Featured UU RMT: All Falls Down by dodmen

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Introduction

Hey everyone! This issue's Featured UU RMT is "All Falls Down" by dodmen. It is a great example of a standard offensive team in the current metagame and showcases arguably the most powerful wallbreaker in UU right now: Feraligatr. With the gift of Sheer Force, its newly released hidden ability, Feraligatr has gone from being a rather average sweeper in RU to one of the most feared offensive threats in UU. While the Dragon Dance set has the ability to sweep teams clean after a boost, Swords Dance instead turns Feraligatr into a terrifying wallbreaker that is capable of destroying slower teams whole. In this team, dodmen utilises the sheer (haha) power of Swords Dance Feraligatr, along with other wallbreakers in Adaptibility Dragalge and Choice Band Entei, to punch massive holes in the opposing team in order to pave the way for Mega Sharpedo to sweep late-game.

The Team

Krookodile starts us off and is an integral cog in dodmen's team. It has been rising in popularity recently as an offensive pivot, which can be attributed to its decent bulk backed up by Intimidate, excellent STAB types, and access to Stealth Rock and Taunt. As a result, Krookodile has emerged as the primary choice for offensive teams looking for a reliable Stealth Rock user. It is also an invaluable asset for dodmen against defensive teams, as it is able to cripple defensive Pokémon with Knock Off, which makes it easier for his sweepers to break them down while preventing any attempts at setup, recovery, or entry hazard setting with Taunt. Krookodile also matches up well against the various Defog and Rapid Spin users in the tier such as Empoleon, Tentacruel, Forretress, and Gligar. dodmen has gone for an interesting choice of item here with Rocky Helmet in place of the more common Dread Plate. Rocky Helmet is useful for making sure Stealth Rock is kept up against Rapid Spin users such as Forretress and Donphan, and the chip damage also weakens various Pokémon to make Mega Sharpedo's job much easier. For example, if Choice Scarf Hydreigon U-turns once out of Krookodile, it moves into KO range of Mega Sharpedo's Ice Fang after Stealth Rock. In general it contributes heavily towards accumulating chip damage to enable Mega Sharpedo to sweep, which is what true offensive synergy is all about.

Choice Band Entei is one of the most effective wallbreakers in UU for one reason and one reason only: Sacred Fire. Its extremely high burn chance cripples would-be counters such as Suicune, Snorlax, and Swampert and drastically limits their walling capability. This makes many defensive Pokémon much easier for the rest of dodmen's team to deal with, keeping in with the team's aim of systematically weakening the opponent's team to allow one of his sweepers to break through. Entei's Extreme Speed also provides dodmen with a useful revenge-killing tool against offensive teams, taking a lot of pressure off of Crobat, which is the only truly fast Pokémon on the team considering that Sharpedo loses Speed Boost upon Mega Evolving. Stone Edge provides Entei with important coverage against Fire-types such as Chandelure and opposing Entei, and Flare Blitz, while lacking the burn chance, is a more powerful STAB move than Sacred Fire.

UU's favourite speedy purple bat makes an appearance in dodmen's team as an important Fighting-type check and stallbreaker. He has gone for a more offensive spread here than is usually seen on support Crobat, with some Attack investment and Sky Plate that provide Brave Bird with a little more kick, allowing it to OHKO Shaymin and Machamp and 2HKO offensive Nidoqueen. While the loss of Defense EVs and Leftovers does detract from Crobat's bulk slightly, the extra power to KO these key threats is a more important factor for such an offensive team. Besides, Crobat still has more than enough bulk to effectively check common Fighting- and Bug-types such as Heracross and Mega Beedrill. Taunt prevents any attempts to Defog entry hazards away while stopping the foe from setting up entry hazards themselves. While Defog is commonly seen in place of Taunt and seems like it might be of more benefit to this team considering the Stealth Rock weaknesses of Crobat and Entei, for an offensive team like this having Stealth Rock and Toxic Spikes up on the opponent's side is well worth the price of having Stealth Rock up on its own side of the field. This team works by pressuring the opponent immensely with raw power combined with entry hazards, so Defog would actually be rather counterproductive here.

