Smogon »The Smog »Issue 3 » Featured Ubers RMT: "Rising From The Storms" by Jibaku.

Hi. It's been a couple of months since my last Uber team, so I figured it's time to create another one.

Overview:

Despite me alternating between OU and Ubers in team posting, I am still very much an Ubers fan. I love the metagame more than the other metagames. This team I'm using is a variant of stall, being slightly more offensively geared to take advantage of the entry hazards put up during the slow-mo part in the early game. I don't believe anyone has used this team before-at least not the exact same content. But anyways, this team peaked me at #5 (probably could've gone for more but I stopped once I reached #5). And later on, I managed to shoot up from nothing to #6 on a different account using this team. In other words, this has been my most successful team.

Bragging aside, like my OU team, this team contains a star- Giratina-O. Like Theorymon, I've been unable to make a team without a specific Pokemon. While Theorymon can't make a Wobbuffettless team, my teams generally gear towards this Pokemon, if I'm not using normal Giratina of course. Now as the metagame progresses, the team slowly gets outdated, with the rise in Payback Forretresses and higher usage of Giratina-O to go alongside a Deoxys-S leads. The team still nets me an average of 6:1 win-loss ratio, though.

Playstyle:

To achieve the most success with this team, risky decisions usually produce the best results. If you've locked your opponent into a disadvantage, predict their switch in and keep them at a disadvantage. While it may sound obvious to all of you, it is only utilized by few players on ladder, and on a team that wants to set up entry hazards ASAP this tactic becomes almost a necessity to save time and secure chances of winning. This is what the team is built upon: an offensive mindset with defensive members, and as contradictory as that sounds, it allows matches to end quicker while retaining the defensive core of stall. Just because it's stall doesn't mean you cut down on the predictions just because you think you have stuff to cushion the blow.

Team

Note: The EV spreads I post in here may not be the EV spreads I use. I will not tell you which ones I lied in. There are some extremely subtle hints though.

The new Groudon—I'm fairly sure I was the first person to use Impish Groudon. But anyways, this thing sets up Stealth Rock, and beats up Dialga leads as well as outrunning twash's Groudon by one point. Choosing between Lum Berry and Leftovers bugged me a lot; Lum berry helps me get that Stealth Rock against Darkrai, but Leftovers help against Bulk Up Dialga and surviving a Lucario assault after SR + Spikes. This leads because I don't have a better lead, except maybe Forretress but I'd rather keep some kind of edge against Kyogre with the sunlight and all.

Earthquake is for the obvious STAB and the ability to break down Dialga, while Dragon Claw helps a lot against Rayquaza, Lati@s, and Giratina-O. SR is obvious enough and Roar is something I've been testing recently, and it works with the entry hazards flying around. Bulk Up was in Roar's slot because it helps against RP Groudons and endgame BU Dialgas, so I might actually go back to that.

Groudon also provides weather control-which can either be good or horrible. Often times, Groudon finds itself switching into Thunders or some physical attack to remove the rain which can plague my team is thoroughly abused. This trait allows Groudon to be an incredible suicide bait, potentially changing the game's momentum upon its last breath.

The EV spread is simple for the most part. It survives 2 CB Outrages from Jolly Rayquaza-perhaps the strongest you'll ever see. Extras are dumped into Attack and Speed for extra oomph.

I suppose this is all I can say for Groudon. I'll let you all in a little trick though: Against Kyogre leads, I like to switch to Blissey to absorb their attack, then move right back to Groudon. This usually catches their physical attacker-often Scizor, off guard and nets me the Stealth Rock I need. It works 99% of the time, because no right minded person would keep a Scarf/Specs Ogre against Blissey while it's Sunny.

I suppose it's not fitting to put the star of the team in the second slot, but I don't feel like shifting the order around. Whatever, I guess.

People are finally starting to realize the utility that Giratina-O has. Great news, great news, but for those of you still questioning its viability, and find Theorymon's 16 pages worth of Giratina-O analysis too long to read, let me list what this Pokemon can do.

