ORAS UU Jam Buds

[Cheryl.]

Hi everyone, I'm back with a new RMT! Today, I want to showcase one of my favorite teams I've built recently, a Hyper Offense team built by yours truly and my girlfriend while listening to music, so we decided to christen it "Jam Buds". This team has done pretty well in the ladder, although I do believe it can be improved with some changes, so that's why I've decided to post this particular one! Let's get to it!

Teambuilding Process

We started off the team with a core of Choice Band Durant and Mega Swampert, a powerful offensive core based off of Durant wallbreaking through a lot of Mega Swampert's checks so Mega Swampert can clean up late-game with Swift Swim Rain Dance. It also has a bit of defensive synergy as Mega Swampert provides a Fire check for Durant and an Electric check for the rest of the team.

The original version of this team actually had mixed Life Orb Salamence as the third partner, mainly to be a better Fire check than Mega Swampert while also checking Fighting-types and keeping up offensive pressure by breaking down walls and pressuring Fairy-type switch-ins with Iron Tail. However, since Salamence is potentially (and probably) going to get banned, I decided to replace it with Lum Berry Dragon Dance Gyarados, who does a decent job at checking Fire-types and Fighting-types while also adding another potential win condition to the team.

We wanted a reliable offensive Stealth Rocker that could still keep up offensive pressure on the opposing team, and while we were thinking of using suicide lead Aerodactyl in this slot, we ultimately decided on using LO 3 Attacks + Stealth Rock Azelf, which is an incredibly underrated set that provides the team with Stealth Rock while also breaking down the opposing team with Azelf's great power, coverage, and it's 115 Base Speed.

Whimsicott was basically a no-brainer for the team at this point, as it added a soft Water and Dragon-type check, a Dark-type check, and another check to Fighting-types along with stopping set-up sweepers in their tracks with Encore and having U-Turn to bring a member of the team in safely.

Infernape was added to the team as our last potential win condition or wallbreaker, as well as providing another naturally fast Pokemon and a counter to Sableye. Priority Vacuum Wave also helps out in picking off weakened Pokemon, which can especially help in cases such as against a Mega Sharpedo.

Biggest Fan (Durant) @ Choice Band
Ability: Hustle
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- X-Scissor
- Iron Head
- Superpower
- Thunder Fang
​

Durant was the first of the two Pokemon we built the team around, and I gotta say, it's an extremely underrated one at that. Durant's niche in it's ability Hustle, which makes him really powerful especially when equipped with a boosting item, and in it's decently fast 109 base Speed, which allows him to outspeed top UU threats like Cobalion and Infernape. (Also it's ability to miss when you really need it not to!) Durant's good defensive typing allows it to provide the team with a soft check to Grass and Fairy-types, although it's disgraceful Special Defense does set him back a bit. Choice Band is our preferred item on Durant, as it provides him with the most immediate power possible, and Durant is usually a hit-and-run type of Pokemon anyways, so he doesn't mind being locked in. The set is mostly standard aside from using Thunder Fang as the last move, which is mainly used to lure in predicted Gyarados switch-ins and to hit Suicune slightly harder than X-Scissor does, which helps Mega Swampert greatly. However, if you really don't like Doublade, Crunch is a viable option over Thunder Fang.

Anchor Arms (Swampert-Mega) @ Swampertite
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rain Dance
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
​

Mega Swampert is the second Pokemon of the team, and our main win condition and one of the best Mega Evolutions in UU right now. Mega Swampert does a lot of amazing things, like wallbreaking for the rest of the team, sweeping late-game, and providing a nice bulky Pokemon to take a hit or two. It appreciates the pressure Durant and the other teammates puts on it's checks, and in turn Mega Swampert can also put some pressure on defensive Pokemon as well through brute force. It's also our team's main check to Mega Aerodactyl, which is really vital since every other member of the team gets hit super effectively by Mega Dactyl's STABs or is a bit frail.

Maelstrom (Gyarados) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Bounce
- Earthquake
​

As said before, the original team had mixed LO Salamence, but as it's probably being banned, our replacement for it is Lum Berry Gyarados, which we feel best fits the roles of checking Fire and Fighting-types that Salamence had. Gyarados also provides the team with another win condition, and a way to soften up physical attackers due to Intimidate. Earthquake is really nice on this set as it allows Gyarados to wear down Empoleon and activate it's Shuca Berry, so Mega Swampert can more easily get through it later on in the game. It also lets it better deal with Doublade, which is nice so Mega Swampert doesn't have to take more damage than it needs to trying to kill the thing. Overall, Gyarados pulls it's weight in almost any match it's in, and it's a perfectly fine replacement for Salamence on this team.

