So I stole this idea from Pokemonnerd (who stole the idea from koko)... Use this thread to suggest and talk about sets and Pokemon, that are uncommon yet viable in the current metagame. Only post competitively viable Pokemon, you have tested (Do not theorymon). Give a description of the set you are posting and try to make your post look good. Please avoid posting well known sets, "troll" sets (They are not funny, unless you are 10 years old) and outclassed sets (Like LO Entei, because LO Arcanine outclasses it in every single possible way). To start this thread I'm going to post a set an uncommon set, of a common Pokemon, I have been using lately: Physically Defensive Rhyperior Rhyperior (M) @ Leftovers Trait: Solid Rock EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk) - Stealth Rock - Earthquake - Rock Blast / Rock Slide / Stone Edge - Dragon Tail / Megahorn This set works in a similar way to the most standard Rhyperior's sets, however it is significantly more bulky. This set is a full stop to huge threats in the current metagame, like Darmanitan, Physical Victini, Stoutland, Arcanine, Snorlax and Registeel. One of the most amazing thing of this set is that even STAB super effective moves will fail to 2HKO it, allowing Rhyperior to tank a hit and retaliate with its massive 140 Atk move. Stealth Rock is the best move in practically every metagame and Rhyperior does an amazing job setting them up, because not many things are going to risk using Taunt on Rhyperior and Xatu won't enjoy switch in. Earthquake and Rock Blast are Rhyperior' STAB moves, giving it near perfect neutral coverage. Rock Blast is the main option because it break Substitutes, allowing it to be a nice check to Pokemon like Sub Roost Zapdos and Sub Pain Split Chandelure. In the last slot I like using Dragon Tail for shuffling and because with good prediction it can give Rhyperior an extra turn of Leftovers recovery, however Megahorn can be used for coverage. Some calc to show Rhyperior's bulk: Spoiler 252Atk Sheer Force Darmanitan (Neutral) Superpower vs 252HP/252Def Leftovers Solid Rock Rhyperior (+Def): 28% - 33% (124 - 147 HP). Guaranteed 4HKO. 252Atk Victini (Neutral) V-create vs 252HP/252Def Leftovers Solid Rock Rhyperior (+Def): 16% - 20% (73 - 87 HP). Guaranteed 6HKO. 252Atk Choice Band Scrappy Stoutland (+Atk) Return vs 252HP/252Def Leftovers Solid Rock Rhyperior (+Def): 15% - 18% (68 - 81 HP). Guaranteed 7HKO. 252Atk Life Orb Flash Fire Arcanine (Neutral) Close Combat vs 252HP/252Def Leftovers Solid Rock Rhyperior (+Def): 31% - 36% (136 - 160 HP). Guaranteed 4HKO. 252Atk Krookodile (+Atk) Earthquake vs 252HP/252Def Leftovers Solid Rock Rhyperior (+Def): 35% - 41% (153 - 180 HP). Guaranteed 3HKO. 0Atk Technician Hitmontop (Neutral) Close Combat vs 252HP/252Def Leftovers Solid Rock Rhyperior (+Def): 25% - 30% (112 - 132 HP). Guaranteed 4HKO. 0Atk Sand Force Hippowdon (Neutral) Earthquake vs 252HP/252Def Leftovers Solid Rock Rhyperior (+Def): 24% - 29% (108 - 127 HP). Guaranteed 5HKO.[/HIDE] This set pairs well with practically any Zapdos, because it deals with bulky waters and Shaymin, that give troubles to Rhyperior, and Rhyperior deals with Snorlax, who is capable of beating most Zapdos (Unless offensive Zapdos with full hazards on the field).
An uncommon pokemon that works pretty well in UU is SubEncore Poliwrath Poliwrath (M) @ Leftovers Trait: Water Absorb EVs: 132 HP/ 252 Atk / 124 Spd - Substitute - Encore - Waterfall - Focus Punch Encore is far more useful than it seems on paper, as it can prevent your opponents from setting up or can lock them into weaker attacks, forcing switches that leave you to either set up a substitute to Focus Punch everything or switch into your teammates, giving you control of the battle. Encore also goes through Substitute, which again forces switches. It shuts down almost all bulky waters not named Slowbro, which when behind a Substitute can just Encore a Psychic/Psyshock and switch into a teammate that can take that. It can switch into any water attack to regain health thanks to Water Absorb; and can outspeed most standard bulky water sets due to its speed investment, Encore to lock them into the same water attack, healing it more, which it can easily set up a substitute. Waterfall and Focus Punch are there because they're his best STAB attacks. Focus Punch works well with Substitute, as unless the opponent uses a multi-hit attack, attacks on the substitute won't break the focus punch.
