SM Ubers Advice for My Ubers Team

[ThinkGraser10]

I've made teams before, but I'm not a stellar player or team-builder. I've played on Showdown for a while but I'm not an expert or even that good by any means. My current Gen 7 Ubers rating is 1140. I think I do OK building purely offensive/defensive Pokémon but I can't put 4 attacking/boosting or utility/healing moves on everything, so I usually struggle with making my individual Pokémon more balanced.

How I chose the Pokémon:

• I started by adding Primal Groudon since I feel like he's the best Stealth Rock setter and can wall tons of things. I think Groudon is just generally a good Pokémon to have in Ubers.
• Next, I added Magearna (even though it's technically OU) as a hard stop to Xerneas. I'm not sure if this is too niche of a role, but it's worked well so far since Xerneas is in pretty much every team at my rating.
• I added Mega Kangaskhan mostly because I wanted to (this is probably an awful reason). This is the Pokémon I had in mind first when I started building this team, but I feel like it's been kind of lackluster and I might swap it for another something else to check Primal Groudon.
• I added Yveltal for strong Sucker Punch, a Ground immunity, and a U-turn user. However, Sucker Punch is pretty predictable most of the time so it hasn't been of optimal use.
• I added Giratina for a wall and partially to stop Rapid Spin (although I haven't yet faced a single user of Rapid Spin).
• I added Genesect for a U-turn user and a strong attacker since he has BoltBeam coverage and I felt like I didn't have good coverage against Ground-, Flying-, Dragon-, and Water-types.

Movesets and comments:

Groudon

Groudon @ Red Orb
Ability: Drought
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Precipice Blades
- Lava Plume
- Stealth Rock
- Roar

Groudon is usually my lead with Stealth Rock. Precipice Blades is for STAB and is a strong attack even without Attack investment. Lava Plume is STAB, boosted by Sun, and gets helpful burns. Roar is for spreading Burns, removing boosts, and racking up Stealth Rock damage. I chose the EVs to boost its Special Defense since it already has amazing Defense (Is this a good choice?).

Magearna

Magearna @ Leftovers
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Fleur Cannon
- Volt Switch
- Heart Swap
- Pain Split

As I said, Magearna is my Xerneas counter. Fleur Cannon is STAB and is boosted by Xerneas's Fairy Aura. Volt Switch lets me clear the -2 SpA and gives me a slow switch-in to Kangaskhan, Yveltal, or Genesect which I like since they only have average defenses. Heart Swap lets me steal (Z-)Geomancy from Xerneas and Calm Mind from some Arceus. Pain Split lets me steal lots of health from things like Primal Kyogre since it can't OHKO without a boost/crit/prior damage. I chose the EVs to make it bulky in Special Defense since I want to steal boosts from special sweepers like Xerneas and some Arceus.This set is completely shut down by Primal Groudon though. Is Leftovers a good item on Magearna or is there something better?

Kangaskhan

Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Body Slam
- Fake Out
- Crunch
- Seismic Toss

Kangaskhan has Body Slam for STAB and paralysis. I added Fake Out so I can get free easy chip damage and stall Toxic/Burns longer. Crunch lets me hit Ghosts who would otherwise wall me. Seismic Toss is for consistent damage and chunking walls (although a bunch of Ubers walls already take more damage from Crunch). I'm thinking about replacing Seismic Toss with Ice Punch. I chose the EVs to make Kangaskhan a physical sweeper.

Yveltal

Yveltal @ Life Orb
Ability: Dark Aura
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Dark Pulse
- Oblivion Wing
- U-turn

Yveltal is meant to be a somewhat mixed attacker with a strong Sucker Punch. Dark Pulse hits really hard, Oblivion Wing helps counteract Life Orb recoil, and U-turn is helpful for switching when Xerneas or other troubling Pokémon inevitably comes in. I chose the EVs/Nature/Item to make it strong in both offensive stats.

Giratina

Giratina @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 204 Def / 52 SpD
Bold Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Toxic
- Roar
- Defog

Giratina is my stalling wall. I have Draco Meteor to avoid taunt and get some chip damage if needed. Toxic is useful for crippling walls. Roar lets me get rid of stat-boosters, helps spread Toxic, and builds up Stealth Rock damage. Defog removes hazards if the enemy has more or if their hazard setter fainted or can't switch in. I got the EVs from the Smogon page on Giratina but I'm not sure why the weird spread is useful.

Genesect

Genesect @ Choice Specs
Ability: Download
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Flamethrower
- U-turn

Genesect is sort of a revenge killer although he doesn't have Choice Scarf. Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, or Flamethrower will often get supereffective damage on something. U-turn lets me switch out in bad situations. I chose the EVs/Nature/Item to make it hit hard. I might switch Naive nature for Timid nature since U-turn is usually for switching or utilizing Download boosts.