Little Baby (Azelf) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Psychic
- Fire Blast
- Dazzling Gleam
​

Azelf is the team's Stealth Rocker, who also fills a role of a wallbreaker who can break it's teammate's checks. LO 3 Attacks + SR Azelf is a pretty rare and unexpected set, but it's very useful in setting up Stealth Rock on forced switch-ins and hitting pretty much everything aside from Blissey and Cresselia hard with it's coverage. Fire Blast helps lure in Steel-types like Forretress that can check our physical attackers, and Dazzling Gleam is nice for hitting Hydreigon and other Dragon-types, as well as Dark-types, mainly Sableye switch-ins looking to Taunt Azelf out of using Stealth Rock. Azelf's high Speed also comes into play often, as it allows him to outspeed a lot of offensive threats and hit them hard before they can kill him.

Eli (Whimsicott) @ Pixie Plate
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Moonblast
- Giga Drain
- Encore
- U-turn
​

The "glue" mon of the team, Whimsicott does a ton for the team, checking Dragon, Water, Dark, and Fighting-types in one slot, while also detering set-up sweepers due to Encore, and pivoting around with U-Turn to get the other members in safely. Whimsicott also hits fairly hard with Pixie Plate Moonblast, and with her high Speed, she can act as a revenge killer to frail or weakened Pokemon. We chose Giga Drain over Energy Ball as getting passive recovery is important for Whimsicott to not get as easily worn down by entry hazards and the damage it already takes.

Anime Reference (Infernape) @ Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Fire Blast
- Vacuum Wave
- Grass Knot
​

Infernape is the team's last member, who gives the team another win condition with it's fantastic Nasty Plot set, and a way to pick off weakened opponents with it's priority Vacuum Wave, and gives the team a Sableye counter, which is important for Hyper Offense teams as they do not like to be worn down or crippled by Will-O-Wisp. Infernape also gives the team a decent way to beat bulky Water-types, especially Swampert, with Grass Knot, luring them in and dealing great damage to them, often KOing them if you boost up on the switch-in. Some people have said that Focus Blast is a good option over Grass Knot or Vacuum Wave, as it provides a better way for me to beat Snorlax, while also hitting Water-types hard after +2, but I think having a way to hit Water-types reliably without setting up is more important, and Focus Blast's accuracy worries me deeply.

Here is the threatlist of this team, going in no particular order:

Mega Aerodactyl: Mega Aerodactyl is a bit of a problem for this team as it outspeeds every unboosted team member, and hits 3 of the 6 super effectively with it's STABs and hits Azelf and Durant hard due to them being frail. Mega Swampert is our main answer to this, as it's able to take a Wing Attack and OHKO it with Waterfall, but it can get worn down and gets hit really hard by common Hone Claws variants.

Doublade: This thing is VERY annoying if Mega Swampert is down, as it comes in for free on Whimsicott and Crunch-less Durant, and can begin to set up Swords Dance. Infernape can get taken out by boosted Shadow Sneak if it's weakened enough, and boosted Shadow Claw hurts Gyarados a lot. It can even revenge kill weakened party members with Shadow Sneak as well. However, it can get lured in with Azelf's Fire Blast and Mega Swampert does a ton to it with Earthquake, so it can be defeated.

Snorlax: I hate this thing, very, very hard. Let's get to why this thing is arguably the biggest threat to the team, even if I play decently. CurseLax variants can start to boost up on our special attackers, and then start to beat up on our physical attackers until it ultimately wins the game. Superpower on Durant is the team's biggest weapon towards Snorlax, as it OHKOes unboosted CurseLax and does about 80% to +1 Defense CurseLax. But if it gets over +2 Defense and Rests on the Superpower, Durant's efforts are thwarted and everything goes to shit. Choice Band sets are less of a problem, but it hits everything hard and is guaranteed a kill against our team every match.

Defensive Sylveon: It's mostly just coincidence, but if Durant's gone and your best way of hurting this thing physically is with Mega Swampert, it can go downhill really fast as Rain-boosted Waterfall only does about 60% and it can stall out Rain turns with Wish and Protect, and it hits decently hard with Hyper Voice as well.

Shoutouts

My girlfriend for helping me make this team, although she doesn't have a Smogon account.