Here is a set I enjoy using in UU that works to some success: @ Leftovers Trait: Iron Fist EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk) - Substitute - Focus Punch - Earthquake - Shadow Punch Sub-Punch Golurk > Rock Polish Golurk, even when DPunch with No Guard gets released, since Focus Punch has higher Base Power with Iron Fist, Golurk is really underrated in UU, it can fit well in almost any team, and helps bring a Ghost and Normal resist, if I see a Stoutland who I think is locked into Return, then I will just switch out of Golurk and into my Dark type resist, if Stoutland switches then it is CB and I can go into it to set up a sub after Stoutland revenges something which already gives me an upperhand. Shadow Punch and EQ are his best stabs, and give him really good coverage. While EVs are standard.
Personally I would run a bulkier spreed, because Golurk doesn't need that many Spd EVs. You could use 214 HP / 252 Atk / 44 Spd, to outspeed minimum Empoleon, or 132 HP / 252 Atk / 124 Spe to outspeed minimum Hitmontop allowing Golurk to set up a Sub before getting Toxic'd.
I'll probably go for 124 HP EVs and 132 Speed, since everything seems to be running 4 or 8 Speed EVs nowadays
Scrafty (F) @ Leftovers Trait: Shed Skin EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk) - Bulk Up - Rest - Drain Punch - Crunch this is kinda obvious, but it needs attention with scrafty's arrival. this is the set that it was deemed broken for in DW, Croak and Hera are the only pokemon in the tier that resist its STABs and it has the bulk to setup on so many different things and with Shed skin 51% of the time you wake up from rest prematurely and with Drain Punch healing it as well it doesn't need to rest as often as it would otherwise, with BU making the thing ever bulkier, it will be a beast, a possibly a broken beast, but only time will tell.
So this thing is kinda cool: Cofagrigus (F) @ Leftovers Trait: Mummy EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SAtk Quiet Nature (+SAtk, -Spd) - Trick Room - Nasty Plot - Shadow Ball - Hidden Power [Fighting] Even without full defensive investment, Faggy's a dead stop to most fighters (Scrafty's already a dick), works as a spinblocker, and Mummy is surprisingly useful in getting rid of stuff like Mienshao's Regen and Hera's Guts. I previously tried a Calm Mind set, but I felt like it didn't hit hard enough fast enough and could be set up on, basically making it a worse Crocune. This set works kinda like Reuniclus in OU in that it's pretty self sufficient as a sweeper, but Cofagrigus' defensive typing is much better, allowing him to set up with ease. The set is pretty self explainitory; Shadow Ball and HP Fighting for coverage, Nasty Plot for boosting, Trick Room for pseudo boosting. The tricky part is whether to Trick Room or Nasty Plot on the switch, as Trick Rooming a turn before you Nasty Plot takes away a turn of sweeping, but Nasty Plotting on the switch allows something faster that can cripple you to come in before you can attack. In the event that it's taken down before Trick Room is up, other slow Pogeys on your team can take advantage of the reversed speed, making it decent as a team supporter to boot.
Spoiler So, I tried out this Rhyperior and I like it a lot. It's pretty much impossible to OHKO with a physical attack, even 4x super effective ones (except for maybe STAB close combats). Here's another example of a very powerful physical attack that Rhyperior can take: Spoiler Start of turn 13 [Hero]warpstar's Sharpedo used Waterfall! It's super effective! Rhyperior lost 369 HP! (85% of its health) [Hero]warpstar's Sharpedo is hurt by its Life Orb! Rhyperior used Earthquake! [Hero]warpstar's Sharpedo lost 57% of its health! [Hero]warpstar's Sharpedo fainted[/HIDE] This set gets a thumbs up from me, and I'd encourage more people to give it a try.
Shaymin @ Life Orb Trait: Natural Cure EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 Def / 252 Spd Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk) - Seed Flare - Earth Power - Rest - Aromatherapy This Shaymin ends up being MVP on many of my UU teams, and for good reason. With a Life Orb and Modest Nature, its Seed Flare hits like a truck, taking out bulky waters such as Suicune, Milotic, and Slowbro with ease. Earth Power is great with a bit of prediction, nailing incoming Fire types such as Arcanine and Chandelure (Darmanitan has no business switchng in anyways). Rest + Natural Cure is amazing, healing Shaymin for another few turns of destruction later, while curing its status. However, it is Aromatherapy that makes this Shaymin so incredibly useful. Since it has enough offensive prescence to force switches (especially on Grass-weak Pokemon like Hippowdon and bulky Waters), it can often become an impromptu support role and cure a sweeper of a nasty Paralysis or Burn while maintaining offensive pressure and momentum. If you don't want to run something like Clefable (which often ends up as set-up fodder for SubCMSuicune, among other things) as a cleric, open a spot up for Shaymin. Oh, and it's really cute, that's reason enough to run Shaymin hehe I ran Physically defensive Rhyperior with this back in Gen 4, similar set to what is already in the thread. In today's metagame, Rhyperior is really sweet for tanking those powerful Fire-types like Entei, Arcanine, Victini, and Darmanitan. Life Orb Roost or SubRoost Zapdos also makes a nice partner to this Shaymin, Pressure stalling and taking the odd Megahorn from Heracross.
