and this is primarily due to the two Pokemon I wanted to build around. While I will admit I have won a few games due to RNG being on my side but the same can be said vice versa where crucial OHKOs could be secured but due to misses it makes the game much harder. So If you have any advice to help make this squad more consistent do share but the RMT is mainly to just share the team, as this will probably be the last team I post for a month or so.
Team Building Process
So I really wanted to build around NP Lucario because I feel like it is very slept on right now, it also destroys the stall and balance teams that are so popular right now. And while I did not build this team taking Bisharp into consideration it is a reliable revenge killer and to a lesser extent a switch in.
So I paired this with Agility Moltres whom greatly appreciates having bulkier Pokemon especially special walls weakened which Lucario effectively does. I intended to use Flyinium Z so while it can one time nuke something it needs the set up from Lucario to clean through.
Next I went with Scarf Krookodile primarily due to my weakness to break through Latias. He was also the best pursuit trapper to remove Chandelure and Gengar for Lucario. Also gave me an electric immunity.
So I then went for the defensive core of Mega Altaria and Empoleon. The initial reason was to have Malt have Defog and Empoleon have SR however I wanted to compress both roles onto Empoleon and run 3 Atks+Roost which imo is the best set right now.
Finally I wanted to add a secondary hazard remover for Moltres so I went with Tsareena. Tsareena has honestly become one of my favourite Pokemon to use and added a lot of utility for my team. I originally had a different item on Tsareena due to running Heal Bell on Malt but I later opted to change this.
Team Breakdown
Lucario @ Life Orb
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
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Focus Blast
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Flash Cannon
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Vacuum Wave
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Nasty Plot
Team Building Process
So I really wanted to build around NP Lucario because I feel like it is very slept on right now, it also destroys the stall and balance teams that are so popular right now. And while I did not build this team taking Bisharp into consideration it is a reliable revenge killer and to a lesser extent a switch in.
So I paired this with Agility Moltres whom greatly appreciates having bulkier Pokemon especially special walls weakened which Lucario effectively does. I intended to use Flyinium Z so while it can one time nuke something it needs the set up from Lucario to clean through.
Next I went with Scarf Krookodile primarily due to my weakness to break through Latias. He was also the best pursuit trapper to remove Chandelure and Gengar for Lucario. Also gave me an electric immunity.
So I then went for the defensive core of Mega Altaria and Empoleon. The initial reason was to have Malt have Defog and Empoleon have SR however I wanted to compress both roles onto Empoleon and run 3 Atks+Roost which imo is the best set right now.
Finally I wanted to add a secondary hazard remover for Moltres so I went with Tsareena. Tsareena has honestly become one of my favourite Pokemon to use and added a lot of utility for my team. I originally had a different item on Tsareena due to running Heal Bell on Malt but I later opted to change this.
Team Breakdown
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
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Lucario was the main focus point on the team which absolutely rips through balance which is so prominent right now opening up the door for Krookodile or Moltres. I opted for Life Orb because I felt the Z-Move best suited Moltres and overall it's very crucial at ensuring specific OHKO's at +2 on Pokemon such as Alomamola, Florges etc. Inner Focus is the preferred ability here so you can't be flinched down by Scarf Togekiss for example and remove it from play. Very standard ev spread, I didn't feel like I needed to adapt the spread to take a hit from something. I primarily opted for Focus Blast for the OHKO's you can ensure with it however in some cases you can miss the accuracy of Aura Sphere as Focus Miss has cost me games sometimes. Flash Cannon is the primary stab move to break through the fairy types which is really nice for Krookodile and Malt. Vacuum Wave was opted over Dark Pulse for stab priority which lets me revenge kill Terrakion, Cobalion and Bisharp if it stays in the tier. Finally Nasty Plot greatly improves your wall-breaking potential.