Dragalge fulfills various roles, providing useful support in the form of Toxic Spikes and Dragon Tail while also being the team's only special attacker. And boy does it take up the role with aplomb! Adaptability combined with Draco Plate makes Draco Meteor an absolute nuke, destroying nearly everything that doesn't resist it. As a representation of its power, it does upwards of 75% to 252 / 0 Forretress. Sludge Wave is no slouch of a move either, as a strong, reliable STAB move that destroys the Fairy-types that attempt to switch into Draco Meteor. It's also preferred over Sludge Bomb here for its ability to hit Chesnaught, which is a major headache for Feraligatr and Mega Sharpedo to get past. Toxic Spikes provide great support for dodmen's sweepers, wearing down opposing walls and working especially well in tandem with Feraligatr's Substitute and Mega Sharpedo's Protect. Dragon Tail provides a useful means of shuffling around the foe to accumulate entry hazard and poison damage while messing around with Wish passers. Along with its powerful moves and support options, Dragalge's solid bulk and typing make it an excellent check to various threats that could otherwise prove problematic, such as Entei, Heracross, Mienshao, and Shaymin, which helps to take some of the pressure off of Crobat.

Finally, the duo that perhaps ends up winning dodmen the majority of his games: Swords Dance Feraligatr and Mega Sharpedo. dodmen uses Feraligatr's raw power to lure and crush defensive Pokémon that stand in the way of a Mega Sharpedo late-game clean up, particularly bulky Water-types such as Suicune, Empoleon, and Alomomola. Substitute means that Feraligatr can use such Pokémon as setup bait, then proceed to use Swords Dance and plow through teams with its boosted attacks, or weaken them sufficiently enough to make Mega Sharpedo's job much more convenient. The set is specifically EVed to never have its Substitutes broken by a +1 Scald from Suicune, making it much easier to set up on and beat. Waterfall is the obligatory STAB move that causes massive damage to anything that doesn't resist it, and even to Pokémon that do after a Swords Dance. Crunch provides excellent neutral coverage and is also boosted by Sheer Force.

We now come to the Pokémon the whole team revolves around; once the opponent's team has been worn down, the stage is set for Mega Sharpedo to come in and clean up, a job it performs absurdly well. Only very bulky defensive Pokémon can usually stand up to it, and with Feraligatr busting through them with its immense power, they are usually sufficiently weakened to be swept aside by Mega Sharpedo's rampage. Offensive teams, meanwhile, struggle not only with Mega Sharpedo's power but also its sky-high Speed after a boost. A Jolly nature lets Mega Sharpedo outspeed everything commonly found on offensive teams at +1, Speed tying with Choice Scarf Mienshao. Adamant is not missed here because Jolly is usually good enough to sweep if the rest of the team perform their roles according to plan. Crunch is Mega Sharpedo's primary STAB move and hits incredibly hard when boosted by Strong Jaw. Waterfall is an alternative STAB move with a handy chance to flinch and Ice Fang provides useful coverage against Pokémon that resist Mega Sharpedo's STAB moves, such as Hydreigon.

Threats

No team is perfect of course, and dodmen's team does have some weaknesses that must be addressed. Bulky Ground-types can still pose as a major stumbling block despite the presence of two Water-types. This is because, while Feraligatr and Mega Sharpedo can beat them one-on-one, they struggle to switch into hard-hitting Earthquakes from the likes of Krookodile, Hippowdon, and Swampert. The rest of the team also struggles, as Crobat is the only Pokémon immune to Ground but finds it difficult to switch into the aforementioned Pokémon's common coverage moves such as Knock Off and Scald. A lot depends on Entei burning them with Sacred Fire as they switch in, or clever switching with Feraligatr and Mega Sharpedo on dodmen's part. Electric-types, particularly Heliolisk, also pose a problem, as the team has three Pokémon weak their main STAB moves and although Krookodile is immune to Electric, it dislikes common coverage moves found on them such as Heliolisk's Hyper Voice or Rotom-H's Overheat. Dragalge resists Electric but suffers from the same problem, taking a ton of damage from Heliolisk's Hyper Voice and Mega Ampharos's Dragon Pulse.

Conclusion

The sheer offensive pressure exerted by this team though is often enough to keep the above threats at bay. Overall, team "All Falls Down" is a well-crafted offensive team with a clear goal and supporters dedicated to reaching that goal. It's an undoubtedly excellent team that is a prime example of the focus of the current metagame. I hope you found this article both informative and an enjoyable read!

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