SM UU Maxwell's Silver Hammer

[Sickist]

(Click sprites for importable)

Hello everyone! I'm here again for my 2nd USUM UU RMT. I was kinda bored, so I asked some cool UU dudes about which mon I should build around, so thanks to Scizorphobic and 'sei. for that.

Let's get into the team, shall we?

Teambuilding Process:

Starting off with Haxorus and Mega Steelix. I've never built around the mon and it's an absolute stall destroyer. I've played 4 stall MUs and won all of them with Haxorus. SD+Mold Breaker is stupid good, and overall SD Haxorus is way better than DDance Haxorus any day, as the Power is just amazing. Steelix complements Haxorus well, as it provides rocks and a fairy/dragon switchin, and Haxorus can come in on Fire attacks and soften fat waters that Steelix hates. Steelix can also 1v1 Scizor (non-superpower varients) with Curse, which Haxorus hates Scizor.

Next, I added Sylveon. The trio now forms a very solid Dragon/Steel/Fairy core, which is really nice vs the current metagame. Sylveon brings a reliable Fighting switchin, Heal Bell Support, and most importantly, Wish Support. Sylveon also appreciates Haxorus and Steelix being able to wear down or just simply remove the Poison and Steel types in the tier. If need be, it can sponge Ground Type attacks as well. Sylveon also handles the likes of Hydreigon for the most part, fearing only the illustrious Specs set.

I needed a flying resist as well as speed control. I also needed a better MAltaria matchup, so I chose Nihilego to be the next member. It has a fantastic speed tier, as well as good SpA and a stellar movepool to handle threats like Swampert, Empoleon, Mega Altaria, Moltres, etc. Beast Boost is a nice ability, boosting Nihilego's special attack everytime it claims a kill, which is fantastic. Nihilego really appreciates Wish Support from Sylveon, and can switch in on most Fairies for Haxorus. Overall, a really fun mon and a solid addition to this build.

At this point, I had no hazard control. I was also still kinda Scizor-Weak, but I didn't want to have to run double defog with Moltres. So I went with Tentacruel, arguably my least favorite pokemon in the tier. It's also my primarina answer, as well as being able to handle things like Cobalion, Infernape, and Moltres (as long as Flyinium doesn't exist.) Tenta is another beneficiary of Sylveon's Wish Support, and can take on all steels that lack Ground Coverage, such as Fire Punch Mega Aggron and Cobalion.

Finally, we come to our last team member. Hydreigon is stupidly versatile, and it fit right in to the last slot of the build. Seeing how many Dragon and Fairy answers there are on the team, it didn't bother me to add another Dragon on. At this point the team was rather Celebi weak, and Hydreigon fixed that weakness to an extant. Crawdaunt is now a little safer to MU against, as this Hydreigon carries roost. The best part is that Hydreigon fixes the main team issue: Ground Types. Having Levitate is amazing for the team as EdgeQuake doesn't hit the team super-effectivley. Finally, Hydreigon gives me a stallbreaker, and a way to keep my hazards up vs the majority of defoggers, bar the rare Togekiss.

The Team:

Haxorus @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Mold Breaker
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Poison Jab

Shiny Haxorus looks cooler than normal Haxorus, so theres that. Anyways, Swords Dance makes Haxorus hit like a steam train, boosting it's attack to insane levels. Outrage is the strongest Dragon STAB Haxorus has access to, but try not to click it before Fairies are removed and Steels are worn down. Earthquake complements Dragon STAB very well, as it hits Steel types, the only type that resists it. (Fairy is immune, not resisted.) Speaking of Fairies, Poison Jab hits the likes of Togekiss, Primarina, and Syvleon, which would otherwise shrug off Haxorus' attacks.