Sigilyph (F) @ Flame Mail Trait: Magic Guard EVs: 252 HP / 24 Def / 24 SDef / 208 Spd Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk) - Charge Beam - Stored Power - Cosmic Power - Roost > You might compare this set with the offesnsive Clefairy set. This is one of my favorite sets that are very versatile. It works best with sand though. Charge Beam to raise Sp. Attack and Stored Power's BP. Cosmic Power To raise both defenses. Two Cosmic Power is enough to stop a Megahorn from Heracross. Stored Power as the main offensive move. Roost to regain health obviously. Flame Mail to AVOID TRICK. Yes, your reading the right words. TO AVOID TRICK. Xdd Since trick cripples this set so much, Flame Mail [or any mail actually] can stop trick users. [info from Soren.] Best counter to this set is Krookodile. It resists both Charge Beam and Cosmic Power. Bs Ground-Dark Typing. This set can kill unprepared teams without so much effort. Best Teamate to this poke is Rotom-C. It covers Krookodiles immunity to Sigilyph's moves. :3 Thats the set! :)
Haha. Well, Krookodile's UU now, so that Sigilyph's set is going to be viable in LU (watch out for Aggron, though). Okay, here's the Venomoth set I used, especially with my Mono-Bug UU team: Venomoth @ Black Sludge Trait: Tinted Lens EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk) - Substitute - Disable - Quiver Dance - Bug Buzz (13:42:01) Royalty: bug is second (13:42:02) Royalty: with soren (13:42:14) Bamarah: Yeah, I seen the ranks (13:42:51) Bamarah: His Disable Moth kicks ass Many people would say, Venomoth without Sleep Powder is a joke. Well, this one doesn't have Sleep Powder, but there's one viable move that Venomoth can have in the form of Disable. Disable is Venomoth's greatest weapon against Choice attackers, making opponents prone to switching out, giving it a free turn to set up Substitute or Quiver Dance. You leave only Bug Buzz as its STAB attack, since this attack is immune to nothing, and it is powered by Tinted Lens when attacked with a type not very effective against Bug Buzz. Added that with (almost) maximum buffs from Quiver Dance, it'll be an unstoppable force to reckon with. IV Tips: Venomoth's IV's should be 23/0/31/31/31/31. The ones in bold signify the following: 23 HP IV's makes Venomoth's HP a Leftovers number without sacrificing Special Attack and/or Speed EV's, while 0 Attack IV's helps Venomoth take lesser damage from fairly uncommon Foul Plays.
A set that has been proving to be incredibly valuable on several teams is Bulky-specs rotom-H Rotom-H @ Choice Specs Trait: Levitate EVs: 248 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 4 Spd Modest (+SAtk, -Atk) - Overheat - Volt Switch - HP Grass - Trick While at first this seems like a simple alteration, it changes what Rotom is of significantly. Rotom-H, despite its weakness to rock (ergo SR), has absolutely phenomenal defensive typing, resisting nearly all forms of 'elemental' coverage, including the ubiquitous Bolt Beam. This makes Rotom a genuine check to a huge variety of special attackers such as Zapdos, Shaymin, Nidoking (lacking sludge wave), and Raikou. Rotom's advantageous typing doesn't end there though, stab Overheat and Volt Switch make Rotom incredibly hard to play around, although whoever is using Rotom needs adequate prediction skills. HP Grass is significantly better in terms of coverage over HP Ice. This exchange lets Rotom to hit nearly all of its common switch-ins, while only sacrificing the ability to hit Flygon super effectively (Overheat does 65% anyway, so who cares?). This specific EV spread allows rotom to come in 5 times after rocks, prevent P2 and PZ from getting download boost, AND allows it to outspeed base 85s with 8 EVs invested. As an aside, 209 is secretly the magic speed value of UU, if you can't reach 299 its usually not worth it to invest in speed beyond 209. Overall, this Rotom simply wants to come in and spam overheat till everything is dead, and can do that easily thanks to the vast amount of things it checks.