+2 252 SpA Life Orb Lucario Focus Blast vs. 40 HP / 216 SpD Alomomola: 612-721 (127.2 - 149.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 SpA Life Orb Lucario Flash Cannon vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Florges: 429-507 (119.1 - 140.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 SpA Life Orb Lucario Focus Blast vs. 240 HP / 16 SpD Swampert: 500-590 (124.6 - 147.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 SpA Life Orb Lucario Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Tentacruel: 199-235 (54.6 - 64.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
+2 252 SpA Life Orb Lucario Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Blissey: 720-850 (100.8 - 119%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 SpA Life Orb Lucario Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 24 SpD Slowbro: 273-321 (69.2 - 81.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252 SpA Life Orb Lucario Flash Cannon vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Florges: 429-507 (119.1 - 140.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 SpA Life Orb Lucario Focus Blast vs. 240 HP / 16 SpD Swampert: 500-590 (124.6 - 147.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 SpA Life Orb Lucario Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Tentacruel: 199-235 (54.6 - 64.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
+2 252 SpA Life Orb Lucario Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Blissey: 720-850 (100.8 - 119%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 SpA Life Orb Lucario Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 24 SpD Slowbro: 273-321 (69.2 - 81.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
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So I wanted to partner Lucario up with Agility Moltres to potentially clean. So as I mentioned above I wanted to use my Z-move on Moltres, being Flyinium-Z, and SSS absolutely destroys something if your team doesn't have a rock type or a Rotom-H. Flame Body is to punish Pokemon like Cobalion and Scizor however if I am honest I've only gotten the 30% about three times over the course of about 30 games but of course there isn't much merit of using Pressure. Again very standard ev spread here. Hurricane is the primary flying stab that works best in conjunction with Flyinium-Z and then Fire Blast as the fire stab move. The only issue is the accuracy of the moves which as I pointed out before has lost me games but I can't complain too much as in some games I rarely missed a move. Roost provides me with the recovery to beat a threat like Malt, Scizor and Cobalion (that doesn't have Stone Edge). Agility is the final move which allows me to potentially clean up a team and is then very hard to revenge kill.
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
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Krookodile plays several key roles for this team being a trapper, revenge killer / speed control and an electric immunity. As everyone knows by now Krookodile is extremely splash-able and it does exactly that here. Choice Scarf makes me an effective RK and gives me speed control even if I have agility and priority already. Another standard set and ev spread here. Earthquake is your most spammable move that you should be looking to sweep with. Pursuit was so crucial for this team as Chandelure and Latias are a pain to this team especially if its Gigavolt Latias. Stone Edge was opted over Crunch, Fire Fang or Iron Tail because opposing Moltres are a problem to break. Knock Off provides a lot of utility and is your most spammable dark coverage. Overall this Pokemon just compresses a lot into one role.
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 76 Def / 180 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
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Empoleon as Krookodile does compresses a lot into one role. It gave me both a hazard setter and a hazard remover with Stealth Rock and Defog retrospectively. It gave me a water type switch-in and Latias check assuming it doesn't have Gigavolt but you can scout for this. Leftovers is used for passive recovery but imo you could try Shuca Berry to better handle Mamoswine or opposing Krook but I don't feel like that is necessary. Scald is your stab move that punishes a lot of physical attackers and can invalidate opposing Lefties or Black Sludge if you get the burn. As mentioned above I decided to run both SR and Defog on this to compress the roles together and open up my Altaria to run something else. Finally Toxic lets you wear down other bulky Pokemon and punish set-up sweepers like Latias, Suicune etc.
Ability: Natural Cure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 68 Atk / 44 Def / 4 SpA / 124 SpD / 16 Spe
Relaxed Nature
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So this is where I went for a bit more specific ev spread to do certain things that I wanted. In the replays below I used to have Heal Bell but I didn't find it too useful so swapped it out for Fire Blast which I preferred a lot more imo. So Malt forms a nice core with Empoleon checking most of the fighting and electric types Empoleon can't. It also gives me a better answer to Crawdaunt and a secondary check to Latias.
So the ev spread does several things which I'll explain. The HP and Def investment is used so you can live a Bullet Punch from a CB Scizor after SR. The Atk investment lets me reach 3 benchmarks I felt were important, one being to guarantee the OHKO with Body Slam on Latias after SR. The second was to guarantee 2OHKO Specs Primarina with Body Slam (Assuming you get the para on switch-in) and the third to 2OHKO Tentacruel with Earthquake (based on the Smogon ev set not the one on the calculator). The 4 SpA investment with a Relaxed nature means you guarantee 2OHKO Z-move Celebi. The SpD investment means you can eat a Sludge Wave from non Life Orb / Expert Belt Nihilego after rocks as well as always survive a Corkscrew Crash from Hydreigon from full. This is kind of niche which is why I will also post an alternative ev spread below which I have tried that has enough speed for Crawdaunt instead. The speed investment just lets me hit 180 Speed.
Body Slam all around has been the most effective for me over Moonblast or Hyper Voice. the main reasons are because it still hits Kommo-O, beats Calm Mind latias and has a 30% chance to inflict the dreaded yellow colour (I actually hate paralysis xd). Fire Blast hits most steel types harder than Earthquake does especially on Cobalion, MegaLix, Mega Aggron etc due to my lack of Atk investment, while also punishing Celebi for example. Earthquake lets me nail Tentacruel, Nihilego and Magneton the hardest and either OHKO or 2OHKO. Finally Roost is much needed recovery.