Steelix-Mega @ Steelixite
Ability: Sand Force
EVs: 252 HP / 208 Atk / 48 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Gyro Ball
- Curse / Toxic

Steelixite allows Steelix to Mega Evolve, granting it better stats and less damage taken from Knock Off. The EVs do something that I cannot remember specifically, so I will link the Smogon Analysis' of all of the team members down below. 0 Spe IVs allow for Gyro Ball to be even stronger, hitting everything fast for chunks of damage. Earthquake is our other STAB, hitting fire, steel, and poison types for super effective damage. You all should know what Stealth Rocks do at this point. Finally, Curse allows us to 1v1 SD Scizor and other Physical attackers, and basically turns non-taunt Gligar into settup fodder. Toxic is an alternative to pressure fat waters such as Swampert or fatmons in general such as Blissey or Cresselia.

Sylveon @ Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Moonblast
- Heal Bell

Wish allows us to "send" recovery to other mons in need or heal Sylveon. Protect lets us gain our Wish, as well as scout for coverage on other mons. Moonblast is chosen over Hyper Voice because Soundproof Kommo-o can 6-0 this team by using Sylveon as fodder, as Hyper Voice is blocked by Soundproof. Heal Bell lets us heal any status on the team, including Scald Burns, Toxics, or random para's from thunder dogs (literally every game I play vs MMane, i get parad by a stray tbolt and it SUCKS).

Nihilego @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Power Gem
- Sludge Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Grass Knot

Power Gem is our 1st STAB, hitting the likes of Moltres, Rotom Heat, Mega Aerodactyl, and other rock weak pokemon for super effective damage. Sludge Wave hits the likes of Togekiss, Primarina, Celebi, and other fairies and grasses in the tier, as well as everything that isn't resistant to or immune to it for good damage. Thunderbolt hits Empoleon for good damage, and Grass Knot hits Hippowdon, Swampert, Seismatoad, and Gastrodon for solid damage, even OHKOing some varients of these.

Tentacruel @ Black Sludge
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 112 Def / 144 Spe
Timid Nature
- Scald
- Rapid Spin
- Haze
- Sludge Bomb

Scald is the best option on Tentacruel, as it dishes out burns 30% of the time, which can cripple or mess with opposing pokemon's longevity. Rapid Spin allows us to clear hazards without removing our own or triggering Defiant boosters, such as Bisharp. Haze allows us to 1v1 Mega Altaria as long as it isn't carrying Earthquake, and lets us handle the majority of SD Scizors. Sludge Bomb is used over Sludge Wave because of the 30% poison chance, which can annoying fatmons, as well as it hitting fairies and grasses, etc.

Hydreigon @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dark Pulse
- Draco Meteor
- Roost
- Taunt

Dark Pulse is our main no-drawback STAB, which is very spammable and hits Psychic and Ghost types like Gengar, Latias, and Celebi for super effective damage. Draco Meteor hits about everything else really hard, but comes at the cost of dropping Hydreigon's special attack by 2 stages after every use. Roost allows us to consitently check things like Crawdaunt, Volcanion, etc. Taunt allows us to shutdown status users and wish passers, as well as hazard users or hazard removers, such as Blissey, Gligar, Empoleon, and Hippowdon.

Analysis'

Haxorus
Steelix
Sylveon
Nihilego
Tentacruel
Hydreigon

Threatlist

A well played Terrakion is very scary. As long as you can bait out the Rockium, you should be able to play around vs it with Sylveon and Steelix.

Dazzling Gleam Celebi can be annoying to switch into, but it's easy to revenge kill with either Nihilego, or Steelix is usually able to take Giga Drain into Psychium pretty well, so it can get off a Toxic/Gyro ball.

Closing thoughts

This team made me think about the last 2 slots for a week lol. Anyways thanks to TPP for being cool as usual, 'sei. and Scizorphobic for the Haxorus idea, and vivalospride for all the UU room uwu's. Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

EDIT: IM STUPID I ONLY WAITED A WEEK NOT 2 WEEKS TO POST IM SORRY TPP ;-;

​

 

[TPP]

Welcome to Smogon! I'm locking your RMT for the time being as the forum rules state that you are only allowed 1 RMT every 2 weeks. I'll unlock this in a week. Have a good day and again, welcome to Smogon ;)

Edit: I'm like 38 minutes but it's close enough. Unlocked!

 

[Sickist]

thanks and sorry once again for sucking with time.