How I try to play:

• I usually lead with Groudon and set up Stealth Rock. Sometimes I lead with a Volt Switch/U-turn Pokémon if they have a counter to Groudon because Groudon is pretty easy to predict as my lead. I like to use Giratina against Groudon leads because their Groudon could OHKO mine with attack investment and it's helpful to get a Toxic on it.
• From there I just try (I definitely don't always succeed) to utilize predictions to get low-drawback switches and use the appropriate moves.

I can add some replays if it helps explain my (often wrong and risky) decisions and thought processes more.

General comments/questions:

• Are there any overwhelming flaws with my team?
• Is having 3 U-turn/Volt Switch users too much?
• Could any of my Pokémon have significantly more effective movesets?
• Overall, I feel like I've been having trouble with Swords Dance Arceus and offensive Primal Groudon. Marshadow can also be annoying if Groudon is damaged. Are there any changes that would make fighting these Pokémon easier?
• I'm thinking about switching out Mega Kangaskhan. Do you have any good replacements in mind that could help with my team's flaws?
• I feel like my team is pretty frail but I'm not sure if this is viable since they're also not exceedingly fast.

Thanks for any advice in advance. I can do some more battles and provide some replays if you want.

 

[TheTapDancer]

The team looks like a solid enough offense core, but it lacks a win condition. You can't really expect to grind out any bulky team with this, even if you do have hard counters to the format's best setup sweepers.

My first change would be to make Groudon Sassy. He doesn't care about speed, but he does care about hitting power, and having Careful limit the power of Lava Plume is a little awkward.
On Kangaskhan there's two directions you can go. Either go full bulk Seismic Toss, in which case he'll form a strong defensive core with Groudon, as he can carry Wish. (No-one expects the Wish Kanga.) The other way is to replace Fake Out with PUP, Crunch with Sucker Punch and Body Slam with Return and try to get sweeps off. Honestly Sucker Punch is a top tier move with Necrozma around so I might suggest that anyway.

I'd also suggest that Giratina should be Giratina-Origin. The offensive presence is nice, but the real reason is the ground immunity making any non-toxic Groudon completely unable to touch it.

So, here's two ways I'd build this team:
http://pokepast.es/f5e6cb714cbbaa30

This team takes the offensive direction. Marshadow helps against Arceus much more than Genesect, and Groudon is made offensive to let us beat Celesteela, who would otherwise 6-0 this team. TBolt is also nice for opposing Kyogre. Precipice Blades does more damage than Earth Power and lets us nail Chansey, so it stays. Shadow Ball on Giratina lets it predict Marshadow and Necrozma. I haven't changed the EVs because I have no idea why they were like that in the first place, but they probably want to change. The aim of this team is to wear the opponent down until you can sweep with Kanga.

http://pokepast.es/880baa6796b74163

This is more of a balance side. Groudon already checks Xerneas really well, so Arceus Steel is brought in as a more solid physical check that can serve as a late game threat. Mewtwo serves more utility than Kanga, speed creeping Necrozma and OHKOing it with +1 Ice Punch. Taunt is also nice to have on the team.
Naganadel is an odd choice, but a little less predictable than Genesect. I didn't even know it learned U-turn before searching for u-turn in ubers. With Specs it serves as a solid late game cleaner that speed creeps Xerneas without the need to set up, and as a fast pivot in the early game, even if it doesn't leave the chip that genesect does.

 

[ThinkGraser10]

Thanks for your help! I'll try out both teams when I get some time.

 

[TheTapDancer]

To be honest, I've already tried them. The offence team worked out great, I won all my games but one.
The balance team is garbage. Way too easy to wear down. I won like one out of nine.

 

[Serial]

Firstly, I think that an offensive Primal Groudon set would better suit the team, since Magearna covers Xerneas, and you struggle a bit in breaking past defensive teams. There's lots of different offensive Stealth Rock Primal Groudon sets that can be run, but you could try specially offensive with Overheat + Toxic, as it helps a lot vs more defensive teams, due to being able to heavily pressure common defoggers and nuke physical walls expecting a physical set. Edit the spread with however much speed creep or defensive investment you're comfortable with.

Groudon @ Red Orb
Ability: Drought
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
- Precipice Blades
- Overheat
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic

Magearna is a pretty decent mon and the set is perfectly fine, so there's not much to change here, apart from editing the rest of the team so it can better deal with the mons that Magearna lets come in for free.