Take Azelfie Really good friend, good teambuilder, hosts a lot of threads, what's not to like?
CrzyCookie Really fun and crazy gal
Thatwackycruton Really awesome guy, deep too! Also probably watches porn with the time he spends away from Discord, xD
Drangonn. He still has a lot of work to do if he wants to earn his reputation back, but he can be pretty cool at times
Based Honker Decently cool friend, although we do butt heads on some topics
TheWall22 Really fun and nice guy
Nightingales Good luck in the army my dudette
LittleRunnerXC The rumored nicest guy on PS, who also apparently runs businesses???
Accelgor Great friend on PS!
Shadowtags A really friendly and fun guy
Chakra YOU FINALLY GOT THAT BADGE DUDE, CONGRATS!
Threw One of the most successful "new" users I've seen, really cool and makes articles that you should TOTALLY go check out!
Fineonbae Really fun and cool dude
Gatorboy Really funny and has a cool YouTube channel, and has a brother who's an average kid who no one understands
TSR Cool dude
Sobi Really cool friend who is a really nice amchecker for GP, and does a lot more stuff in the downtime
The other members of the UU community that I haven't listed here, you're all great people and play the best tier! (OPINIONSSS)

Will probably list more later, but tired.

Importable like the text above says, duh

Biggest Fan (Durant) @ Choice Band
Ability: Hustle
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- X-Scissor
- Iron Head
- Superpower
- Thunder Fang

Anchor Arms (Swampert-Mega) @ Swampertite
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rain Dance
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch

Maelstrom (Gyarados) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Bounce
- Earthquake

Little Baby (Azelf) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Psychic
- Fire Blast
- Dazzling Gleam

Eli (Whimsicott) @ Pixie Plate
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Moonblast
- Giga Drain
- Encore
- U-turn

Anime Reference (Infernape) @ Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Fire Blast
- Vacuum Wave
- Grass Knot

Well, I hope this team serves you as well as it has served me. While Hyper Offense is a riskier playstyle than the more common Bulky Offense or Balance teams that pop up nowadays, if you get used to having to make some sacrifices in order to win, I think you'll do just as, if not better, than me at using this team! Have a good day/night/apocalypse!
​

 

[Adaam]

>

Gyarados seems like an awkward fit. As an offensive team you should look more towards breaking each member's checks down and supporting each other in sweeping rather than just checking certain types. Even so, Gyara is a poor Fire/Fighting check since it cannot switch into any of them really without defensive investment. A better way to mitigate Entei, Darm, Nape, Shao etc weakness is to have a mon that can force them all out or beat them once set up. The team also sorely needs strong prio considering it's quite slow (high average speed but low max speed). SD Luc > Gyarados is the perfect fit despite Steel stacking. Luc outspeeds Entei and hits most Fire/Fightings really hard with Espeed besides Cobalion and Chandelure. But with EQ, you don't have to worry about being walled by Chandy. BP is an option here but having 3 mons hard walled by Chandy with no switch ins is a bad idea.

Lucario

Lucario @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Extreme Speed
- Earthquake

Durant is really cool. However, CB Durant is a bit tough to use on this sort of build due to how not spammable its STABs are and giving up momentum is terrible when you have nothing really to stomach a hit. Try LO > Choice Band with Crunch > Thunder Fang in order to not forfeit momentum the second you click any move and avoid being walled by Doublade. Giving it a chance to SD is very problematic since it removes Ape's ability to revenge it, as you noted, and you would hate to be forced to whittle M-Swampert and remove its efficiency in setting up late game RDs (also again, walled by Chandy with no switch ins is no fun). Thunder fang isn't really necessary since LO Scissors already do a good chunk to Water types.

Tailwind > Giga Drain is a must. As mentioned before, the teams lack of speed is huge since you have no way to revenge any scarfers, Crobat, Aero, Sceptile, and Bee outside of priority (but none OHKO any of them). Tailwind gives you 3 turns to potentially flip the game without worrying about any of these fast threats or facilitate a late game clean up by Durant, Lucario, or Pert. Giga Drain is mediocre considering 100 terrifying things switch into Whimsicott, so clicking anything but U-Turn can potentially end up in a kill for the enemy team (think Entei, Nidos, Sylveon, Doublade).

I'm personally not a fan of Adamant Pert. It's supposed to clean late game, but Adamant leaves it revenged by a handful of Scarfers. A spread of 56 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 196 Spe with Jolly Nature lets you outspeed Scarf base 100s, and although Mence may be leaving the tier soon, outspeeding the occasional Scarf Celebis is huge rather than dying to a surprise Storm.

Hope these help

 

[Cheryl.]

Thanks for the rate Adaam! All of your rates have helped my team out on the ladder, especially with Lucario adding more offensive pressure to walls and also beating Chandelure with Earthquake, which is really helpful! Tailwind over Giga Drain on Whimsicott is pretty cool as well, as it helps with this team's lack of speed, although not being able to KO Swampert can mean trouble sometimes. I will implemented these changes into the importable soon, and most of all, thanks for the rate!