 

[Twilight]

Hey Sickist as promised here is my rate for the cool team you built around SD Haxorus + MegaLix. I've really been loving the innovative stuff you come up with, not just in UU but also in the OU and RU forums where I've been following some of your stuff. As far as threats go I'd say you've listed most of them, though I'd argue your match-up against some bulky grounds isn't that easy. MegaLix especially gives you problems as your ground switch-in is Hydreigon which has a good chance to drop to Gyro after SR. Otherwise you have to bank on a burn from Tentacruel or start a set-up war with your own MegaLix which just isn't ideal. Haxorus needs help removing bulky steel types like Maggron and the afromentioned MegaLix, but I don't think the team achieves this as effectively as it could. With all this in mind lets get into the rate:

Major Changes:

>

: Rotom-H gives the team a better way to handle the steel types in the tier, in terms of walling / breaking through them, without being overly reliant on your MegaLix. Toxic can punish Lati, Hydra and bulky ground, but you can also consider Wisp which can turn some Pokemon into easier set-up oppurtunities for Haxorus and Lix. I opted for Thunderbolt in the last slot as it eases your match-up to pressure bulky water types and lets it better 1vs1 the flying types it wants to check. This is an EV spread I made with a few calcs, but it allows it to 2OHKO Suicune after SR, 2OHKO bulky Primarina and Togekiss with T-bolt. 248 Spe to be slower than other Rotom-H.

Some Calcs

100 SpA Rotom-Heat Overheat vs. 252 HP / 80 SpD Amoonguss: 354-416 (81.9 - 96.2%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

100 SpA Rotom-Heat Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 40 SpD Suicune: 192-228 (47.5 - 56.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

100 SpA Rotom-Heat Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Togekiss: 200-236 (53.4 - 63.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

100 SpA Rotom-Heat Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Primarina: 198-234 (54.3 - 64.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

100 SpA Rotom-Heat Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Tentacruel: 192-228 (52.7 - 62.6%) -- 99.6% chance to 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery

100 SpA Rotom-Heat Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 180+ SpD Empoleon: 168-200 (45.1 - 53.7%) -- 41.4% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

>

: I replaced Sylveon with bulky Primarina as the team needs a more surefire way to beat ground types without having to sack Tentacruel or let MegaLix take unecessary chip if it hasn't set-up a Curse yet. While Haxorus does break through them after an SD, it is extremely frail and thus doesn't have the easiest time doing so. Primarina beats and pressures them for the team while still retaining a solid check to Hydreigon, Kommo-o and to an extent Terrakion. While you do lose out on Wish support it acts as a status absorber for the team and loses less momentum for you.

Minor Changes:

(Ability Change + Move recommendation) : You seemed a bit conflicted between which move you were using in the last slot. On this variant I'd use Curse as it helps more against Scizor and bulky ground types while allowing it to be an effective wincon. It appreciates Haxorus removing things like Quag and Pyuku on stall teams for it. I also set your ability to Sturdy pre-evolution as sometimes it can come in useful to revenge something without mega evolving. Small things like this can be important.

(Set Change) : You now need a new form of speed control and it is very easy to just make this a Scarf variant. Very standard set here which eases your match-up to revenge Pokemon like Celebi, DD Kommo-o, Terrakion etc. It also forms a nice VoltTurn core with Rotom-H which is nice for teams like these to gain momentum. It shares the same checks as Haxorus so it can slowly chip them down or give Tentacruel and MegaLix a free switch-in to pressure them.

(Optional Change) : This is up to you, but there is some merit in running Knock Off > Sludge Bomb for removing items from checks like Blissey, Empoleon, Suicune making them easier to handle and wear down. It can remove the Specs off Primarina making it easier to handle between Tenta and your own Prima. It would also help with my next optional change by removing Choice Scarf from Pokemon it lures in like Hydra and Latias. If you prefer the immediate power against Primarina keep Sludge Bomb.

