SS Ubers Hazard Hell Ho #2 - Ubers Top 50, Maybe It's Better This Time

[Garrett]

20 days ago I posted my take on a hyper offense centered around using G-Max Copperajah dual hazards + Toxic Spikes Eternatus that reached top 100 before DLC. With Crown Tundra out, I decided to make the necessary changes to make it viable in the current (albeit new and volatile) meta. I reached top 50 comfortably with it! I'm currently number 37

and I see no reason why I couldn't have kept going higher with it.

Here's a random game of me finding and beating at-time #2 on ladder: here.

Building Process:
I really wanted to use G-Copperajah so I could use double hazards (Stealth Rock + G-Max Steelsurge) with some synergistic mons alongside. I wanted a build that could both have chances to overwhelm the standard defensive cores while also provide serious offensive pressure against opposing offense. This is my prevailing attempt at such. I kept in mind my old weaknesses and opted for some very necessary changes to cover a lot more of its former problems. The new mons from Crown Tundra add some better synergy than last time.

The Team:
If anyone wants the immediate paste: here.

Copperajah-Gmax @ Focus Sash
Ability: Heavy Metal
EVs: 212 HP / 252 Atk / 44 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Heavy Slam
- Earthquake
- Heat Crash

Once again, I've found this to be the kingpin of hazard setters, and one I've found to best the rest in conjunction with the rest of my mons. The speed investment is for Toxapex, and I like the rest into HP as it allows me after G-Max to live G-Max'ed Pyro Ball after extremely small chip all the time, letting me significantly damage with Max Quake. G-Max Steelsurge forces something like Excadrill to spin which I will gladly trade HP on Calyrex to prevent, and Heat Crash/Max Flare is for general coverage against primarily steel types. Focus Sash is just necessary insurance to prevent crazy crits on turn 1 that would otherwise stop me from getting up any hazards.

This now also serves as a fantastic Xerneas check! One of the niceties I've also learned is being able to Max Flare to reverse Rain of Scarf Kyogre.

Ditto @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Imposter
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 0 Spe
- Transform

The mon that needs the least explanation: Ditto is an excellent staple on most offensive builds to immediately stop most overpowering sweepers. Minimum speed is nice on double downs so I have at worst a 50% chance to transform into another ditto if they also switch theirs in. Besides that, this mon is excellent for avenging kills by opposing Calyrex and Zacian and other mons that pose as serious threats to my team. I can't really see HO thriving in this tier without Ditto.

+2 Bememoth Blades and +2 Astral Barrages are ridiculous.

Eternatus @ Black Sludge
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 40 Def / 252 SpA / 216 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dynamax Cannon
- Flamethrower
- Toxic Spikes
- Recover

The speed allows me to outspeed Jolly Marshadow and serve as a necessary check that can either Recover stall, set up Toxic Spikes, or just revenge back with Dynamax Cannon with a small amount of chip (which Rocks + Steelsurge do great for). This does live a hit from Adamant Zacian after Rocks and Flamethrower back does good damage back. This seems to be my counter for Ho-oh, pressure stalling Defogs using Toxic Spikes. and being a status absorber (assuming Sacred Fire burns me). It's also a decent backup check to Kyogre, which forces it to lock into Ice Beam or Dynamax to Max Hailstorm to go for knockouts.

Zacian-Crowned @ Rusted Sword
Ability: Intrepid Sword
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Behemoth Blade
- Close Combat
- Wild Charge
- Substitute

Behemoth Blade and Close Combat (which I have found better than Sacred Sword because no one is running Iron Defense anything anymore) are necessary in my opinion for general coverage. Wild Charge is again primarily for Ho-Oh and Corviknight but also for a VERY USEFUL situation where I need Zacian to kill itself to recoil damage so Ditto avoids reverse sweeping me. Clicking Wild Charge against Chansey/Blissey sometimes is a hidden blessing! Continuing this reason, I found Substitute better than Swords Dance: chipping myself while also having another measure that makes it that much harder for Ditto to try to transform on me. Combined with hazards, I've clicked sub on so many sacks and guaranteed so many more wins that way. With Toxic Spike support, it's a great tech. You can even sub on Kyogre that's choice locked into a very weak Water Spout--this has also made me win about two games.