Wanted to suggest a set, but I ended up writing kind of an analysis v: I assume it's not to much of an issue, but I'll spoiler some of the text because yeah. Smogon was wrong to say that a mixed Arcanine set could accomplish nothing its pure physical counterpart couldn't. Mixnine Arcanine (F) @ Life Orb Trait: Flash Fire/ Intimidate EVs: 194 Atk / 252 SAtk / 64 Spd Rash Nature (+SAtk, -SDef) - Overheat - Hidden Power [Grass] - ExtremeSpeed - Close Combat/ Crunch Yep, mixnine. One of my favorite sets to use on one of my favorite pokemon, Life Orb STAB Overheat coming off of Arcanine's respectable base 100 special attack stat is nothing to scoff at. In a metagame chock-full of physical tanks, Arcanine, while widely recognized as a purely physical threat, can surprise a lot of battlers with its special attacking prowess. The main purpose of this set is to not only shred right through a plethora of pokemon in the tier, as Arcanine's physical set manages as well, but to be able to do so without getting absolutely pummeled by recoil damage. The set also aims to surprise and take down a number of arcanine's usual counters, which can prove to be very beneficial in a close match. Arcanine forces a lot of switches, and if you play your cards right, something is taking big damage on the switch; much like the standard physical set, except with a lot more survivability due to the lack of Flare Blitz/ Wild Charge recoil. There are a number of things that make mix Arcanine stand apart from other mixed attackers in the the tier (ahem, Houndoom), namely the element of surprise, and also the fact that there is no other pokemon in the game that can boast the combination of arcanine's excellent mixed attacking stats, good offensive STAB, two great abilities in Intimidate and Flash Fire, excellent physical coverage options and a great priority attack in extremespeed. These assets combined shift arcanine from a deadly yet predictable physical powerhouse to a useful mixed wallbreaker in UU. Spoiler Overheat is obviously the main STAB attack here, and it deals huge damage to a great deal of the metagame. To give an idea of how powerful it is, Overheat has a ~56% chance of OHKOing standard offensive Zapdos from full, as opposed to the standard Adamant Flare Blitz having a ~31% chance. Fire Blast could be used over it, but the power drop is significant, and there's the whole accuracy issue so that's not something I'd recommend doing. Hidden Power Grass is an essential coverage move, as it nets a clean OHKO on 252 HP/ 4 SpDef Rhyperior, as well as physically defensive swampert, two of Arcanine's most reliable counters, while still managing a 2HKO on bold 252 HP/ 4 SpDef Slowbro. Hidden Power Grass is, just as much as Overheat, the crux of this set, allowing Arcanine to catch problem Pokemon off guard. Extremespeed is self explanitory, dealing nice damage to most pokes coming off of Arcanine's excellent base 110 attack stat on top of it's nice +2 priority, cleaning up what little remains after one of Arcanine's assaults, and avoiding Honchkrow's Sucker Punch among other common dangerous priority attacks. The last moveslot is where things get a bit iffy. One the one hand, Close Combat is an excellent coverage move, nailing Pokemon like Snorlax and Porygon2, who would otherwise wall the set, for big damage; the former taking between 68-80% with 208 HP/ 124 Def investment and a neutral nature. On the other hand, however, using Close Combat over Crunch leaves you completely and utterly walled by Chandelure, who can obviously cause all sorts of havoc. Close Combat is generally the superior choice, due to the great Fighting type coverage, and also it gives a secondary option to hit steels at low HP without sacrificing your special attack. Make sure to have some way to deal with Chandy. The given EVs are such that Arcanine outspeeds all neutral natured 252 spe invested base 70 speed pokemon, and also Adamant Honchkrow. More speed can be used if one sees fit, but the power drop is significant. With the given EVs and nature Arcanine hits 303 atk and 327 satk. Flash Fire is used over intimidate because it always helps to pressure your opponent from using fire moves or snag a boost every now and again, however Intimidate could be used just as well in order to prolong Arcanine's survival and take certain hits better. A lot of support is needed for this set to shine, including but not limited to wish and rapid spin support. Hazards also help greatly as with any offensively inclined Pokemon. A Mild nature could be used to insure Porygon2/Z gets an attack boost from download, but it's hardly worth it if Intimidate is chosen. As always, bulky waters are a big thorn in arcanine's paw. Milotic, Blastoise, and Suicune in particular come to mind, because