First and foremost: Giratina-O is perhaps the best offensive spin blocker in the game. Unlike its cousin, this thing can threaten a quick sweep if not stopped promptly. With Stealth Rock, Toxic Spikes, and Spikes to go along this, the opponent struggles to switch around, knowing that 25%+ of their health can potentially be stripped. Giratina-O has the bonus of resisting Forretress's only weakness, while Forretress resists all four of Giratina-O's weaknesses. This is THE reason behind Payback Forretress, really. Payback Forry's a pain but Giratina-O can at least severely dent it to disuse (or kill it if it's raining with Thunder). That means for Giratina-O's life, the entry hazards shall remain on the field. If they don't have a Ghost, well sucks for them because I get to spin all of theirs away.

Secondly: Ghost, Levitate, Substitute, Calm Mind, and loads of power to boot- Giratina-O is a pretty good stall breaker, plowing through Blissey like cake. Again, THE reason some people actually go for CMBliss, which I have covered ļ. CMed Dragon Pulse annihilates Latias at the price of its own life. But getting rid of Latias makes Kyogre's life so much easier, so its death is not in vain. I'm pretty sure no one else in stall would love swapping into this. Levitate means no Toxic Spikes/Spikes damage., and with the increase of stall or Deoxys-S, this ability is invaluable. Switching into a Groudon's Earthquake doesn't hurt either.

It has immunity to Trick, and can set up to take advantage of it.

Anyways the next thing up is that you may ask why I went for Thunder on the last slot. It was originally Shadow Ball, and SBall has been working great for me. However, my numerous encounters with twash on ladder pinpointed by Cro-Ogre weak (CM/Rest/Surf/Sleep Talk), so I reluctantly switched to Thunder, and it worked very nicely for me. Thunder also allows Giratina-O to beat up Forretress, as the numbers of Forries using Payback are increasing. A CMed Thunder should severely dent Forry, and from there I can throw a Dragon Pulse for safety's sake.

Oddly I've been considering something I thought I'd never will: using Timid Giratina-O. At the price of not getting past Latias, Giratina-O revenges Adamant Swords Dance Rayquaza and a weakened Lucario-preferably after they used Close Combat so that Dragon Pulse does >70% to it (or OHKO with Thunder in rain). No I am not swapping to Aura Sphere if I go for Timid. Losing bulk kinda tips me off though-I like surviving Spacial Rends and OHKOing Palkia afterwards, hopefully opening a Kyogre sweep. Or maybe I CAN still put bulk on at the price of some power, due to the entry hazards around. Hmm¡K

Forretress is the team's landmine-it sets up entry hazards surprisingly easily due to its numerous resistances-particularly Dragon and Ice, while Spinning away Deoxys-S leads' entry hazards. Forretress plays a central role in Uber stall and is perhaps the only reason people use Fire Punch/HP Fire Deoxys-S leads. Forretress resists every single of Giratina-O's weaknesses and thus often finds free switch ins.

Anyways, the premise is simple. Predict an Outrage, bring it in, and get a layer. Predict Blissey, and get a layer. Toxic Spikes is notable here as it destroys CMBliss pretty badly, as well as severely limiting Wobbuffet's lasting power. Payback is simple: Smack Giratina-O and hope it doesn't have Thunder or the odd HP Fire. It feels great to smack Gira-O on the switch though.

Forry provides the team with an essential Dragon resist. Although Forry can not do much back to the likes of Garchomp when they're stuck Outraging, it can build up entry hazards and when Forry dies, Groudon can take its place. That and they can't come back in forever due to entry hazards (SR in Rayquaza's case, TS+ Spikes in Chomp's case). Toxic immunity is extremely helpful as well. This little shell finds so many switch ins its ridiculous.

The EVs are geared towards Special Defense to take on Spacial Rends and Giratina-O's Dragon Pulses. Sometimes, being able to survive random Flamethrowers in the rain helps, while other times, not being 2HKOed by Latias's Thunder can save the day.

This is the glue.

You don't see Scarf Palkia on stall teams all that often. But unlike other stall mine is more offensively minded. Palkia just fits in as the checker of things.