Tsareena @ Lum Berry
Ability: Queenly Majesty
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 12 Def / 4 SpD / 240 Spe
Jolly Nature
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Power Whip
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U-turn
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Rapid Spin
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Synthesis /
High Jump Kick
So the ev spread does several things which I'll explain. The HP and Def investment is used so you can live a Bullet Punch from a CB Scizor after SR. The Atk investment lets me reach 3 benchmarks I felt were important, one being to guarantee the OHKO with Body Slam on Latias after SR. The second was to guarantee 2OHKO Specs Primarina with Body Slam (Assuming you get the para on switch-in) and the third to 2OHKO Tentacruel with Earthquake (based on the Smogon ev set not the one on the calculator). The 4 SpA investment with a Relaxed nature means you guarantee 2OHKO Z-move Celebi. The SpD investment means you can eat a Sludge Wave from non Life Orb / Expert Belt Nihilego after rocks as well as always survive a Corkscrew Crash from Hydreigon from full. This is kind of niche which is why I will also post an alternative ev spread below which I have tried that has enough speed for Crawdaunt instead. The speed investment just lets me hit 180 Speed.
Body Slam all around has been the most effective for me over Moonblast or Hyper Voice. the main reasons are because it still hits Kommo-O, beats Calm Mind latias and has a 30% chance to inflict the dreaded yellow colour (I actually hate paralysis xd). Fire Blast hits most steel types harder than Earthquake does especially on Cobalion, MegaLix, Mega Aggron etc due to my lack of Atk investment, while also punishing Celebi for example. Earthquake lets me nail Tentacruel, Nihilego and Magneton the hardest and either OHKO or 2OHKO. Finally Roost is much needed recovery.
68 Atk Pixilate Altaria-Mega Body Slam vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Latias: 278-330 (92 - 109.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
68 Atk Altaria-Mega Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 112 Def Tentacruel: 204-240 (56 - 65.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
68 Atk Pixilate Altaria-Mega Body Slam vs. 92 HP / 4 Def Primarina: 162-192 (50 - 59.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Hydreigon Corkscrew Crash (160 BP) vs. 252 HP / 124 SpD Altaria-Mega: 290-342 (81.9 - 96.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Nihilego Sludge Wave vs. 252 HP / 124 SpD Altaria-Mega: 260-308 (73.4 - 87%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Choice Band Technician Scizor Bullet Punch vs. 252 HP / 44+ Def Altaria-Mega: 260-308 (73.4 - 87%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Krookodile Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 44+ Def Altaria-Mega: 123-145 (34.7 - 40.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Aerodactyl-Mega Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 44+ Def Altaria-Mega: 135-160 (38.1 - 45.1%) -- 9% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
68 Atk Altaria-Mega Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 112 Def Tentacruel: 204-240 (56 - 65.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
68 Atk Pixilate Altaria-Mega Body Slam vs. 92 HP / 4 Def Primarina: 162-192 (50 - 59.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Hydreigon Corkscrew Crash (160 BP) vs. 252 HP / 124 SpD Altaria-Mega: 290-342 (81.9 - 96.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Nihilego Sludge Wave vs. 252 HP / 124 SpD Altaria-Mega: 260-308 (73.4 - 87%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Choice Band Technician Scizor Bullet Punch vs. 252 HP / 44+ Def Altaria-Mega: 260-308 (73.4 - 87%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Krookodile Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 44+ Def Altaria-Mega: 123-145 (34.7 - 40.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Aerodactyl-Mega Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 44+ Def Altaria-Mega: 135-160 (38.1 - 45.1%) -- 9% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
Altaria-Mega @ Altarianite
Ability: Natural Cure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 68 Atk / 44 Def / 8 SpD / 136 Spe
Impish Nature
- Body Slam
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake
- Roost
Ability: Natural Cure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 68 Atk / 44 Def / 8 SpD / 136 Spe
Impish Nature
- Body Slam
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake
- Roost
Ability: Queenly Majesty
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 12 Def / 4 SpD / 240 Spe
Jolly Nature
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So this is the final member of the team which gave me a secondary hazard remover for Moltres and lets me deal with Sub Suicune. Originally I was using Rose Incense (equivalent to Meadow Plate etc.) but I decided I didn't like Heal Bell on Malt so swapped to Lum Berry however I don't have any replays of where I used it. Queenly Majesty is an amazing ability that shuts down Crawdaunt and Bisharp, again assuming he stays in the tier. The ev spread is pretty standard I just gave it enough speed to outpace base 70's, this can be effective too to get a slow U-turn off vs other Jolly Tsareena. U-turn as mentioned above for momentum and means Celebi can't be a reliable switch-in. Rapid Spin is for another form of hazard removal and lets me keep Rocks on opponents side of the field especially since I compressed the roles of Empoleon. Now I am pretty unsure on this last move but I feel like Synthesis is nicer overall especially since most of the Pokemon on my team demolish steel types and also because I am tired of missing HJK, however it came in clutch vs a SubRoost Kyurem which is threatening for this team. So I am pretty undecided about this.