Adamant Nature allows a guaranteed kill on opposing Zacian after Steelsurge, Jolly does not. I've also experimented with Quick Attack, but I enjoy Sub's utility more than the rare priority than I usually never use. The priority is tough to argue for in the advent of Calyrex-Shadow, however.

Yveltal @ Life Orb
Ability: Dark Aura
EVs: 252 Atk / 16 SpA / 240 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off
- Oblivion Wing
- Taunt

"Your old team gets 6-0'd by Excadrill." This is a step in the right direction as to how I tackle Excadrill and to some degree Groudon (still I need to be careful of offensive Rock Slide/Stone Edge, but offensive I don't think is a very good set when it's not Primal Form). Sucker Punch is essential priority to stopping Water Spout cheese. The EV spread is designed to outspeed Lunala currently (which, frankly, doesn't exist anymore because Calyrex-Shadow is too dangerous as an opposing matchup), but I think you can go a little lower to 318 just to outspeed Kyurem-B and other base 95s. The attack spread could be modified to be more in Special Attack, but I've found so much value in maximum power Sucker Punch and Knock Off. It's a matter of preference and shifts in the meta, I suppose.

Taunt is a beautiful move as another Defog barrier and other general things you'd might expect.

Calyrex-Shadow @ Life Orb
Ability: As One (Spectrier)
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Astral Barrage
- Psyshock
- Leaf Storm
- Taunt

I really, really like this set. This mon is so broken it's not even funny: faster than Zacian and basically is just as strong with its signature move being of higher base power.

You don't need coverage more than Astral Barrage and something to hit Blissey/Chansey. Against Yveltal, Astral Barrage hits at 90 BP, Draining Kiss is at 100 BP. That difference is not worth risking ever on a prediction to Yveltal. Instead, I just built my team to be really strong againsy Yveltal being Zacian/Eternatus/my own Yveltal. Taunt is BEAUTIFUL against Chansey/Blissey, shutting it down completely. Leaf Storm is just for Kyogre and Tyranitar, the latter of which I faced exactly once. This might not be the best moveslot; I considered all of the following:
Encore/Will-O-Wisp/Disable/Giga Drain/Draining Kiss/Grassy Terrain.

Feel free to suggest something, I'm all ears.

Threats:
1.) Ho-Oh - This big boy forces me to play a certain way in preventing Defog, and lives Wild Charge from Zacian at full with a normal defensive spread
2.) Kyogre - Scarf Water Spout saddens the world if my Yveltal somehow is overpressured, but this isn't too common
3.) Webs/Trick Room/General Speed Control - Zacian and Calyrex-Shadow thrive based on their speed stat, so it's a harder game as soon as they don't have max speed
4.) Ground Types - Groudon is a weird situation between it's probably not offensive but if it is it could be dangerous, Excadrill always raises the question of "what do I let it take chip on"

Thank you for reading! Maybe one day I'll get a sample team.

 

[Fc]

Hi again, I rated the first version of this team when you first posted it and think some of the changes still apply, but it's a completely new meta. Since dlc 2 came out only like 2 days ago, it's extremely hard to get a 100% grasp on this meta and rate teams, but I've played a lot of games so far and will try. This uncertainty is amplified by the dynamax suspect test that will occur in the near future. The team may be less effective especially since coppereajah won't even be able to use steelssurge if dynamax is banned, so I'll just go through a few changes.

I still will recommend again the change of Mew over Copperajah. It's a much more reliable hazard setter, can prevent slower defog from new Pokemon like Ho-oh, Lugia, and defensive Yveltal, and can still explode for some chip. Wasting the team's dynamax on a slow hazard lead that's even worse now since new defoggers can beat it is 100% not worth, especially with such good dynamax options on the team like Yveltal and Calyrex. It's set up fodder for opposing Calyrex, but Ditto on this team might make that a good thing in some MU's.

Set

Mew @ Focus Sash/Red Card
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Taunt
- Explosion

OR for ghosts

Mew @ Focus Sash/Red Card
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Taunt
- Misty Explosion

Having Mew as the hazard setter is much more standard, consistent at keeping them up, and won't affect the team as much if Dynamax is banned (which from the public opinion of many people it looks like it will).

