Hello. I don't normally ladder and I haven't made an RMT in probably two years, but UU has sparked my interest and gotten me back into the scene. I was tired of stale UU teams and I wanted to make something completely new and anti-meta. So many people were spamming these really standard cores, and a set of Pokemon that were almost always present on high level teams showed up. Victini, Florges, Hydreigon, Mega-Aerodactyl, Roserade, and friends seemed to be the bog standard. I tried my hand at some offensive teams, but I found them lacking the backbone I wanted to stand up to some of the pretty ridiculous attacks that roam around UU. Thus, I wanted a stall team. Thanks to Defog, however, classic stall is not really very viable. Stacking all three hazards and keeping them up is impossible if the opponent's team is designed to remove hazards (and by designed I pretty much mean has a Crobat or another fast defogger). I wanted something that could dynamically deal with a lot of threats as well as have a strong win condition, basically taking away two of the problems with XY stall. I wanted to use Toxic Spikes as my win condition, as without a grounded Poison the residual damage gets really out of hand really fast with a lot of teams. Unfortunately, there are a lot of grounded poisons in the tier -- Roserade, Nidoroyals, and Toxicroak are all not only viable but really good. The idea of Dugtrio came to me, and I kind of dismissed it because Dugtrio is often seen as a gimmick. I looked a little closer and it was kind of striking how well it fit into the strategy, and so I decided to give it a go. And so the team was born. It was quite successful, ending with a record of 74-12 and a rating of 1803 ELO. I'll try to make the descriptions more on how I play the team than anything else.
The Core
Mew @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 224 SDef / 252 HP / 4 Atk / 28 Spd
Careful Nature
- Knock Off
- Roost
- Defog
- Will-O-Wisp
Slowbro @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SAtk
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Psyshock
- Calm Mind
- Slack Off
Florges (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flower Veil
EVs: 252 HP / 224 Def / 32 SDef
Calm Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Aromatherapy
- Moonblast
The infamous pink core rears its ugly head, and for a good reason. Even though this team is designed to be anti-meta, that doesn't mean that I can't utilize what is popular. This is the best defensive core in the tier for a reason -- that reason being, it walls damn near everything and builds in not only an unmatched defensive prowess, but Wish support, Aromatherapy support, and hazard control. In 3 Pokemon. These are the Pokemon that I switch between the most in battle. Rocky Helmet on Slowbro is a really brilliant item because it stops a lot of momentum grabbing tactics cold. Choice Band Fire-types trying to U-Turn on me find that they take 1/6th of their health in exchange for doing nothing to me after my Regenerator activates. Crobat gets slowly worn down instead of sending out something dangerous for free every time it comes in. It also helps a lot switching into Honchkrow, who is one of the biggest threats to the team. It has a good chance to 2HKO me, but the Rocky Helmet + Life Orb + Recoil means that Honchkrow will also take itself out in the process. I stuck Calm Mind on Slowbro pretty much just for Crocune.
The main thing that troubles this core is hazards. If you can find a way to keep up hazards and keep the pressure on, these 3 can have some serious trouble keeping up. That's why I always cast a wary eye towards Roserade and Froslass, because they have the means to set hazards and prevent me from defogging. Another really annoying thing is the change to Roar mechanics. Florges is absolutely vital to this team, mostly because Hydreigon rips it apart without her. Things like Roar Rhyperior, Swampert, and Mega Blastoise can come in and get off a hit, and then prevent her from healing.
Lastly, you have to be careful with things designed to beat the core. Because it is so common, people have begun to use wallbreakers just for their ability to power through this core. Mixed Hydreigon, Escavalier, CB Rhyperior, et cetera can all pretty much power through this if you play too passively.
The Hazards
Nidoqueen (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 HP / 168 Def / 88 SAtk
Bold Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic Spikes
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
I realized that I didn't have a lot of team slots left and I needed my Toxic Spikes as well as SR, so Nidoqueen was kind of a no brainer. She also patches up the bad Bug type weakness that the team was getting. Once hazards are down, Nidoqueen is almost completely expendable. There are only a select few Pokemon that you would really need to keep her around for. Because of her limited role in the team, you can play her quite aggressively to keep the hazards down. I'll almost always sacrifice her to pop off a layer of Toxic Spikes if the opponent's team is mostly affected by them. Toxic Spikes are what makes this team tick. Other stall teams just fold to them and it puts offensive teams on a timer. Instead of just sitting around until I make a mistake so they can break through me, it forces them to dive in headfirst (and I can take advantage of that). Dugtrio works in tandem with Nidoqueen to eliminate the Poisons early game. You can put up a layer of Toxic Spikes and then try to catch their Poison-type on a double switch trying to absorb them. Her attacks also hit decently hard, and ensures that Forretress can't spin on her. Only problem with Nidoqueen is that Mew can remove her hazards all day. That's admittedly a problem, but Sableye can capitalize on Mew to remove some items or spread burns.
