SM Ubers Ye olde bulky offence (it's 20-8 so far)- any suggestions?

[1ammonkey]

Hey guys, how are ya'll doing? If you could provide some help on any advice for this team. It's designed to be a bulky/ juggler type offense that relies on Groudon as the wallbreaker, arceus as the traditional extremekiller, and Ultra necrozma as a guesser/coverage user in that I delay choosing when to burst it to confuse what type of user it is. All others provide coverage and utility to support this core. Any advice you can give would be much appreciated. Thank ya!

Your favorite noob,
1ammonkey

Groudon-Primal @ Red Orb
Ability: Desolate Land
EVs: 48 HP / 164 Atk / 44 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Rock Tomb
- Stealth Rock

Info:
About why it got chosen: Groudon is obviously one of, if not just the most versatile and, as a result, potentially the strongest mon in the tier. I also just love its design and I'm a stickler for mons that look cool. I've also used it on other teams like this to great success, so why change something if it works, right?
Purpose on the team: Groudon is usually the first mon to go out unless there are obvious threats to it (deoxys-a, mewtwo, attacker luigi, etc.). With the extreme attack and defense stats it is capable of going toe-to-toe with most other bulky attackers without much effort. The stats that I chose for it are also specially suited to go against prime ogre and get good damage in on it if Groudon's HP is already too low to last much longer anyways.
Moveset explanations: Stealth rock is used for trapping and future opponents, obviously. Swords dance is used to boost Groudon's already extreme attack to even higher levels against stallers. Rock tomb can be used to set up for future mons should Groudon faint. Earthquake is used in preference to Precipice Blades due to the fact that I have horrible luck with accuracy, and that eq has 100% accuracy is far preferable.

Yveltal @ Life Orb
Ability: Dark Aura
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Taunt
- Dark Pulse
- Oblivion Wing
- Toxic

Info:
How it ended up on my team: Yvetal provides the coverage that Groudon needs in special stats, and is capable of using taunt to prevent slower trap setters from doing their thing. This on top of a really nice special movepool secured a spot on my team.
Purpose on team: Yvetal is mainly designed to prevent stalling and hazard setting from bulkier trappers such as Giratina. It also serves an offensive utility purpose with its two STAB moves. It also sees itself playing a semi-sacrificial role against mons bearing intimidate such as Salamence and people who use Lando-t in uber for somewhat dubious reasons.
Reason for Moveset: Already kinda explained. Dark Pulse is used in the hopes of flinching but also deals good STAB damage. If Yvetal's health has gotten low, Oblivion Wing is used to restore it to the best of my capabilities. Toxic ensures that stallers will go away, and taunt prevents slower trap setters from doing anything that they want to do.

Necrozma-Dusk-Mane @ Ultranecrozium Z
Ability: Prism Armor
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Photon Geyser
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Claw
- Sunsteel Strike

Reason on the team: Having DM Necrozma and being able to transition it to Ultra is like having two separate mons in one. This hunk sees use as a yvetal counter in its first form but can also be used for coverage in its second form once properly boosted via swords dance.
Purpose: As was mentioned, in DM form Necrozma is used against Xerneas using Sunsteel as it is bulky enough t take a Geomanced moonblast to buff itself and SunStrike it for an OHKO. It is also frequently used as a sweeper in Ultra form due to its high speed stat or as a tank in DM form.
Moveset explanation: Photon Geyser is the bread and butter of the mon as it is z-move compatible and does good damage in general even without said z-move. Swords dance is often used in DM forme to ensure that it will stay alice long enough to remain intact for combat in Ultra form. Shadow Claw is used as coverage against other Psychic types (particularly competing DM's). Sunsteel strike is used to ensure a check against Xerneas.

Salamence-Mega @ Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 44 HP / 252 Atk / 212 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Double-Edge
- Dragon Dance
- Roost
- Earthquake

How did it end up here: Salamence offers a nice set of offensive threats given a hecking nice ability in aerilate and can also provide some lasting power among physical attackers because of intimidate. It's also speedy enough to function without D-dance in a few cases.
Purpose on team: Salamence mainly sees use either as a revenge killer or as a sweeper should it get the ability to dance a couple times. However, it is also definitely a situational build given that it isn't greatly made to go up against some of the powerhouses of the Ubers core due to a 4x weakness (Ice Beam, anyone?) and a weakness to stealth rock and stone edge.
Moveset: Double Edge sees Aerilate usage as a STAB-boosted move turned flying-type. Earthquake is good as a coverage option against a variety of opponents. DDance gives Salamence the opportunity to serve as a sweeper given a good set of boosts. Roost allows Salamence to mend itself a bit during combat against stallers that lack sufficient coverage.

Zygarde-Complete @ Leftovers
Ability: Power Construct
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 228 Atk / 48 SpD / 232 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Thousand Arrows
- Substitute
- Dragon Tail

How it got on my team: In ubers, Complete Zygarde is synonymous with the word "bulk." As such, Zygarde is the bulkiest offensive threat on my team, and is used for cycling and scouting opponents.
Team Purpose: As was previously mentioned, Zygarde is used for scouting opponents by using substitute, cycling and wearing down teams by using dragon dance and tail. As such, it is typically what goes in instead of Groudon in certain circumstances.
Moveset: Dragon Dance is used to boost Zygarde's speed to outpace the majority of the unscarfed tier after one usage and increase the chip damage that DTail will deal. Thousand Arrows serves as a decently strong STAB selection for most targets and is nice to pin flying-types. Substitute is used against weaker opponents to help set up the dance or sometimes to force Power Construct to come into effect. Dragon tail does cycling and chips away at all non-fairy types.

