Hey friends, this is a pretty cool offense team I made. Mega Sharpedo is one of the scariest, yet criminally underused, threats in the UU tier right now, and I wanted to build a team around it. It also showcases a new threat recently introduced to the tier: Sheer Force Feraligatr. I haven't really accomplished anything with this team as far as important games go; I have achieved rank 1 on the PS UU ladder with it (though of the many games on that account, not all used this team), and shared the team with friends who liked it and achieved rank 1 on the No Scald ladder. This isn't gonna be too fancy of an RMT with different colors and all that stuff people use, but here's a short teambuilding process:
So I started my team with the combination of SD Feraligatr and Mega Sharpedo. The idea was that Feraligatr would force in and muscle through their common checks and counters. This would allow Sharpedo to come in late game and clean up.
I added Dragalge to this little core because it checks fast Grass- and Electric-types and sets Toxic Spikes to support the pair.
Added Krookodile as a Stealth Rock setter and Mega Ampharos check, among other things; it's just such a good 'mon to use in this tier lol.
My team was really slacking in the Speed department and I needed a more reliable Fighting check, so Crobat was an obvious choice. Entei also made up for the lack of Speed, spreads burns on physical walls to help out Gatr and Shark, and gave me another way to check Fairies and opposing Fire-types.
Onto the detailed individual analyses:
Strong Croc (Krookodile) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
Like I said in the teambuilding process, Krook is such an overall great Pokemon to have on your team. Krookodile is a great Stealth Rock setter, as it's able to threaten or beat most hazard clearers, such as Crobat, Empoleon, Tentacruel, and Forretress. I used to use Dread Plate, but have changed to Rocky Helmet (see post #11 for why). Knock Off and EQ are the obvious STABs. I'm packing Taunt over Pursuit; everything that I'd want to trap gets devoured by Sharpedo and Feraligatr. Taunt is infinitely more useful for this team as it shuts down a ton of things: Forretress, Gligar, Chesnaught, Arcanine, Hippowdon, Umbreon, Vaporeon, and SNORLAX (fuck that thing). Many of these are annoying for my two Water-types, so it's nice to Knock Off + Taunt them to make it a lot easier for Gatr or Shark. Also I have no hazard clearing of my own so it's important to prevent them as much as I can. Yeah Krook is a great 'mon that performs well offensively while still checking a ton of shit and is probably my favorite thing to use in UU right now.
Strong Dog (Entei) @ Choice Band
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Flare Blitz
- Stone Edge
- ExtremeSpeed
The theme of this team is not to have something to threaten every Pokemon in the tier individually, but rather to overwhelm the few common checks/counters that the team as a whole has, and allow the right member of the team to break through at the right time and win. Entei fits this theme perfectly: it forces in and spreads burns on things like Swampert and Hippowdon, making it a lot easier for the rest of my team to deal with later. Entei's ExtremeSpeed also takes a lot of pressure off of Crobat to deal with faster things like Mega Absol and Scarfers. Not much else to say here: standard, basic CB Entei set and spread, really the only one that should ever be used.
Strong Bird (Crobat) @ Sky Plate
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 232 HP / 72 Atk / 4 SpD / 200 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Taunt
- Roost
Crobat provides me with an important check to Fighting-types, particularly Scarf Mienshao which can be devastating to a lot of offense teams. I have a Sky Plate on here which might seem a little weird given that I only have 72 EVs invested in Attack, but it's pretty important. It guarantees OHKOs on things like Machamp and Shaymin, 2HKOs Nidoqueen which is huge, and still has enough bulk to take on things like Heracross, Lucario, and Mega Beedrill. While I do miss Leftovers recovery sometimes, the extra power is more than worth it on this offensive of a team. Taunt over Defog because, again, I want to limit the recovery/hazard setup/hazard clearing from stuff to maintain as much offensive pressure as I can. I also don't want to clear my own hazards; most of the time having to deal with Stealth Rock on my side of the field is well worth getting to keep my own Rocks and TSpikes on the opposing side.
Strong Fish @ Draco Plate
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 208 HP / 248 SpA / 52 Spe
Modest Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Sludge Wave
- Dragon Tail
- Toxic Spikes
Dragalge provides this team with extremely useful support in the form of Toxic Spikes, which are great in tandem with Sharpedo's Protect and Feraligatr's Substitute. It comes with a fantastic set of resistances and its ability to force switches lets it set up Toxic Spikes with ease. Draco Plate lets it bluff Specs early in the game and also provides a handy little boost to Dragon Tail. It's also insanely powerful even without Choice Specs; a Draco Plate boosted Draco Meteor can do upwards of 75% to 252/0 Forretress. Dragon Tail is amazing as well since a lot of people think they can take advantage of a -2 Dragalge to set up, and it's also important for preventing Umbreon and Vaporeon from Wish passing to themselves. A Modest nature is used in a Mild nature because I'd much rather retain Dragalge's bulk than do slightly more damage with Dragon Tail. Sludge Wave is used over Sludge Bomb because despite the higher chance to Poison, I /really/ want to be able to hit Chesnaught if it comes down to it, since it's one of the best Gatr/Sharpedo counters. The Speed I've posted here lets it outspeed Donphan and Hippowdon, two of the biggest annoyances for the rest of the team.