I'll again recommend also the fast offensive Eternatus spread, just a standard one since rain with Dracovish hasn't seemed to take off at all, so just fast enough for Marshadow and offensive with life orb for harder hits will provide more power as a breaker since on offensive sets black sludge may feel underwhelming.

Set

Eternatus @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 40 Def / 252 SpA / 216 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dynamax Cannon
- Flamethrower
- Toxic Spikes
- Recover

Zacian-C should probably be Jolly because I'd argue OHKO'ing other Zacian-C after hazards is less important than speed tying them and having a chance to OHKO still. Substitute should be changed to SD for more offensive pressure, since the team can mostly handle Giratina and Zygarde to Play Rough might not be needed, but is an option.

Taunt on Yveltal is unnecessary especially if you put Mew for taunt, since Pokemon like Zacian-C and the less common Magearna can beat this set. I'd recommend heat wave over taunt, as well as making it at least 236 SpA from the attack investment to OHKO Zacian-C with max flare, but just max works fine. Dark Pulse also just naturally hits a lot of things much harder especially with the Max Darkness Sp.def drop, and if you want to hit Blissey then the sucker punch Max Darkness will still do a lot of damage.

Set

Yveltal @ Life Orb
Ability: Dark Aura
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Dark Pulse
- Oblivion Wing
- Heat Wave

Finally Calyrex, a new Pokemon where it's sets are still being fully optimized with specs, scarf, and nasty plot being used. If you're going to use Calyrex on HO though, I'd recommend the set of Astral Barrage, Psyshock, Nasty Plot, Draining Kiss. Leaf Storm is less effective than Draining Kiss since Yveltal is way more common than Tyranitar, and with Dynamax the difference from Astral Barrage and Draining Kiss becomes a lot larger than what you consider not worth from their base moves. Taunt does't help against much, and if you wanted a way to avoid status substitute has been seeing usage also as a way to bait Yveltal Sucker Punch, ignore status, take 1 strong hit, just normal sub things, over Draining Kiss or Psyshock.

Set

Calyrex-Shadow @ Life Orb
Ability: As One (Spectrier)
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Draining Kiss
- Astral Barrage
- Psyshock

Again, the meta's extremely new and things are still being figured out, so I didn't want to change any members aside from Coppoerajah which I consider fairly unviable especially when compared to Mew, but just changed a few sets to be more standard/offensive. The meta will change likely if dynamax gets banned, and a few members might have to be changed/have movesets reworked, but for now this is my advice, here's the updated team. https://pokepast.es/ffcd5654a256a5ed

 

[Garrett]

Hi again, I rated the first version of this team when you first posted it and think some of the changes still apply, but it's a completely new meta. Since dlc 2 came out only like 2 days ago, it's extremely hard to get a 100% grasp on this meta and rate teams, but I've played a lot of games so far and will try. This uncertainty is amplified by the dynamax suspect test that will occur in the near future. The team may be less effective especially since coppereajah won't even be able to use steelssurge if dynamax is banned, so I'll just go through a few changes.

I still will recommend again the change of Mew over Copperajah. It's a much more reliable hazard setter, can prevent slower defog from new Pokemon like Ho-oh, Lugia, and defensive Yveltal, and can still explode for some chip. Wasting the team's dynamax on a slow hazard lead that's even worse now since new defoggers can beat it is 100% not worth, especially with such good dynamax options on the team like Yveltal and Calyrex. It's set up fodder for opposing Calyrex, but Ditto on this team might make that a good thing in some MU's.

Set

Mew @ Focus Sash/Red Card
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Taunt
- Explosion

OR for ghosts

Mew @ Focus Sash/Red Card
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Taunt
- Misty Explosion

Having Mew as the hazard setter is much more standard, consistent at keeping them up, and won't affect the team as much if Dynamax is banned (which from the public opinion of many people it looks like it will).

I'll again recommend also the fast offensive Eternatus spread, just a standard one since rain with Dracovish hasn't seemed to take off at all, so just fast enough for Marshadow and offensive with life orb for harder hits will provide more power as a breaker since on offensive sets black sludge may feel underwhelming.