(Optional Change) : The reason for this suggestion of DD > SD is because Haxorus has such a hard time setting up thanks to its poor bulk. With Primarina added it eases the pressure on it to solely annoy stall or muscle through those ground types. DD helps it break through offense teams a lot easier due to it being harder to revenge. Pokemon like Pyuku and Quag still die to a +1 Devastating Drake if you use the Z-move correctly. The team would now give it enough support to make it functional. Again this is up to you, if you really prefer SD then it is fine here.

<Click Sprites for Importable>
​

I hope you like the suggestions bro. I've tested the team quite a bit and I've found Substitute Gengar can be annoying to deal with, but it only has a few oppurtunities to get a free set-up. The Terrakion match-up is pretty much the same, you have means of handling it as you pointed out with Prima + MegaLix while Hydra can revenge it. If you give the changes a try I hope you have fun doing so and I look forward to future teams you come up with. If you have any questions just let me know ^_^

 

[Sickist]

Hey Sickist as promised here is my rate for the cool team you built around SD Haxorus + MegaLix. I've really been loving the innovative stuff you come up with, not just in UU but also in the OU and RU forums where I've been following some of your stuff. As far as threats go I'd say you've listed most of them, though I'd argue your match-up against some bulky grounds isn't that easy. MegaLix especially gives you problems as your ground switch-in is Hydreigon which has a good chance to drop to Gyro after SR. Otherwise you have to bank on a burn from Tentacruel or start a set-up war with your own MegaLix which just isn't ideal. Haxorus needs help removing bulky steel types like Maggron and the afromentioned MegaLix, but I don't think the team achieves this as effectively as it could. With all this in mind lets get into the rate:

Major Changes:

>

: Rotom-H gives the team a better way to handle the steel types in the tier, in terms of walling / breaking through them, without being overly reliant on your MegaLix. Toxic can punish Lati, Hydra and bulky ground, but you can also consider Wisp which can turn some Pokemon into easier set-up oppurtunities for Haxorus and Lix. I opted for Thunderbolt in the last slot as it eases your match-up to pressure bulky water types and lets it better 1vs1 the flying types it wants to check. This is an EV spread I made with a few calcs, but it allows it to 2OHKO Suicune after SR, 2OHKO bulky Primarina and Togekiss with T-bolt. 248 Spe to be slower than other Rotom-H.

Some Calcs

100 SpA Rotom-Heat Overheat vs. 252 HP / 80 SpD Amoonguss: 354-416 (81.9 - 96.2%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

100 SpA Rotom-Heat Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 40 SpD Suicune: 192-228 (47.5 - 56.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

100 SpA Rotom-Heat Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Togekiss: 200-236 (53.4 - 63.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

100 SpA Rotom-Heat Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Primarina: 198-234 (54.3 - 64.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

100 SpA Rotom-Heat Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Tentacruel: 192-228 (52.7 - 62.6%) -- 99.6% chance to 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery

100 SpA Rotom-Heat Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 180+ SpD Empoleon: 168-200 (45.1 - 53.7%) -- 41.4% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

>

: I replaced Sylveon with bulky Primarina as the team needs a more surefire way to beat ground types without having to sack Tentacruel or let MegaLix take unecessary chip if it hasn't set-up a Curse yet. While Haxorus does break through them after an SD, it is extremely frail and thus doesn't have the easiest time doing so. Primarina beats and pressures them for the team while still retaining a solid check to Hydreigon, Kommo-o and to an extent Terrakion. While you do lose out on Wish support it acts as a status absorber for the team and loses less momentum for you.

Minor Changes:

(Ability Change + Move recommendation) : You seemed a bit conflicted between which move you were using in the last slot. On this variant I'd use Curse as it helps more against Scizor and bulky ground types while allowing it to be an effective wincon. It appreciates Haxorus removing things like Quag and Pyuku on stall teams for it. I also set your ability to Sturdy pre-evolution as sometimes it can come in useful to revenge something without mega evolving. Small things like this can be important.

(Set Change) : You now need a new form of speed control and it is very easy to just make this a Scarf variant. Very standard set here which eases your match-up to revenge Pokemon like Celebi, DD Kommo-o, Terrakion etc. It also forms a nice VoltTurn core with Rotom-H which is nice for teams like these to gain momentum. It shares the same checks as Haxorus so it can slowly chip them down or give Tentacruel and MegaLix a free switch-in to pressure them.