Strong Gator (Feraligatr) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 220 Atk / 36 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Swords Dance
- Waterfall
- Crunch
Enter Sheer Force Feraligatr. The set focuses on luring and crushing fat things that Sharpedo can't handle, particularly bulky Water-types like Suicune and Alomomola, which it can easily do with a Sub SD set with Crunch. This is the team's main win condition against stall and it's capable of plowing through most defensive teams once the appropriate one or two mons (often Mega Aggron) has been weakened. The 36 SpD EVs guarantee that Suicune can't break its Substitute with a +1 Scald. A Jolly nature is used to get the jump on Adamant Heracross, Adamant Lucario, non-Timid Rotom formes, Adamant Toxicroak, and Jolly Tyrantrum. Some people have suggested running Adamant, but Feraligatr will usually be a) just weakening things enough for Sharpedo to clean up, in which case Jolly is enough to get sufficient damage on the target in question, or b) cleaning up fat teams itself, in which case the other team should already be weakened enough for Jolly to be able to win. The ability to outspeed the aforementioned Pokemon is much more important.
Strong Shark (Sharpedo) @ Sharpedonite
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Protect
- Waterfall
- Crunch
- Ice Fang
It's kind of absurd how much this thing is able to clean up late-game. Generally, the rest of the team revolves around supporting this Pokemon because it's so good at tearing through teams after they've been worn down. The set is really straightforward and standard; I have a Jolly nature to outspeed more things as a regular Sharpedo and Scarfers at +1 as Mega Sharpedo (it's not as easy to get Sharpedo to +2 as some would like to believe because it's weak as fuck without a Life Orb). Again, similarly to Gatr, Jolly is fine because by the time this thing comes in at the end of a game, the appropriate opposing Pokemon should be worn down enough to where Jolly is good enough to sweep. I've messed around with Mega Sharpedo before but this team is definitely the one I've enjoyed the most and I feel is the most successful.
The two biggest common threats/annoyances:
Bulky Grounds: Despite having both Gatr and Sharpedo, Hippo, Swampert, Donphan, and opposing Krookodile can be tough to play around early in the game (before I want my two Water types to come onto the field). They generally don't enjoy coming in on anything, but it's annoying when Entei doesn't burn them lol.
Electric-types: Krookodile already plays a huge role on this team and is pretty easily worn down, so it's probably gonna faint before opposing Electric types do, meaning they can spam Volt Switch on Crobat and Gatr. Heliolisk in particular is a giant pain for this team since it can KO Krook with barely any prior damage, and Hyper Voice does a shit ton to Dragalge. Luckily, it's 2HKO'd by Crobat so it can't come in on that, but it coming in to revenge Gatr is difficult to deal with.
Couple replays:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uunoscald-217808800 Here's one that I feel really showcases how this team works and how it should be played against any non-stall: weaken the right things, sweep with Shark
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-217564513 Manage to keep TSpikes up to ensure that Sharpedo+Entei would overwhelm
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-217679505 Not me, but my man Yifeng playing against some offense on the ladder
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-218902611 Nice stall
Strong Croc (Krookodile) @ Dread Plate
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
Strong Dog (Entei) @ Choice Band
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Flare Blitz
- Stone Edge
- ExtremeSpeed
Strong Bird (Crobat) @ Sky Plate
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 232 HP / 72 Atk / 4 SpD / 200 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Taunt
- Roost
Strong Fish (Dragalge) @ Draco Plate
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 208 HP / 248 SpA / 52 Spe
Modest Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Sludge Wave
- Dragon Tail
- Toxic Spikes
Strong Gator (Feraligatr) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 220 Atk / 36 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Swords Dance
- Waterfall
- Crunch
Strong Shark (Sharpedo) @ Sharpedonite
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Protect
- Waterfall
- Crunch
- Ice Fang
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
Strong Dog (Entei) @ Choice Band
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Flare Blitz
- Stone Edge
- ExtremeSpeed
Strong Bird (Crobat) @ Sky Plate
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 232 HP / 72 Atk / 4 SpD / 200 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Taunt
- Roost
Strong Fish (Dragalge) @ Draco Plate
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 208 HP / 248 SpA / 52 Spe
Modest Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Sludge Wave
- Dragon Tail
- Toxic Spikes
Strong Gator (Feraligatr) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 220 Atk / 36 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Swords Dance
- Waterfall
- Crunch
Strong Shark (Sharpedo) @ Sharpedonite
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Protect
- Waterfall
- Crunch
- Ice Fang
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