Paralyzed Legend
Introduction:I haven't seen many Uber RMTs here so I figuered I might as well. So I've been playing the Uber tier for quite some time on Shoddy Battle and have had a lot of success with several of my teams. This one in particular did really well, getting me to the top 14 on the leader board. With new threats like Brave Bird Ho-oh and a shift in the metagame, this team isn't quite as good as it used to be so I'm starting up another team. I'd like to still see what I could have fixed up with this team or if it really did reach its peak.
So the basic core of the team is to utilize paralysis. In the Ubers metagame, almost everything relies on speed, so what better way to ruin a pokemon than remove what they rely on most? It isn't much of a stretch to say a paralyzed pokemon in Uber is the same as a fainted one, as there is very little difference. The majority of this team is slow, but with three Thunderwave users, this isn't a problem. Infact, both Kyogre and Groudon share very similar initial switch-ins as Palkia and Giriatina-O. The benefit of this is simple, after Kyogre paralyzes say Latias, Palkia will have little to no trouble getting rid of it and can procede to deal a huge dent to the opponents team. Another interesting thing is that almost every common switch-in to Kyogre happens to be weak to U-Turn or just doesn't like taking a hit such as Palkia. This lets me usually switch Jirachi in for free, who can then procede to either heal my team members up, smack something with U-turn, or hit something with Thunderwave. With this simple move, it becomes very easy to pick off at teams and weaken them to a point where they can't harm me at all. Anyways, on to the team.
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Kyogre@ Lum Berry
Nature: Modest
EVs: 252 HP/ 4 Def/ 252 SAtk
IVs: 30 Spe
- Thunder Wave
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Thunder
Thunder Wave Kyogre makes for an excellent lead. It wasn't used as often when I was using this team so most people usually didn't expect a non-scarfed Kyogre and that can give me an advantage early in the battle. Now it is actually in the analysis for public viewing so the surprise factor is definatley less huge but still present for now. Thunder Wave lets me cripple common pokemon that often switch into Kyogre as it isn't really needed aginst the common leads most of the time. Surf is the main form of attack. It lets Kyogre OHKO Darkrai and put a dent into anything that doesn't resist it. Ice Beam hits the likes of Groudon and Garchomp for SE damage while Thunder provides great coverage hitting several pokemon that switch into Kyogre for SE damage such as Palkia. Kyogre is not only a very good lead but it also makes for a good late game sweeper. After getting crippled, several of its counters are unable to switch in multiple times. With proper prediction, it can often manage to open up a sweep for my other pokemon just as well. The EVs allow for decent bulk while still being able to deal plenty of damage. Kyogre is also slower than the standard Groudon lead, thus being able to get up rain. It pairs up well with Palkia, due to having similar counters, if Kyogre can paralyze the counter, then it becomes much easier for Palkia to sweep.
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Groudon@ Leftovers
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 HP/ 156 Atk/ 32 Def/ 60 SDef/ 8 Spe
- Thunder Wave
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Stealth Rock
Groudon is used for his bulk, and useful support moves, Stealth Rock and Thunder Wave. Thunderwave makes it much easier to handle common counters such as Kyogre and Palkia who hate being paralyzed. Normally, I send him in against something that can't really harm him. Thunder Wave is used as most people don't send in Ground types to deal with Groudon. After the initial switch-in has been hit by paralysis, I set up Stealth Rock if it is safe or switch out to an appropriate counter. Earthquake and Dragon Claw provide pretty nice coverage and let me hit several pokemon for SE damage. Dragon Claw deal SE damage to Dragons, namely Rayquaza and Palkia. Due to the overall bulk, Groudon makes for a pretty good check to physical sweepers such as Rayquaza and Lucario. His immunity to electric is also very useful. Again, Thunder Wave support helps my slower pokemon get the jump on my opponents team and is usfeul early game.
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Dialga@ Choice Scarf
Nature: Hasty
EVs: 4 Atk/ 252 Spe/ 252 SAtk
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Thunder
- Outrage
Dialga makes for a very good revenge killer. His typing lets me switch him in with relative ease and he attains very good coverage overall. Being part steel, Rayquaza and Lucario can't do anything thus letting me use Dialga as a back up to deal with these potent threats. Dialga is also one of my only ways to deal with Darkrai as Dark Pulse does mediocre damage while as Dialga can always OHKO with Draco Meteor. Draco Meteor is Dialga's main form of attack and will dent anything that doesn't resist it. Steel types like Scizor often switch into a predicted Draco Meteor and get nailed by a SE Fire Blast which gets a huge power boost under the sun. Thunder lets me hit Kyogre and Lugia for SE damage, being able to 2HKO both while attaining 100% accuracy in the rain. Outrage was chosen over Dragon Pulse as it lets me hit hard on the physical side. Latias and Blissey can survive Dragon Pulse with little trouble so it is useful to have a way to deal significant damage to both. Groudon is a very useful teammate for Dialga as he can handle Tyranitar and Blissey, both of whome are relied on to beat Choice Scarf Dialga.