The Glue
Sableye @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 244 HP / 252 SDef / 12 Spd
Careful Nature
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Knock Off
- Recover
Dugtrio @ Choice Band
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Aerial Ace
- Sucker Punch
These last two Pokemon really hold the team together. Sableye is my spinblocker and general switchin to a lot of things. A nifty trick that I picked up is that if you can status Mega-Blastoise, Sableye can spinblock him no problem (barring Hydro Pump). Taunt + Wisp + Knock Off also fucks really hard with stall teams. Knock Off support is pretty crucial. If I can remove Florges' Leftovers, Dugtrio can then trap it. Sableye, like Nidoqueen, is also special in that it is not directly critical to my bottom line. Therefore, if I have to make a decision on what to sacrifice it's not hard to lose Sableye. That doesn't mean that it's just cannon fodder, though. Sableye is a beautiful stop to last-Pokemon set up attempts (which I am otherwise horribly weak to). Sableye can tank a LOT of special attacks that you wouldn't expect it to and heal off the damage. It's almost always my first switch-in to Roserade, Mew, and Porygon-Z. He is the best Pokemon to cover all of the auxiliary threats that my team has problems with.
Lastly, I'll cover the team MVP. Dugtrio. Having Dugtrio on a stall team allows me to pull so many weird tricks and plays it's not even funny. A huge amount of threats are limited to getting one KO at most because I'll just send in Dugtrio to finish them off. This applies to a lot of stallbreakers. Mixed Victini, LO Chandelure, CB Heracross, LO Roserade, Megahorn Nidoking, all get trapped and OHKOd very quickly. Dugtrio can also do some shit like trap Mega-Blastoise and Florges (easier than you think). Sableye can Will-O-Wisp the Mega Blastoise, Recover until it dies (usually to Water Pulse confusion), and then Dugtrio picks it off easily. An itemless Florges is also easy prey for Dugtrio, and once Florges is down most stall teams will fold to constant burns (if Toxic Spikes aren't up). I'm retrospectively reading this, high as fuck and eating a bowl of orange sherbet -- i sound really fake, like i'm picturing this person over enunciating and sounding like a general frat nig, so sorry. Florges' death also makes some Pokemon (looking at you, Mega-Blastoise) a lot easier to deal with because of no Aromatherapy support. He also creates strong win conditions. A lot of times, one well executed double switch will alleviate all the pressure on your team and pretty much win the game. The opponent has to constantly keep everything that doesn't resist Earthquake at high HP or risk being trapped (for example, CB EQ does around half to 252/0 Mew). This is a stall team that can cover all of its bases or play extremely aggro with Dugtrio at the opponent's throat. Nothing else could fit in this slot and fill the roles as well as Dugtrio could.
The Core
Mew @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 224 SDef / 252 HP / 4 Atk / 28 Spd
Careful Nature
- Knock Off
- Roost
- Defog
- Will-O-Wisp
Slowbro @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SAtk
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Psyshock
- Calm Mind
- Slack Off
Florges (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flower Veil
EVs: 252 HP / 224 Def / 32 SDef
Calm Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Aromatherapy
- Moonblast
The infamous pink core rears its ugly head, and for a good reason. Even though this team is designed to be anti-meta, that doesn't mean that I can't utilize what is popular. This is the best defensive core in the tier for a reason -- that reason being, it walls damn near everything and builds in not only an unmatched defensive prowess, but Wish support, Aromatherapy support, and hazard control. In 3 Pokemon. These are the Pokemon that I switch between the most in battle. Rocky Helmet on Slowbro is a really brilliant item because it stops a lot of momentum grabbing tactics cold. Choice Band Fire-types trying to U-Turn on me find that they take 1/6th of their health in exchange for doing nothing to me after my Regenerator activates. Crobat gets slowly worn down instead of sending out something dangerous for free every time it comes in. It also helps a lot switching into Honchkrow, who is one of the biggest threats to the team. It has a good chance to 2HKO me, but the Rocky Helmet + Life Orb + Recoil means that Honchkrow will also take itself out in the process. I stuck Calm Mind on Slowbro pretty much just for Crocune.
The main thing that troubles this core is hazards. If you can find a way to keep up hazards and keep the pressure on, these 3 can have some serious trouble keeping up. That's why I always cast a wary eye towards Roserade and Froslass, because they have the means to set hazards and prevent me from defogging. Another really annoying thing is the change to Roar mechanics. Florges is absolutely vital to this team, mostly because Hydreigon rips it apart without her. Things like Roar Rhyperior, Swampert, and Mega Blastoise can come in and get off a hit, and then prevent her from healing.
Lastly, you have to be careful with things designed to beat the core. Because it is so common, people have begun to use wallbreakers just for their ability to power through this core. Mixed Hydreigon, Escavalier, CB Rhyperior, et cetera can all pretty much power through this if you play too passively.