(Optional Change) : This is up to you, but there is some merit in running Knock Off > Sludge Bomb for removing items from checks like Blissey, Empoleon, Suicune making them easier to handle and wear down. It can remove the Specs off Primarina making it easier to handle between Tenta and your own Prima. It would also help with my next optional change by removing Choice Scarf from Pokemon it lures in like Hydra and Latias. If you prefer the immediate power against Primarina keep Sludge Bomb.

(Optional Change) : The reason for this suggestion of DD > SD is because Haxorus has such a hard time setting up thanks to its poor bulk. With Primarina added it eases the pressure on it to solely annoy stall or muscle through those ground types. DD helps it break through offense teams a lot easier due to it being harder to revenge. Pokemon like Pyuku and Quag still die to a +1 Devastating Drake if you use the Z-move correctly. The team would now give it enough support to make it functional. Again this is up to you, if you really prefer SD then it is fine here.

<Click Sprites for Importable>
​

I hope you like the suggestions bro. I've tested the team quite a bit and I've found Substitute Gengar can be annoying to deal with, but it only has a few oppurtunities to get a free set-up. The Terrakion match-up is pretty much the same, you have means of handling it as you pointed out with Prima + MegaLix while Hydra can revenge it. If you give the changes a try I hope you have fun doing so and I look forward to future teams you come up with. If you have any questions just let me know ^_^

Thanks, I've been trying this and it works pretty well. One thing to note is that the change between SD and DDance really depend on whats popular on the ladder chunk where i'm at. At the point when I did this RMT, I found SD to be superior, but as I am typing this, Dragon Dance seems to be better in my current place. Thanks for all the advice, Twilight

 

[Amane Misa]

I think that the team's generally fine, although, I do have suggestion to make it more than just fine.

• Two Poison-types just felt pointless. I feel like balance teams (if not every team) should not have more than one Poison-type; it's just not that good of a typing like Water to be considered using twice on a team. I changed Doublade > Nihilego because it provides the team with a dangerous late-game sweeper which the team currently lacked, helped to deal with Fighting-types like Terrakion, Kommo-o, and Lucario, which were very threatening to begin with, but even slightly more due to the next change.
• Replacing Nihilego opened up an obvious weakness to Flying-types like Moltres, so Blissey > Sylveon is my next suggestion. Blissey also provides the really-needed Toxic support on such a slow team and it still passes Wish to its teammates. I didn't feel like Heal Bell would do as much in practice that it's worth using it over Toxic.
• Blissey also handles threatening Water-types like Volcanion and Primarina, which opens up a moveslot on Tentacruel because there's no need for Sludge Bomb now. Either Knock Off or Toxic Spikes work here; Knock Off would help the team with the matchup against bulky Water-types like Tentacruel and Empoleon, while Toxic Spikes is really deadly in conjunction with Doublade, Mega Steelix, and Taunt Hydreigon. I also increased Tentacruel's speed so it can outspeed Lucario, which is threatening to the team.
• Offensive Mega Steelix should almost always have Curse, and if you're planning to keep Sylveon, have Cute Charm as its ability.

I feel like my version of the team contributes to the consistency of the team because it helps the player figuring out a late-game winning plan which your version felt like is lacking, which is why I like my version better than yours. I hope that the rate was helpful.

importable

Haxorus @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Mold Breaker
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Poison Jab

Steelix-Mega @ Steelixite
Ability: Sand Force
EVs: 252 HP / 208 Atk / 48 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Gyro Ball
- Curse

Blissey @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Seismic Toss
- Toxic
- Soft-Boiled
- Wish

Doublade @ Eviolite
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Swords Dance
- Gyro Ball
- Shadow Claw
- Shadow Sneak

Tentacruel @ Black Sludge
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 176 Spe
Timid Nature
- Scald
- Rapid Spin
- Haze
- Knock Off / Toxic Spikes

Hydreigon @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dark Pulse
- Draco Meteor
- Roost
- Taunt

 

[Sickist]

I think that the team's generally fine, although, I do have suggestion to make it more than just fine.