Whilst U-Turn on Yveltal does help with momentum, it is typically used on a Choice Set. On a Life Orb set Oblivion Wing is typically a better way to punish Xerneas switchins, especially considering Life Orb recoil. Try replacing it with Taunt, which allows it to stop slower support Pokemon from using support/status moves, improving your matchup against defensive teams.

Mega Kangaskhan unfortunately isn't that good anymore in Ubers- the Parental Bond nerf hit it pretty hard. You mentioned having problems with opposing Swords Dance Arceus, and Marshadow is an alternate physical attacker helps a lot against SD Arceus, while being a lot more effective at dealing damage in general.

Marshadow @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Spectral Thief
- Close Combat
- Shadow Sneak
- Rock Tomb

Rock Tomb is here is for Ho-Oh, and is chosen over Hidden Power Ice as Ho-Oh poses a bigger threat to the team than Salamence or Zygarde due to the next change.

Giratina-Altered on your team unfortunately is too unreliable and exploitable due to its reliance on Rest for recovery which makes it useless for multiple turns, and its inability to significantly damage most of the threats that your team relies on it to check. I'd recommend replacing it with support Arceus-Ground, which performs a similar role but does it a lot more effectively. It checks most Primal Groudon sets a lot more effectively due to better recovery and the threat of a super effective Judgment, and also checks a lot of other physical attackers such as Mega Salamence and Mega Lucario better than Giratina. The Speed here is to outspeed max speed Mega Lucario and Adamant Mega Salamence.
(btw the EVs for Giratina were to survive two Ice Beams from Primal Kyogre)

Arceus-Ground @ Earth Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 252 HP / 64 Def / 192 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Recover
- Judgment
- Ice Beam

Genesect, especially your current Specs set, just frankly isn't very good right now, and just doesn't do enough to cover your teams weaknesses to really justify using it. Since the team otherwise can have issues with support mons that spam Toxic, special Primal Groudon, Ho-Oh, and support Arceus-Ground, now that this version has an Arceus-Ground of its own, you could try replacing it with Defensive ResTalk Primal Kyogre, which helps vs all the aforementioned threats, and also offers a pivot of sorts so you can get Primal Groudon in safely vs Primal Kyogre, as Primal Groudon is now a much shakier Kyogre check due to its now lower bulk.

Kyogre @ Blue Orb
Ability: Primordial Sea
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Scald
- Toxic

Good luck and have fun with this version of the team, and see if there's anything you particularly like.

 

[Minority]

It's very hard for an experienced builder to justify one of Mega Kangaskhan or Genesect on a team, let alone for a novice builder to utilize both. These Pokemon just have such narrow offensive niches (some would argue they have zero niche) that they become extremely strenuous to build around. My advice for this team is to ditch both of these Pokemon, especially since you don't seem especially convicted in using them. I would also advise that you use Giratina-O as the Ground immunity and overall lower yield of momentum is better for any team that isn't true stall.

Unfortunately Primal Groudon + Magearna + Giratina-O + Yveltal is a rather open structure, as in it's generalized and isn't immediately clear what the last two slots have to be. Most likely you need a Primal Kyogre check, at minimum some type of Water resist, a Ho-Oh check, and some kind of fastmon. There are a variety of combinations that can accomplish this and you can either consult this thread for some of the options or PM me if you want to discuss the build further.

Good luck with the team.

 

[Lord Outrage]

Hello. I think the problem of your team is that you are mixing between Pokemon that are used on different archetypes. This is a common mistake players do.
For instance, both Mega Kangaskhan and Genesect, regardless of their viability, should not be used on balance or bulky offense.
On the other hand, Giratina and Magearna should not be used on hyper offense.
Moreover, your team is weak to stall.
I suggest that u change some Pokemon.
1) Primal Groudon and Magearna are fine as is. They handle Yveltal, Kyogre, and Xerneas pretty well.
2) Mega Kangaskhan should be replaced by Hex Mega Gengar. Mega Gengar is good vs stall builds and the Hex set is particularly good right now. It also helps you vs physical setup sweepers.

Hide

Gengar-Mega @ Gengarite
Ability: Shadow Tag
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Will-O-Wisp
- Hex
- Sludge Wave
- Destiny Bond

3) Yveltal is perfect as is especially with U-Turn support which is good for Mega Gengar.
4) Genesect should be replaced by a Scarf Xerneas set with Defog and Aromatherapy. It's by far the best scarfer right now and gives you a great answers vs offense.

Hide

Xerneas @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Fairy Aura
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Sleep Talk
- Defog
- Aromatherapy

I always try to rate teams without changing the signature of the player and by suggesting few changes as much as possible. Hope I helped.