Hidden Power simply does not have the power to break through their thick defenses without losing Arcanine. Empoleon and Qwilfish are in the same boat, but neither appreciate repeated assaults. The omission of Wild Charge makes these pokemon better suited to taking on Arcanine than Swampert and Slowbro, the go to switch-ins to the physical set. Again, Chandelure completely walls and variation of this set lacking Crunch, as it is immune to all but Hidden Power Grass, which it resists, while Snorlax is a hard counter to the set lacking Close Combat. Porygon 2 is also a reliable switch in, but one must be wary as the combination of Overheat and Close Combat deal an absolute minimum of 88% to the Bold Defensive Duck set, netting a KO most of the time with hazards up. And some calcs vs decent physical Arcanine switch ins: 252 SpAtk Life Orb Arcanine (+SpAtk) Overheat vs 0 HP/0 SpDef Flygon: 54.15% - 63.79% 2 hits to KO 252 SpAtk Life Orb Arcanine (+SpAtk) Overheat vs 252 HP/4 SpDef Crobat: 86.9% - 102.67% 18.75% chance to OHKO 252 SpAtk Life Orb Arcanine (+SpAtk) Overheat vs 252 HP/0 SpDef Hitmontop: 82.24% - 97.04% 2 hits to KO (My favorite :3) 252 SpAtk Life Orb Arcanine (+SpAtk) Overheat vs 252 HP/0 SpDef Claydol: 71.6% - 84.57% 2 hits to KO 252 SpAtk Life Orb Arcanine (+SpAtk) Overheat vs 252 HP/0 SpDef Nidoqueen: 81.25% - 95.57% 2 hits to KO 252 SpAtk Life Orb Arcanine (+SpAtk) Overheat vs 252 HP/0 SpDef Eviolite Dusclops: 51.06% - 60.21% 2 hits to KO 252 SpAtk Life Orb Arcanine (+SpAtk) Overheat vs 252 HP/0 SpDef Eviolite Gligar: 77.25% - 90.72% 2 hits to KO
Flygon (F) @ Lum Berry / Life Orb Trait: Levitate EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk) - Hone Claws - Earthquake - Stone Edge / Roost - Outrage / Dragon Claw / Roost This set is pretty much like all its other set's (exept mixed lure set). But now that it got Hone Claw's it can make a nice use of them! Use Hone Claws on something that can't really touch Flygon, like a choiced mon looked into EQ or something that do not really hurt. This will boost Flygon's avarage attack stat to a nice level where it can sweep (most likely in late game or even in midgame) and also boost the low accuracy of Stone Edge which is very usefull! EQ+SE for the famous EdgeQuake-Combo. Outrage or Dragon Claw as 2nd stab move. Outrage packs pure power and is more usefull when steel types or physicaly defensive Mon's are gone, also if you still have your Lum Berry, you can just spam Outrage like there is no tomorror and finish off a weakend team's after +1/1 and also avoid status and go +2/2 if needed. Use Dragon Claw if you dont like beeing looked into Outrage. Roost also is a another option when using Life Orb as its item to simply heal off recoil damage or damage taken by a resisted move. So, that's it! ;)
Tried this set out, lots of fun. Being able to switch moves on Flygon is really helpful, but in my experience it wouldn't be nearly as effective with the Life Orb considering a lot of KOs come from people assuming a choice item. Fire Punch could be a good alternative to Stone Edge to hit Bronzong super effectively, but it loses the super effective coverage on Zapdos and Rotom-H most notably. I've found it doesn't make too much of a difference though because neither of them enjoy boosted Outrages, especially with rocks down. Also if anything Roost should be used over Stone Edge because taking away Flygon's Dragon STAB kind of ruins it. Also, you should put those 4 Defense EVs into SpDef so that the Porygons will not get a boost to their Satk with Download.
Weavile (M) @ Life Orb Trait: Pressure EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SAtk) - Beat Up - Fake Out - Ice Shard - Low Kick Here's my original set for 1 of the most dangerous Pokémon in the game...to bad GameFreak didn't give it Technician though. Fake Out + Ice Shard grants you double Priority which murders Flygon, Krookodile, Nidoking, Shaymin, Claydol, Togekiss, Gligar, Honchkrow, Yanmega, & Zapdos (As long as they don't spam Protect). It literally beats up Slowbro, Azelf, Xatu, Mismagius, Froslass, & Mew with Beat Up (Make sure you have all your Pokémon as Beat Up does damage = the number of Pokémon you have). Low Kick does severe damage if not OHKO's Snorlax, Rhyperior, Registeel, Empoleon, Cobalion, & Bisharp. The only thing that stops it are your typical Fighting, Fire, & Rock moves that are common in UU. Watch out for Crobat's U-Turn as it has Inner Focus so it won't care about Fake Out. Stealth Rocks also does a lot of damage if you're constantly switching in & out so have a Spinner ready. Sand use to weaken it as well but since it's gone from the UU metagame you don't have to worry about that. Also, it works great in the OU metagame but since this is a UU thread I won't get into that.