• Two Poison-types just felt pointless. I feel like balance teams (if not every team) should not have more than one Poison-type; it's just not that good of a typing like Water to be considered using twice on a team. I changed Doublade > Nihilego because it provides the team with a dangerous late-game sweeper which the team currently lacked, helped to deal with Fighting-types like Terrakion, Kommo-o, and Lucario, which were very threatening to begin with, but even slightly more due to the next change.
• Replacing Nihilego opened up an obvious weakness to Flying-types like Moltres, so Blissey > Sylveon is my next suggestion. Blissey also provides the really-needed Toxic support on such a slow team and it still passes Wish to its teammates. I didn't feel like Heal Bell would do as much in practice that it's worth using it over Toxic.
• Blissey also handles threatening Water-types like Volcanion and Primarina, which opens up a moveslot on Tentacruel because there's no need for Sludge Bomb now. Either Knock Off or Toxic Spikes work here; Knock Off would help the team with the matchup against bulky Water-types like Tentacruel and Empoleon, while Toxic Spikes is really deadly in conjunction with Doublade, Mega Steelix, and Taunt Hydreigon. I also increased Tentacruel's speed so it can outspeed Lucario, which is threatening to the team.
• Offensive Mega Steelix should almost always have Curse, and if you're planning to keep Sylveon, have Cute Charm as its ability.

I feel like my version of the team contributes to the consistency of the team because it helps the player figuring out a late-game winning plan which your version felt like is lacking, which is why I like my version better than yours. I hope that the rate was helpful.

importable

Haxorus @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Mold Breaker
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Poison Jab

Steelix-Mega @ Steelixite
Ability: Sand Force
EVs: 252 HP / 208 Atk / 48 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Gyro Ball
- Curse

Blissey @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Seismic Toss
- Toxic
- Soft-Boiled
- Wish

Doublade @ Eviolite
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Swords Dance
- Gyro Ball
- Shadow Claw
- Shadow Sneak

Tentacruel @ Black Sludge
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 176 Spe
Timid Nature
- Scald
- Rapid Spin
- Haze
- Knock Off / Toxic Spikes

Hydreigon @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dark Pulse
- Draco Meteor
- Roost
- Taunt

I like all of the changes and I appreciate your time, but doesn't this seem kinda slow?

 

[Amane Misa]

I like all of the changes and I appreciate your time, but doesn't this seem kinda slow?

I know where this question is coming from, but my answer is that the slowness of the team is fine.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-795596594https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-795606615
This is not the same team, but the teams do have similarities in having Doublade and Hydreigon as Speed control. Furthermore, the team I used is even slower than yours.

My opponent didn't use hyper offense teams, but he did use teams with relatively good Speed controls in Hydreigon, Latias, and Krookodile on one, and Zygarde-10%, Hydreigon, and Togekiss on the other. I took advantage of the natural bulky nature of the team and of Doublade's Shadow Sneak to deal with faster threats. Togekiss and Latias were threatening because of their coverage, I agree, but your team has Toxic Blissey to deal with Togekiss and Latias and Doublade, Hydreigon, and Tentacruel to deal with them too, as well as to deal with other average- to above average-Speed threats.

 

['sei.]

What's up Sickist, gonna start off by saying sorry because I did happen to remove Haxorus in the final edit (sorry!) but in my attempts to make modifications to the squad I found this edit to be fairly cohesive and a decent team, at least in my opinion. I'm going to start by addressing some common issues for these Wish-passing BOs / Balances that I feel need to be accounted for, and transition into the changes I made based off of that reasoning.