Anyways early in the game this serves to absorb Water Spouts from Kyogre, and later on Blissey can take that role. It stops DDRay from plowing through my team, and revenges Darkrai too. But I'm sure you're all aware what Scarfkia does. I personally don't like Scarf Palkia myself, but it fits!

The moveset is a slight alteration of the standard set: Spacial Rend and Thunder are practically staples. Unfortunately Spacial Rend just loves to miss at the worst times so I'm sort of considering Dragon Pulse over it. Call me crazy but it really does miss at the worst times. Flamethrower is chosen over Fire Blast for accuracy stuff, mainly due to Spacial Rend missing with 95% accuracy so I can't imagine how much more will Fire Blast miss¡Kbut I suppose I'll change this to Fire Blast if the extra power becomes suddenly needed. This was originally Surf, but it helps to works in both ends of the weather.

Finally, there's Outrage. Y'all might be confused as to why I put Outrage in there instead of another move like Surf. Outrage is indeed quite unexpected and helps beat up Lati@s and weakened CM Ogre. With Refresh, the former is especially hard to beat, so Palkia can come in the first time they're in and Outrage. This act often catches them off guard and nets me a free kill. However, if they catch on, I can always use Forretress the next time they come back in (as they probably would get a lot of CMs on the first switch in anyways). Outrage also provides me with a reliable attack to pick off scraps because of Spacial Miss. Outrage spam has won me a game before-in a 4-1 situation.

As much as I hate using WishBliss due to it being nearly impossible to get in the cartridges (especially with good IVs and nature), Shoddy Battle has it there, and might as well use it.

On a team that makes a lot of switches, Blissey is practically necessary to sponge hits from the likes of Choice Specs Dialga and Scarf Palkia. Blissey passes Wishes around, especially to Giratina-O, who lacks a form of recovery and would very much appreciate this. Seismic Toss for reliable damage against Mewtwo and Darkrai, while Toxic is almost mandatory so I can get rid of Lati@s.

I am considering of changing this set to SToss/Toxic/Ice Beam/Softboiled, simply because without Ice Beam I can not touch Ghosts and Rayquaza/Garchomp suddenly loves me (though the latter probably eats a Toxic Spikes). Ice Beam also does something to Giratina-O, even if it's only 22%. But meh, I'm sticking with Wishbliss at the moment.

Well yeah this is Blissey what more can you expect me to say?

This is the late game sweeper, and don't tell me Rest sucks without Sleep Talk. It may seem so against offense, but it aids very strongly against stall and Lugia. With Toxic Spikes around, restoring health and status becomes crucial.

Kyogre is the second weather inducer, blocking sunny day abuse. Combined with Groudon, the two creates a powerful fort that cuts down on practically ANY weather abuse. So no more Ho-oh, Heatran, and Shiftry (even though Kyogre eats a Grass Knot) plowing through my team. Out of all the sets possible, I decided to go for the Calm Minder because it seems to cause a lot of pain in today's metagame, as Palkia can not stop it easily. Scarf Palkia is especially harassed as it is forced to use Thunder to even have a shot to break through this, and they usually don't spam Thunders because Groudon is present. That combined with Spikes, Stealth Rock, and poison damage from Toxic Spikes will end Palkia's life quickly while Kyogre could be yawning at Palkia's attempts to eliminate it. Kyogre is extremely tough to kill due to its typing and 140 base Special Defense.

So you may ask, why Ice Beam instead of Sleep Talk? I chose Ice Beam for Rayquaza, Garchomp and most importantly, Calm Mind Giratina. Doing extra damage to Palkia and Lati@s never hurts either. Also you may ask why the nature and EV spread—I tried to make Kyogre extremely bulky to survive a Swords Danced Dragon Claw from Rayquaza, as well as a Swords Danced Earthquake from non Life Orb Groudon, while the speed is there to outrun Lati@s and Gengar after it is Tricked a Choice Scarf.

Because Payback Forretress cannot beat Rest/Talk Giratina-O, this is where Kyogre steps in to save the day.

I'm considering changing this back to Modest so I can OHKO Darkrai with Surf.