The Hazards
Nidoqueen (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 HP / 168 Def / 88 SAtk
Bold Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic Spikes
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
I realized that I didn't have a lot of team slots left and I needed my Toxic Spikes as well as SR, so Nidoqueen was kind of a no brainer. She also patches up the bad Bug type weakness that the team was getting. Once hazards are down, Nidoqueen is almost completely expendable. There are only a select few Pokemon that you would really need to keep her around for. Because of her limited role in the team, you can play her quite aggressively to keep the hazards down. I'll almost always sacrifice her to pop off a layer of Toxic Spikes if the opponent's team is mostly affected by them. Toxic Spikes are what makes this team tick. Other stall teams just fold to them and it puts offensive teams on a timer. Instead of just sitting around until I make a mistake so they can break through me, it forces them to dive in headfirst (and I can take advantage of that). Dugtrio works in tandem with Nidoqueen to eliminate the Poisons early game. You can put up a layer of Toxic Spikes and then try to catch their Poison-type on a double switch trying to absorb them. Her attacks also hit decently hard, and ensures that Forretress can't spin on her. Only problem with Nidoqueen is that Mew can remove her hazards all day. That's admittedly a problem, but Sableye can capitalize on Mew to remove some items or spread burns.
The Glue
Sableye @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 244 HP / 252 SDef / 12 Spd
Careful Nature
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Knock Off
- Recover
Dugtrio @ Choice Band
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Aerial Ace
- Sucker Punch
These last two Pokemon really hold the team together. Sableye is my spinblocker and general switchin to a lot of things. A nifty trick that I picked up is that if you can status Mega-Blastoise, Sableye can spinblock him no problem (barring Hydro Pump). Taunt + Wisp + Knock Off also fucks really hard with stall teams. Knock Off support is pretty crucial. If I can remove Florges' Leftovers, Dugtrio can then trap it. Sableye, like Nidoqueen, is also special in that it is not directly critical to my bottom line. Therefore, if I have to make a decision on what to sacrifice it's not hard to lose Sableye. That doesn't mean that it's just cannon fodder, though. Sableye is a beautiful stop to last-Pokemon set up attempts (which I am otherwise horribly weak to). Sableye can tank a LOT of special attacks that you wouldn't expect it to and heal off the damage. It's almost always my first switch-in to Roserade, Mew, and Porygon-Z. He is the best Pokemon to cover all of the auxiliary threats that my team has problems with.
Lastly, I'll cover the team MVP. Dugtrio. Having Dugtrio on a stall team allows me to pull so many weird tricks and plays it's not even funny. A huge amount of threats are limited to getting one KO at most because I'll just send in Dugtrio to finish them off. This applies to a lot of stallbreakers. Mixed Victini, LO Chandelure, CB Heracross, LO Roserade, Megahorn Nidoking, all get trapped and OHKOd very quickly. Dugtrio can also do some shit like trap Mega-Blastoise and Florges (easier than you think). Sableye can Will-O-Wisp the Mega Blastoise, Recover until it dies (usually to Water Pulse confusion), and then Dugtrio picks it off easily. An itemless Florges is also easy prey for Dugtrio, and once Florges is down most stall teams will fold to constant burns (if Toxic Spikes aren't up). I'm retrospectively reading this, high as fuck and eating a bowl of orange sherbet -- i sound really fake, like i'm picturing this person over enunciating and sounding like a general frat nig, so sorry. Florges' death also makes some Pokemon (looking at you, Mega-Blastoise) a lot easier to deal with because of no Aromatherapy support. He also creates strong win conditions. A lot of times, one well executed double switch will alleviate all the pressure on your team and pretty much win the game. The opponent has to constantly keep everything that doesn't resist Earthquake at high HP or risk being trapped (for example, CB EQ does around half to 252/0 Mew). This is a stall team that can cover all of its bases or play extremely aggro with Dugtrio at the opponent's throat. Nothing else could fit in this slot and fill the roles as well as Dugtrio could.
Nidoqueen (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 HP / 168 Def / 88 SAtk
Bold Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic Spikes
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
Mew @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 224 SDef / 252 HP / 4 Atk / 28 Spd
Careful Nature
- Knock Off
- Roost
- Defog
- Will-O-Wisp
Slowbro @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SAtk
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Psyshock
- Calm Mind
- Slack Off
Sableye @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 244 HP / 252 SDef / 12 Spd
Careful Nature
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Knock Off
- Recover
Dugtrio @ Choice Band
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Aerial Ace
- Sucker Punch
Florges (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flower Veil
EVs: 252 HP / 224 Def / 32 SDef
Calm Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Aromatherapy
- Moonblast
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 HP / 168 Def / 88 SAtk
Bold Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic Spikes
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
Mew @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 224 SDef / 252 HP / 4 Atk / 28 Spd
Careful Nature
- Knock Off
- Roost
- Defog
- Will-O-Wisp
Slowbro @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SAtk
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Psyshock
- Calm Mind
- Slack Off
Sableye @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 244 HP / 252 SDef / 12 Spd
Careful Nature
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Knock Off
- Recover
Dugtrio @ Choice Band
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Aerial Ace
- Sucker Punch
Florges (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flower Veil
EVs: 252 HP / 224 Def / 32 SDef
Calm Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Aromatherapy
- Moonblast
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