I edited it's moveset a little, thank you for telling me investing the 4 EVs into SDef cuz I totally forgot about Porygon (shame on me!). I also set a Roost obtion into the 3rd slot... so its the player's choice which move's their want to keep. Thank you for you response ((:
Now that Liepard can use its DW ability "Prankster" it can make great use of it. It also got alot of usefull support move's in the likes of: Charm, Encore, Rain Dance, Substitute, Sunny Day, Swagger, Taunt, Thunder Wave, Torment, Toxic, Trick and Yawn. It also has useable attacking moves to support your team in: Fake Out (breaking sashes + sturdy), Knock Off (obvious), Pursuit + Sucker Punch (trapping ghost and let you play mindgames), Foul Play (in combination with swagger very usefull!) and U-Turn (momentum). Lets take a look at Liepards base stats: 64 base HP - not very high... 88 base Attack - average... 50 base Defense - paper defense / frail 88 base Spcial Attack - average as well... 50 base Special Defense - again paper defense / frail 106 base Speed - nice speed... Now that we are done with its base stats let's come straight to the point: *Possible Movesets + explanation* : *Standart Annoyer* Liepard (F) @ Leftovers Trait: Prankster EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spd Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk) - Thunder Wave - Swagger - Substitute - Foul Play Possibly one of its new standart set's. It supports your team with paralyses, swaggers opponents to hurt themselfs very hard thanks to the +2 Atk boost from Swagger and even can cause para-fusion. Sub to stall for para or confusion hax and Foul Play is its best attacking move for this set thanks to swagger's attacking boost. *Weather Summoner* Liepard (F) @ Damp / Heat -Rock Trait: Prankster EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd Bold / Impish Nature (+Def, -S / Atk) - Rain Dance / Sunny Day - Thunder Wave / Toxic / Encore - Fake Tears / Charm / Taunt / Encore - Dark Pulse / Taunt / U-Turn And here we have another weather summoner. Rain / Sunny -Dance are abvious choice for a prankster Mon. T-Wave or Toxic to support your team even more with status. Fake Tears and Charm may look weired but can be usefull if you are going to bringt in someone to set up, Taunt is also a good choice to keep away status and hazards, Encore to stop or prefent Mon's setting up on your face and looking them into a "useless" move so that you have a free turn to set up or something else... Dark Pulse if you fear being taunted on a switch in or Taunt to do not become set up fodder. U-Turn to scout, deal a little damage and momentum. *Iron Tricker* Liepard (F) @ Iron Ball Trait: Prankster EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk) - Trick - Dark Pulse - Grass Knot - Hidden Power [Fighting] This Liepard prankster trick's an Iron Ball to a faster opponent, cutting its speed into half and making him less of a problem. After the Iron Ball is tricked away you are free to attack. Dark Pulse + HP Fighting hit's allmost everything for neutral damage. Grass Knot hits heavy and bulky waters, ground's and rock's hard. That's it for now. If you have any suggestions please leave them below this post! Just if someone is wondering... Liepard is NU but it does well in UU thats why I'm posting it here... I also copied this post from smogon where I first posted it.
Haha, I use that Liepard set in UU, and even in NU, but with a different EV investment though as the HP EV's I have grants it a Leftovers number, since he has Substitute. It really is standard nowadays!?
@Wretched Egg Here's another Annoyer (Troll) Set for Liepard since I was using it back in the beginning of 2012 with my Rain team in DW (No Preview now) OU & it really used to piss people off. Liepard (F) @ Leftovers Trait: Prankster EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SDef Nature: Quiet (+SAtk, -Spd) -Assist -Attract -Substitute -Thunder Wave You're relying on it's on ability to do all the work so the Quiet nature doesn't effect it. 252 EV investment on both defenses allows it to actually take a hit as long as it's not a STAB Bug or Fighting move. If you have Bulk Up, Calm Mind, Dragon Dance or any other stat boosting move on your team combined with Attract hax + Para hax this beautiful kitty (Yes, I'm a cat lover) will do some serious damage. Btw, why 252 EV Spd on this set? For Foul Play? Seems pointless since you're only gonna use Foul Play behind a Substitute which gets Priority with Prankster. Liepard (F) @ Leftovers Trait: Prankster EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spd Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk) - Thunder Wave - Swagger - Substitute - Foul Play
Yes, 252 Spe EVs + Jolly really are for Foul Play... may seam gimmicky but it's not because I sometimes had alot of trouble with faster Mon's on low HP when I needed to take them out. ;)
It's kind of standart I think... because its like 9 out of 10 Liepards I face (when I face them) are running a set like this.
Bronzong @ Choice Band Trait: Levitate EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef IVs: 0 Spd Brave Nature (+Atk, -Spd) - Gyro Ball - Earthquake - Trick - Zen Headbutt / Explosion / Stealth Rock I'm surprised CB Bronzong hasn't come up already in this thread. The idea is simple: capitalize on the fact that almost all Bronzong are defensive, and smack switch-ins with massive damage or cripple them with Trick. It's a fun poke to use, especially with so many Darmanitans and Chandelures and Victinis just dying to roast the iron bell (pun intended). A well-timed EQ obliterates them. The final slot is customizeable: Zen Headbutt is a secondary STAB move that hits a few threats like Rotom formes and Zapdos harder than the two main moves, Explosion is... well... powerful, and SR can be used to reinforce the idea that Zong is defensive or give it somthing to do after Tricking away the Band. The 4 SDef EVs are just to deny P2 and P-Z the Download boost.
Some sets I've used successfully: Lagging Sableye Lag (M) @ Lagging Tail Trait: Prankster EVs: 252 HP / 120 Def / 136 SDef Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk) - Trick - Will-O-Wisp - Recover - Taunt A somewhat uncommon set, its job is to priority-Trick (thanks to Prankster) Lagging Tail onto fast sweepers and/or Choice Scarfed pokemon so slower teammates can revenge kill them; it's pretty much like some Liepard set I just read earlier only with more support sets and Recovery. WoW for burning physical attackers, and Taunt for screwing with stall. Simple Swoobat SwooSwag (M) @ Leftovers Trait: Simple EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk) - Calm Mind - Stored Power - Air Slash - Shadow Ball Yes it's NEU (NU if you're a non-believer,) but with the combination of its new Simple ability, Calm Mind (which Simple makes +2 Sp.Atk and Sp.Def,) Stored Power, and base 114 speed, it can be a very threatening sweeper in the tier. Stored Power is used over Psychic as it does more damage after a Simple Calm Mind, Air Slash is for STAB, and Shadow Ball is optional for coverage.