Set

Eternatus @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 40 Def / 252 SpA / 216 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dynamax Cannon
- Flamethrower
- Toxic Spikes
- Recover

Zacian-C should probably be Jolly because I'd argue OHKO'ing other Zacian-C after hazards is less important than speed tying them and having a chance to OHKO still. Substitute should be changed to SD for more offensive pressure, since the team can mostly handle Giratina and Zygarde to Play Rough might not be needed, but is an option.

Taunt on Yveltal is unnecessary especially if you put Mew for taunt, since Pokemon like Zacian-C and the less common Magearna can beat this set. I'd recommend heat wave over taunt, as well as making it at least 236 SpA from the attack investment to OHKO Zacian-C with max flare, but just max works fine. Dark Pulse also just naturally hits a lot of things much harder especially with the Max Darkness Sp.def drop, and if you want to hit Blissey then the sucker punch Max Darkness will still do a lot of damage.

Set

Yveltal @ Life Orb
Ability: Dark Aura
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Dark Pulse
- Oblivion Wing
- Heat Wave

Finally Calyrex, a new Pokemon where it's sets are still being fully optimized with specs, scarf, and nasty plot being used. If you're going to use Calyrex on HO though, I'd recommend the set of Astral Barrage, Psyshock, Nasty Plot, Draining Kiss. Leaf Storm is less effective than Draining Kiss since Yveltal is way more common than Tyranitar, and with Dynamax the difference from Astral Barrage and Draining Kiss becomes a lot larger than what you consider not worth from their base moves. Taunt does't help against much, and if you wanted a way to avoid status substitute has been seeing usage also as a way to bait Yveltal Sucker Punch, ignore status, take 1 strong hit, just normal sub things, over Draining Kiss or Psyshock.

Set

Calyrex-Shadow @ Life Orb
Ability: As One (Spectrier)
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Draining Kiss
- Astral Barrage
- Psyshock

Again, the meta's extremely new and things are still being figured out, so I didn't want to change any members aside from Coppoerajah which I consider fairly unviable especially when compared to Mew, but just changed a few sets to be more standard/offensive. The meta will change likely if dynamax gets banned, and a few members might have to be changed/have movesets reworked, but for now this is my advice, here's the updated team. https://pokepast.es/ffcd5654a256a5ed

I took your previous suggestions to heart the previous time--I just really wanted to see how Copperajah would be again. And it's pretty bad. You're right in that it's a complete waste of a Dynamax, whether it's in a meta of anything-can-Dynamax or not.

1.) I tried a few things over my current lead (including Mew) and it's between the Misty Explosion Mew, Landorus-I with Rocks/Earth Power/Rock Slide/Explosion to punish Ho-Oh a little smarter and have a natural immunity to Electric (for Regieleki--that thing is ridiculous) and Ground (Excadrill/Groudon/one-time Necrozma-Dusk-Mane EQ switch in to get chip), and Terrakion with Rocks/Taunt/Reversal/Rock Slide as a faster taunt lead. It's really matchup dependent I think.
2.) I agree Eternatus is better with Life Orb, changed.
3.) I'm considering changing to Jolly Zacian and having Play Rough over Close Combat because I doubt Zygarde runs max speed so Jolly should outpace +1 Zygarde. Speed tying other Zacian wasn't a concern before this DLC because Ditto reverse sweeps had less that could stop them. I'm not sure what's better now--the power otherwise with Adamant is tough to give up. I was this to putting Quick Attack over Substitute because Regieleki is such a broken mess against this team. That mon alone makes me want to stop using any HO without webs.

I'm not a fan of SD at all--Ditto reverse sweeps me hard enough at +2, no need to give it +4. I barely have opportunities to SD on anything, I much rather have the Sub option for stalling Dynamax.

4.) Changed Leaf Storm to Draining Kiss and immediately got a Tyranitar next game, which was funny. I do like Draining Kiss in Dynamax especially once Psychic Terrain from Max Mindstorm is up to stop Sucker Punches, so I'll definitely keep it. I'll have to keep playing to decide whether Nasty Plot or Substitute is better, but currently Substitute looks to be preferrable.

Thanks for the suggestions again, I really appreciate the specificity on things.