ORAS UU paragon


Strategy revolving around Shedinja is always interesting. The mere existence of Shedinja in team preview immediately draws the opponent's attention, so that opponents become more obsessed with getting hazards up or trying to trap Shedinja than they are with breaking down the rest of the team. It's like a (poorly played) game of chess, where opponents spend so much time fixating on your king that they don't pay attention to what the rest of your pieces are doing.

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Teambuilding Process:

paragon is a Shedinja-based stall team that focuses on simultaneously protecting Shedinja and walling the majority of the ORAS UU tier.

Calm Mind Espeon was the first partner I had in mind for Shedinja. Magic Bounce is a key element on Shedinja teams, as the mere threat of getting their hazards bounced back forces every hazard layer in the tier to play differently. Meanwhile, by building in two alternate means of hazard removal in addition to Magic Bounce, I am not forced to constantly switch Espeon in recklessly. Calm Mind Espeon is largely unseen, as it is less consistent than most other CM Psychics in the tier, but in this case it was a great fit that gave me a consistent answer to most stall teams.

Tentacruel was a no-brainer as the next partner, as it is the only consistent Rapid Spin user in the tier rip Starmie. Forretress was a possible option, but the slow Speed and weakness to Empoleon led me to discard it as a possibility.

Thanks to spinblockers like Sableye, Rapid Spin and Magic Bounce alone would not be efficient enough to keep hazards off the field, so next I added speedy defensive Salamence as a Defogger. My team really struggles with Krookodile, and this Salamence is a pretty reliable answer to it. I decided on Salamence over other Defoggers like Mandibuzz primarily for its impressive Speed stat. Being able to get a fast Defog means that you can guarantee you'll get rocks off the field.

At this point my team needed a cleric and Stealth Rock user of my own. Umbreon and Mega Swampert was the most viable combination I could think of.

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This team has seen an ample amount of success, both in tournaments, and on the PS! UU ladder. The team is currently 1-0 in UUPL, 2-0 in POWC, and 32-0 on the UU Suspect ladder. Before the UU tier shift, this team went from 1550 elo to 1850 elo with one loss. This team has been extremely consistent and that is why I wanted to present it to you all.


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In Depth:


Shedinja @ Focus Sash
Ability: Wonder Guard
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Sneak
- X-Scissor
- Will-O-Wisp

Shedinja has a ton of use given the correct support, especially for stall teams. Shedinja is a counter to many of the common bulky set up sweepers in the tier, and this is a solid pro as it is typically difficult for many defensive teams to handle all of these threats efficiently. Shedinja counters Suicune, Reuniclus(assuming no Shadow Ball, and it is very easy to scout), Cresselia, Florges, and Snorlax. Obviously Shedinja is not a sure counter to any of these pokemon considering this is all contingent upon having no Stealth Rocks up and not being Pursuit trapped twice. Luckily, the rest of the team can handle these setup sweepers assuming Shedinja is effectively killed(Snorlax could be an issue, though).

The difficulty with Shedinja in the UU tier is the prevalence of Pursuit. Luckily, not every Pursuit trapper means it is the end for Shedinja. The most common Pursuit trappers in the tier are Krookodile and Mega Aerodactyl. Krookodile can not 1v1 a Shedinja on the switch in as either a +1 X-Scissor or 2 -1 X-Scissor OHKO, and you hang on with your Focus Sash. Mega Aerodactyl is a similar case contingent upon having Stealth Rocks up on the opponent's side of the field. 2 +2 Shadow Sneaks OHKO Aerodactyl after Stealth Rocks. Things get tricky when the opponent is using Escavalier, as Shedinja and Espeon are both walled by it. Typically, Escavalier is used on bulky offense and does not have a cleric, meaning burning with Wil-O-Wisp on the predicted switch, living the Pursuit with the Focus Sash, and switching out is the best way to handle it.

Shedinja's moveset is aimed toward a late-game sweep while using Wil-O-Wisp to punish common switch-ins and be an overall annoyance. Unlike in OU, the use of Baton Pass is not as crucial when weather is far less common, and as stated before, Shedinja can threaten most common Pursuit users. Protect seems like a wasted moveslot a lot of the time because if you believe a pokemon might have a way to hit Shedinja, it is best to scout by switching anyway. Swords Dance is a crucial to beat Suicune.


Espeon @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Psyshock
- Dazzling Gleam
- Morning Sun

Espeon has many uses, but was mainly chosen as a deterrent to hazards to protect Shedinja. Espeon and Xatu hold competition, although I find Espeon better for many reasons. Xatu's flying typing is not particularly useful as it is more difficult to wall Froslass and Nidoqueen, Espeon's far higher SpA breaks balance and opposing stall far easier, has higher Speed for Mega Blastoise and Nidoqueen, and higher SpD, meaning after 1 CM boost, Espeon walls the majority of Special attackers.