Threats
So this thing is a pain in the ass I swear. While Moltres to an extent can switch-in to it you still have to remember Icicle Crash is neutral and if SR are kept up then it's just too menacing. In most games vs it, I had to sack several Pokemon just to drop it into Vacuum Wave range for Lucario.
So this thing is also very hard for me to deal with. While Empoleon can switch-in so often it's mainly an issue to break through it. No particular set is more threatening than the other imo but if you keep rocks up you can beat it or if you wanna flex Hidden Power Rock on Malt x) .
Goddamn this thing is a nuisance simply because of Serene Grace. Empoleon is my flying resist but it never wins 1 vs 1 against any Togekiss set. In one replay I literally had to hax it down myself to beat it due to my Lucario going down and having to sack Empoleon. It is important to keep rocks up and either get the double into Lucario right or momentum with Tsareena as it invites it in.
Honestly how do you deal with this SubRoost shit. Yeah Lucario can deal with it but you need that Substitute to be down to do so. Honestly it's so scary to play against like it 2OHKO's Moltres with Ice Beam. The only reason I beat it in one replay was because I assume he thought my Tsareena was banded.
Replays
Here are a few replays nothing too special, especially since I'm not the best player but hopefully I'll get better along the way in UU. The games that got me to 1500 where done on my phone so I forgot to save them but a few mid 1400 games if you wanna look at. I don't think I ran into stall once but I don't think that would be a threat to this team.
Sticky Webs team - http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-821789076
Threats
So this thing is a pain in the ass I swear. While Moltres to an extent can switch-in to it you still have to remember Icicle Crash is neutral and if SR are kept up then it's just too menacing. In most games vs it, I had to sack several Pokemon just to drop it into Vacuum Wave range for Lucario.
So this thing is also very hard for me to deal with. While Empoleon can switch-in so often it's mainly an issue to break through it. No particular set is more threatening than the other imo but if you keep rocks up you can beat it or if you wanna flex Hidden Power Rock on Malt x) .
Goddamn this thing is a nuisance simply because of Serene Grace. Empoleon is my flying resist but it never wins 1 vs 1 against any Togekiss set. In one replay I literally had to hax it down myself to beat it due to my Lucario going down and having to sack Empoleon. It is important to keep rocks up and either get the double into Lucario right or momentum with Tsareena as it invites it in.
Honestly how do you deal with this SubRoost shit. Yeah Lucario can deal with it but you need that Substitute to be down to do so. Honestly it's so scary to play against like it 2OHKO's Moltres with Ice Beam. The only reason I beat it in one replay was because I assume he thought my Tsareena was banded.
Replays
Here are a few replays nothing too special, especially since I'm not the best player but hopefully I'll get better along the way in UU. The games that got me to 1500 where done on my phone so I forgot to save them but a few mid 1400 games if you wanna look at. I don't think I ran into stall once but I don't think that would be a threat to this team.
Sticky Webs team - http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-821789076
Togekiss being a pain in the ass lmao - http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-821793518
Accidentally used DD Malt but it sort of did it's role - http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-822010250
Sub Roost Kyurem xd - http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-822011929
Potential NP Luc sweep but misread the Nidoqueen set - http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-822032709
Another close game where I derped because of trace and para xd - http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-822036630
Overall I had a lot of fun with this squad and sorry again for not having any replays with the new changes I made with Fire Blast on Malt and Lum Berry on Tsareena. As for things I've tested I tried DD Malt but not really a fan of not using a bulky variants and that is about it other than a few move changes. Thanks for taking the time to read this RMT and I hope you enjoyed reading it. If you have any suggestions do let me know, anyways until the next time :)
Sub Roost Kyurem xd - http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-822011929
Potential NP Luc sweep but misread the Nidoqueen set - http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-822032709
Another close game where I derped because of trace and para xd - http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-822036630
Overall I had a lot of fun with this squad and sorry again for not having any replays with the new changes I made with Fire Blast on Malt and Lum Berry on Tsareena. As for things I've tested I tried DD Malt but not really a fan of not using a bulky variants and that is about it other than a few move changes. Thanks for taking the time to read this RMT and I hope you enjoyed reading it. If you have any suggestions do let me know, anyways until the next time :)