Common Threats

I can individually talk about the strong-suit of each of the 'mons above, but instead of doing that I'd like to emphasize what all of these 'mons have in common --- strong attacks that scare either party (Sylveon or Steelix) out or require quite a lot of predictions and things going your way to effectively deal with them. I ended up giving a brief summary over each mon anyways :P

Starting with Gengar, its main niche has been the Sub set for a while and it sets up a Sub versus Sylveon or even Steelix if the matchup calls for it to be played cautiously and not have damage accumulated (to prevent a late game sweep, deal with Sciz, etc.). I guess you can throw Sub Nidok in this category as well.​

​

Next is Terrakion, a huge threat as you mentioned in your post. Requires some flexery and it's definitely a doable matchup, but puts some serious pressure on if played correctly.​

​

Primarina is (I feel) an underrated threat for these archetypes, it's usually not properly accounted for resulting in some seriously tough matchups.​

​

Moltres is usually soft-checked by a common partner to the Steelix + Fairy-Pass core with Rotom-Heat, doesn't really do a ton of preventing it from going bonkers because Rotom has limited switch-ins and a hefty workload, having to soft-check multiple threats as well as potentially switching into rocks to remove rocks. TLDR this mon is just dangerous.​

​

Crawdaunt hits harder than a bitch, resisted or not.​

​

Infernape and its Nasty Plotting brethren Lucario do some nice damage if given the opportunity, a free turn and applying pressure can mean it steadily chips down its own checks.​

​

Changes & Final Words

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Just a heads up, first two pairings aren't really indicative of what I changed what out for, I took the team as a whole and tried a couple of different ideas, and this one happened to stick pretty nicely. If you try the squad out, I hope you enjoy it & keep up the good work man --- you're a pretty hard worker, just remember that everything's a process and sometimes it's best to enjoy the ride, no rush in most cases on here. :)

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Like Misa said, the double poison was pretty redundant but more importantly I feel like Nihilego doesn't have the tools to be a plug-in Scarfer, if anything the team has to be built to accomodate its poor STAB combination and low damage output as a result. Chesnaught originally enabled me to not need a Scarfer on the edit, but I ended up getting rid of Haxorus anyways and changing Hydreigon to Scarf. Chesnaught's a formidable physical wall, and does a pretty nice job of making the team more Terrakion and Crawdaunt-proof.

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Moltres actually has options for its slots now that I mulled over it for a bit, but the main idea of this change is some heavy damage output as well as a nice spot-check for Lucario and Infernape, the Nasty Plotting brethren (as well as Scizor of course). This thing just hits devastatingly hard either way you go, was a pretty nice addition in my eyes.

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More capable of taking on Primarina and Moltres, more specifically the latter thanks to the Tentacruel edit I made. These two 'mons are usually a toss-up on these types of builds but for this edit I prefer Florges.

Knock Off for Sludge & Liquid Ooze​

Knock Off is just a quirk of some of my recent building, I've found myself adding it to more of my builds because it's just so goddamn useful. That being said, it has its uses here as well. Getting the Knock on an unsuspecting Primarina, Scarf Hydreigon, Rocky Helm Amoonguss to prevent your Hydreigon from getting chipped when U-Turning --- those can all be pivotal moments in a game that shift the momentum from one hand to the other, depending on the circumstance. Knock is broken bro.

Ole Reliable​

Not much to be said here, this is one role this mon performs to a T. If this world had any more Scarf Hydreigons it would be too good to be true. On a more serious note, Scarf is needed for some sturdy Celebi counterplay as well as sort of flimsy Lati counterplay, but it's there as an option.

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Set Details

Got some weird shit down for Florg and Chesnaught, the Florges is Sp.Def with enough bulk to avoid the 2hko from Primarina's Moonblast; you might be wondering why you don't have much physical bulk, and the answer would be that your team is already well-endowed in that regard. Chesnaught is this funky Wood Hammer + Taunt set, with some Physical bulk and some creep for non-existent Mantine. That set, as well as Moltres, is meant for experimentation on this build, Moltres could be Flyinium & a Phaser with Whirlwind and Chesnaught could be Roar, etc. If you do end up trying this out, I do encourage some experimentation and customization to your liking. EDIT: Please forgive the Moltres nature and spread, you know how builder can be sometimes. Just make it Timid if you'd like.

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The Edit

(You know what to do)​