Yeah I use this set a lot, but I run SubSalac berry to abuse Simple to the fullest while boosting Stored Power. (getting +2 speed)
Empoleon (F) @ Choice Specs Trait: Torrent EVs: 212 HP / 252 SAtk / 44 Spd Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk) - Hydro Pump - Surf / Flash Cannon - Ice Beam - Grass Knot It honestly surprises me this thing is not used more. Specs boosted STAB Hydro Pump coming from a 111 base SAtk stat is not something you should underestimate 252SpAtk Choice Specs Torrent Empoleon (+SAtk) Hydro Pump vs 252HP/252SpDef Leftovers Thick Fat Snorlax (+SpDef): 37% - 44% (195 - 231 HP). Guaranteed 3HKO. 252SpAtk Choice Specs Torrent Empoleon (+SAtk) Hydro Pump vs 252HP/252SpDef Leftovers Umbreon (+SpDef): 44% - 52% (174 - 205 HP). Guaranteed 3HKO. Snorlax can only switch in once if SR is up and Umbreon can be 2HKOed with SR + Spikes. Both Surf and Flash Cannon are easily spammable, if you are not feeling like using Hydro Pump. Ice Beam and Grass Knot hit hard everything that resists Hydro Pump. 252SpAtk Choice Specs Torrent Empoleon (+SAtk) Grass Knot vs 252HP/0SpDef Leftovers Marvel Scale Milotic (Neutral): 67% - 79% (266 - 314 HP). Guaranteed 2HKO. 252SpAtk Choice Specs Torrent Empoleon (+SAtk) Ice Beam vs 4HP/0SpDef Leftovers Shaymin (Neutral): 89% - 105% (306 - 360 HP). Guaranteed 2HKO. 33% chance to OHKO. Even with no SDef investment it is bulky enough to check Pokemon like Kingdra.
Sigilyph (M) @ Life Orb Trait: Magic Guard EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk) - Psychic / Psyshock - Heat Wave - Energy Ball - Calm Mind / Air Slash Sigilyph has a decent base 103 Special Attack and decent base 97 speed, it does the job well. I've tried out this set a few times on the ladder and it worked very nicely for me. Especially now that it gets Heat Wave it is able to hit stuff like Bronzong hard, making it a bigger threat to teams. Energy Ball fits very well as it's a good combination with Heat Wave and it hits all the water types quite hard. I like using Calm Mind as it OHKOs 252HP/0SDef Bronzong with Heat Wave and 252HP/0SDef Slowbro with Energy Ball, which is nice. You can use Air Slash over Calm Mind if you feel you need to if you want to hit Houndoom and Scrafty. I haven't seen people use this set in LU that often and I haven't seen Sigilyph being used at all in UU, it should be used more. The good thing about Sigilyph is that it has one of the best abilities, Magic Guard, allowing it to take no damage from any entry hazards, no damage from Life Orb recoil or any damage from poison or burn status. 252SAtk Life Orb Sigilyph (Neutral) Psychic VS 0HP/0SDef Nidoking 136.63 - 160.4% Guaranteed OHKO. 252SAtk Life Orb Sigilyph (Neutral) Energy Ball VS 252HP/0SDef Solid Rock Rhyperior 107.83 - 127.19% Guaranteed OHKO. 252SAtk Life Orb Sigilyph (Neutral) (+1 SAtk) Heat Wave VS 252HP/0SDef Bronzong 116.36 - 136.73% Guaranteed OHKO. 252SAtk Life Orb Sigilyph (Neutral) (+1 SAtk) Energy Ball VS 252HP/0SDef Slowbro 105.14 - 123.87% Guaranteed OHKO. 252SAtk Life Orb Sigilyph (Neutral) (+1 SAtk) Psyshock VS 208HP/124Def Snorlax 50.49 - 59.65% Guaranteed 2HKO. You can also use Ice Beam over Calm Mind if you want to hit Xatu and Togekiss hard, it also hits Flygon and Zapdos though those are faster than Sigilyph. Psyshock is a good option as it 2HKOs Snorlax after 1 Calm Mind boost, but I recommend not to use it if you're not running Calm Mind, it's about a 3-4HKO without any boost so stick with Psychic if you're not using Calm Mind.