Arceus @ Silk Scarf
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 252 Atk / 32 Def / 224 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Extreme Speed
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Claw
- Earthquake

How it got on this team: Arceus in the ExtremeKiller loadout has existed ever since the Pokemon's release in '07. As such, a time-tested strategy such as this was one of the primary reasons why it landed a spot on this team.
Purpose: A 2+ Arceus with Silk-Scarf and ExtremeSpeed is not a joke. Period. As such, it focuses on being a delayed revenge killer or a sweeper against specific teams. It's bulk also allows for some scouting of moves.
Moveset: Swords Dance boosts Arceus' attack to a decent level where ExtremeSpeed will do good damage against nearly every target. ExtremeSpeed is used for revenge killing. Shadow Claw is useful for coverage against Marshadows without sashes. Earthquake provides further coverage.

Any advice would be radical!!!

 

[Lotus]

The team has a lot of strong powerhouses as well as some preparedness against offensive teams, which I'd say is a good start for a BO structure. That said, there are some weaknesses from the team that I cannot overlook when giving my personal thoughts.

Primal Groudon using Swords Dance and Stealth Rock is one of the best entry hazard setters on its own, but the rest of the team looks like an unorganized combination of offensive threats. While this style of the building gives your team a chance to pressure some slower teams, the team's lack of preparedness against common threats in the tier from a weak defensive synergy leaves it struggling against offensive teams. While the presence of Extreme Killer Arceus can alleviate this issue, the team's overall lack of a solid answer to Marshadow and an unfavorable matchup against Mega Gengar only make this problem more concerning. This leads me to wonder if you have elected to use Extreme Killer Arceus to patch weakness against faster attackers like Ultra Necrozma and other setup sweepers, but I believe it is much better to diversify your team's offensive synergy and seek for other teammates that can at worst prevent you from sacrificing a Pokemon against common balanced teams (will specify on this later).

As I am not entirely sure what Pokemon you have built a team around, I am going to just drop 'food-for-thought' type comments. Using Stealth Rock + Swords Dance Primal Groudon opens up an opportunity for your team to set Stealth Rock against most teams and thus have varying Pokemon benefit from the offensive pressure applied from entry hazards and Primal Groudon's offensive prowess that can be further amplified through Swords Dance. For this reason, many bulky offensive teams elect to use Dusk Mane Necrozma that can take advantage of Stealth Rock to defeat Ho-Oh and Yveltal easier with offensive sets and also provides the team with another offensive check to Xerneas, a threat that Primal Groudon alone cannot hold down especially with it focusing on wallbreaking and running less bulky investment. Dusk Mane Necrozma can elect to use Double Dance set or a set using Swords Dance and Trick Room, and I would preferably use the latter, seeing how your team doesn't have a consistent pivot for Xerneas and also needs a Pokemon that resists Flying. While you currently have Ultra Necrozma in the bay, its obligation to go through Ultra Burst and forfeit its Steel typing makes your team shakier against Xerneas and Mega Salamence.

With these two very viable and common Pokemon ready to support your team, you have a few possible options to further customize the team. I personally end up with Pokemon like Mega Gengar or Mega Salamence in the team for a few reasons. Mega Gengar, especially the offensive variant that runs a lot of attacks to maximize the number of Pokemon that it can trap and weaken / remove can take advantage of the offensive pressure that Primal Groudon and Dusk Mane Necrozma will apply to many teams. Depending on Mega Gengar's moveset it can choose to dedicate itself to weaken (e.g. using Thunder to deal with Arceus-Water and cover the team's weakness against Primal Kyogre as well as less common Pokemon like Skarmory that can prove to be problematic, Focus Blast or other specialized set to remove Ferrothorn, Hidden Power Ice / Icy Wind to remove Zygarde) or remove certain foes with Destiny Bond. If using Mega Gengar, a Choice Scarf user like Yveltal or Xerneas will be worth consideration due to their ability to cover faster foes. The former can take advantage of predicted switches from an opponent by generating a free switch, and the latter checks troublesome Zygarde. The rest of the team will then commonly end up with Pokemon like Giratina-O or Arceus-Water that can blanket check Primal Groudon a good number of Pokemon in a single slot. If using Mega Salamence, your team will have a harder time against Ultra Necrozma so it will be a good idea to keep Extreme Killer Arceus or use Marshadow instead. I commonly use Marshadow in balance builds as an anti-offense Pokemon because it can at worst threaten out Mega Gengar (or even trap and KO it if using Pursuit), function as an extra check to Ferrothorn that can be a serious nuisance to such type of teams, and check offensive variants of Arceus-Ground that can pose problems with Swords Dance after Mega Salamence has been weakened or Calm Mind set that can threaten out three of the other teammates. Adding Pokemon like Ferrothorn can be a good idea to aid your team's breakthrough with Spikes support and cover the team's weakness to Arceus-Ground and Primal Kyogre at the same time. Lackluster counterplay against Dark-types can be covered by using Pokemon like Choice Scarf Xerneas. In some cases you don't necessarily have to run Mega Stone user and still form good chemistry of offense in your team that can counteract against a large portion of the metagame.

Obviously these advices are very superficial and may even prove to be inaccurate depending on what Pokemon you decide to remove or keep in the future. Regardless, I hope what I said will help you with accounting on various Pokemon and offensive teammates' synergy in BO teams, and I'll close with a few replays of Smogon Exhibition games featuring the use of those archetypes.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ubers-854755390
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ubers-853432893
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ubers-852138308

Bulky offense teams play differently depending on who ends up being a wincon of the game and the overall team structure, but I hope these replays show that it is important to conserve right Pokemon for a right moment; unlike other teams, I believe bulky offense is mandated to properly support an important offensive Pokemon in the team to maximize the chance of success.