Espeon can safely pivot into any Stealth Rocker except Krookodile(Krookodile is CB most of the time anyway). I use the word pivot because Espeon can not 1v1 Stealth Rockers like Steelix, Aggron, and Bronzong, although it can afford to switch in on a predicted Stealth Rock if needed.

Espeon's ability + Calm Mind is actually an amazing combination because many balance and stall teams rely on Roar Suicune to check most common setup sweepers. Since you cannot Roar a pokemon with Magic Bounce, these balance and stall teams struggle a lot with beating Espeon.

Tentacruel @ Black Sludge
Ability: Liquid Ooze
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
- Toxic Spikes
- Scald
- Haze
- Rapid Spin

Tentacruel is the most consistent Rapid Spinner in the tier. Tentacruel's good typing gives it a lot of opportunity to safely get off a Rapid Spin. Aside from being a spinner, Tentacruel has great utility in getting up Toxic Spikes and using Haze for pokemon like Suicune and Florges. Tentacruel also serves as a secondary Fairy resist next to Shedinja for pokemon like Slyveon. Unfortunately, UU lacks good hazard removal, meaning Tentacruel is often the only reliable option.


Salamence @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 68 Def / 192 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Flamethrower
- Defog
- Roost

Salamence is the Defoger and Krookodile answer on the team. As stated in the teambuilding process, I value a speedy Defoger, and that led me to Salamence. The EV spread outspeeds Krookodile by one point, while at the same time outspeeding threats like Heracross, Porygon-Z, Lucario, Chandelure, and Toxicroak. Earthquake and Flamethrower were chosen because I believe they were the most optimal coverage moves to reliably counter the aforementioned threats. Earthquake is aimed to hit Chandelure, Toxicroak, Lucario, and Empoleon, while Flamethrower hits Heracross, Forretress, Cobalion, and Escavalier.


Umbreon @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Foul Play
- Heal Bell

Umbreon is my cleric, Wish passer, Dark resist, Draco Meteor switch in, and Abomasnow counter. Wish Florges/Sylveon could theoretically fit the bill here too, but I find Umbreon to be more consistent and usually does a better job at keeping itself healthy. The one problem with Umbreon is opening up the weakness to Taunt Roost Hydreigon, which needs to be played around to beat. Another reason I use Umbreon is the ability to counter Nasty Plot Celebi. +2 Dazzling Gleam does not even 2HKO, which is pretty wild.

Umbreon has been rarely seen nowadays since Cobalion and Sylveon have been taking over the tier. Luckily, my team can handle those threats well enough, so Umbreon is not taken advantage of much at all.


Swampert @ Swampertite
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Scald
- Earthquake
- Rest

At this point, my team lacked a Stealth Rocker, Mega Evolution, and counter to pokemon like Rotom-H and Mega Ampharos. Defensive Mega Swampert fit the bill perfectly. This roll is usually ran by defensive regular Swampert, but having no Mega-Evo gave me the opportunity to run the Mega version. The added bulk and attack compensates with the lack of Leftovers, and due to no Leftovers I decided on using Rest in the last slot over the standard Roar. Rest has worked out fantastically as Swampert is a perfect counter to Entei, lets Umbreon not have to worry about passing so many wishes, and makes PP stalling a whole lot easier. Swampert is allowed to be played far more aggressively as you can lay up Stealth Rock, take two hits, and Rest up, eventually getting woken up by Heal Bell.

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Threatlist:

Bulk Up Rest/talk Tornadus is the one true counter to the team. Luckily it is basically never seen and I have never faced one. But if you happen to battle one, click X.

Taunt + Roost Hydreigon is the one standard pokemon that gives this team issues as it can stop Umbreon from Wishing. I usually just revenge kill with Shedinja, wasting the Focus Sash.

Weather is always going to be an issue for Shedinja-based teams. Luckily weather is not too common so it is not that big of a deal. Both of these pokemon are beatable, but both are definitely annoying.

Pursuit is always threatening for Shedinja-based teams as well. Although Pursuit is especially annoying as Espeon is also easily Pursuit trapped.

With no flying resists, Choice Banded Crobat can do some work, but Umbreon/Swampert/ Mence can usually keep it at bay.

Due to Mold Breaker, the team has no switch in to this. If you come across one, expect to sack a pokemon or 2 . Luckily Haxorus faces serious competition with other Dragon types in the tier, meaning it is a rare sight to come across seeing one.

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Thanks Accelgor for the banner :D
 
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