Creative movesets in UU Seeing Machinae's thread of the same name in NU, that got me thinking. "Why not do that for some of the other tiers?" So, players of UU, if you're using a moveset that's a bit unconventional but still viable, please share it! I'll get the ball rolling with one of UU's elite Pokemon: Heracross. Heracross @ Toxic Orb/Flame Orb Trait: Guts EVs: 4 HP, 252 Atk, 252 Spd Adamant (+Atk -SAtk) Megahorn Close Combat Facade Night Slash/ Swords Dance Normally, Guts Heracross has to hope that something status it. This set guarantees you'll get the boost. It also provides insurance against Amoongus. Like Scarf Heracross, this set's best used as a late game cleaner. Although it's slower than the Scarf set, it's more powerful and much harder to wall since it can switch moves. Megahorn and Close Combat get STAB. Facade is just a good strong move to use when statused, since both of Heracross's STABs have drawbacks. Night Slash covers its Psychic weakness, and hits the Ghost types who resist Megahorn and are immune to Facade and Close Combat for high damage. If you're not concerned with coverage though, Swords Dance is perfectly viable and makes Heracross very powerful indeed. EVs are self explanatory - Adamant nature maximises power. Conkeldurr, Ursaring and Swellow all run Status Orb sets, so why not Heracross?
SD is better in the last slot, +2 guts megahorn OHKOs any ghost by...dusclops that can't touch you back anyway (also Stone Edge only has 10 more power). Close Combat has 180 on both Arcanine and Togekiss, while Stone Edge has 200 and 80 accuracy, so CC is still the better option, hence, I'd run SD in the last slot instead of SE / Night Slash.
That's a good idea. I'll take out Stone Edge, since Close Combat or Facade will likely deal with the Fire/Flying types. That said, I'm leaving Night Slash as an option, since it gives it excellent neutral coverage with Close Combat, and 1-2HKOs most of UU's Ghost types once Heracross is statused. This is different to the Cool Stuff to use in UU thread, since that was generally about cool Pokemon to use whereas this focuses purely on movesets.
@Dr.Doom, you don't even need Facade on that set. Fully defensive Gligar, which is often considered one of the best Heracross stops in the game, is actually 2HKO'd by an Adamant SD+Guts powered Megahorn or Close Combat after Stealth Rocks; you can comfortably run Close Combat, Megahorn, and your choice of Night Slash (demolishes Cofagrigus, but you have to switch out after anyway due to Mummy) or Stone Edge (smacking Crobat on the switch) without worrying about coverage. Also considering that GutsCross's job is to completely mangle walls, Adamant is almost always preferred for the power boost. anyway to add a "creative" set I've been using: Tornadus (M) @ Salac Berry Trait: Prankster EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk) - Substitute - Bulk Up - Acrobatics - Superpower orcelot makes fun of it all the time, but this tornadus is so potent late game. it works wonders against offensive teams, as priority sub and bulk up allow you to easily get to salac range and sweep all those frail pogeys with acrobatics; however, you absolutely need to get rid of bronzong and heavily weaken bulky waters before attempting to set up and sweep against balance and more defensive teams. superpower is extremely dumb on a set that is focused on increasing attack, but honestly tornadus has no better physical coverage and it makes for a nasty surprise for any snorlax or umbreon expecting the rain dance+hurricane set.
You could run Brick Break on that Tornadus instead, since it doesn't cut Attack, although it is much weaker. I'd also recommend using Flying Gem instead of Salac Berry, since Tornadus is already one of the quickest Pokemon in the tier. That means you always get max power Acrobatics (one time getting a 165 power one). Most of the Pokemon who are KOd by Stone Edge are still KOd by Facade. Crobat has a 65% chance to be OHKOd (certain after SR). Nidoking loses 99% of its HP to a +0 Facade. And since Megahorn and Close Combat have drawbacks it's just a safe and strong move to spam. It also badly hurts a lot of Pokemon who resist its STABs, like Crobat, Nidoking and Gligar. What could you KO with Stone Edge that you couldn't with the STABs or Facade?
But then it becomes a standard BU Tornadus set, thus ruining the purpose of this thread. That's like commenting on your Heracross "Hey that's cool and all, but it could use some changes. Toxic/Flame Orb hurts him every turn and he gets outspeed by stuff, so you should give it a Choice Scarf. Guts isn't that great without a condition, so I would use Moxie so you can clean up teams better; you should also switch out Facade with Stone Edge. Lastly since you're now choosing a choice item, you should drop Swords Dance and run Night Slash or Pursuit instead. There, it's a lot better now!" Driftblim. Anyways, here's a Porygon-Z set that's fun to use: Porygon-Z @ Silk Scarf Trait: Adaptability EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk) - Tri Attack - Shadow Ball - Agility - Nasty Plot Pretty much a DualDance PZ. Base 135 Sp.Atk + STAB + Adaptability + Silk Scarf + Nasty Plot = one painful Tri Attack. This works great with anything that can Baton Pass a Substitute, where you can safely either set up an Agility or Nasty Plot (possibly both.) Silk Scarf lets you bluff a Choice Item, but still powers up your STAB. It's unfortunately walled by bulky Steel types. Shadow Ball is merely a filler that's used to super-effectively hit Ghosts - you can probably replace it with Dark Pulse, T-Bolt, Ice Beam, or HP Ground.