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Palkia@ Lustrous Orb
Nature: Hasty
EVs: 4 Atk/ 252 Spe/ 252 SAtk
- Surf
- Spacial Rend
- Fire Blast
- Outrage
The surprise factor Mixed Palkia has is insane. It can net at least one kill on that alone. Sending this out against a pokemon that is either slower or paralyzed will let me fake a Scarf set. Common pokemon that switch in are Steels, such as Metagross, and Scizor who are promptly taken care of with Fire Blast. This version emphasizes on Special attack, which works well with Spacial Rend. Outrage is a very powerful attack, dealing serious damage to anything bar Steel types who get hit by Fire Blast anyway despite the low investment in attack and works well against pokemon that have bulk in Special Defense. Surf lets me get good coverage, hitting Groudon for SE damage which is useful. With Thunder Wave support comming from both Kyogre and Groudon, Palkia often finds itself to be outspeeding its usual counters and can KO them with relative ease. It is also able to take Specs Water Spout from the likes of Kyogre making it even more useful to my team.
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Jirachi@ Leftovers
Nature: Careful
EVs: 252 HP/ 40 Def/ 216 SDef
-Wish
-U-Turn
-Protect
-Thunder Wave
I originally used Scizor here but decided to give Jirachi a shot. Although it isn't quite as powerful, it is much better at taking hits from things like Specs Dialga which Scizor struggles to do. It can still keep Mewtwo and other pokemon that were hit by Scizor's U-Turn in check. Wish support is really useful and often gives me an advantage late game and lets me keep my main sweeper, Giratina-O in good health. With three pokemon able to paralyze my opponents pokemon, I am almost always going to be faster. Without Scizor, I also don't have to worry too much about giving my opponent free switches due to Choice Band. The EVs makes Jirachi very bulky, letting it scoff at most Special attacks and take Physical hits pretty well also. It attains really good synergy with Giratina-O which is nice.
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Giratina-O@ Griseous Orb
Nature: Modest
Evs: 86 HP/ 112 Spe/ 216 SAtk/ 96 SDef
- Calm Mind
- Substitute
- Aura Sphere
- Dragon Pulse
I previously had a weakness to Ground and Fighting type moves, due to having no resists or immunities to them. Not only does Giratina-O help with that problem, but he also works really well late game. With all of the paralysis support Giratina-O is often able to outspeed pokemon that can hinder its sweep. Giratina-O works as my main late game sweeper, and my best weapon against stall teams. Being able to set up on things like Blissey and Forretress that lack Payback makes him a huge threat to stall. Dragon Pulse is his main form of attack, and deals heavy damage after he has managed to get a few Calm Minds under his belt. Substitute blocks status and makes it much easier to set up. Aura Sphere works nicley as it lets him hit pretty much every Uber for nuetral damage that happens to resist Dragon Pulse while dealing SE damage to Tyranitar, one of the best counters to this set. The EVs allow Giratina-O to outspeed Jolly Tyranitar as well as outrunning things like Kyogre and Groudon. The EVs in bulk alow Giratina-O to take things like Timid Palkia's Spacial Rend as well as Jolly Garchomp's Dragon Claw. Groudon fails to 2HKO Giratina-O, and will fail to 3HKO if Stealth Rock isn't in play. The rest is thrown into SAtk for extra power that is crucial against things like Latias.
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So that's the team. As you can see, most of the pokemon are very bulky and are capable of taking quite a few hits. The low Speed found on the team is often not a problem due to the Paralysis support and how easy it is to force switches. Unlike other bulky teams, I find myself making sacrifices more often though I suppose that is quite normal considering all of the powerful threats found in Ubers. The team does really well early game, as I can often catch my opponent off gaurd with things like Thunder Wave and mixed Palkia, and that often gives me quick momentum. The only thing I have to do from there is maintain that adavantage for the rest of the battle which is easier said than done. Prediction is key with this team, as it is with most bulky teams. Late game is where this team starts to have trouble. If my counters against set up sweepers aren't in good health I often have to make sacrifices to get rid of my opponents pokemon. Scarfers can also be a bit of a problem, since my own Scarfer isn't very fast compared to things like Shaymin-S. Relying on Paralysis is often required to get me out of tough situations but that can only get me so far. Thankfully, Jirachi's Wish helps out quite a bit in keeping guys like Groudon in good health. Thanks for reading and feel free to post comments.