SM UU Help me with my team please

[DuddyKyurem48]

Hi Smogon!
I've been playing Pokemon for more than 10 years and with the adquired skill i've decided to play SMUU on Pokemon Showdown because i really love the pokemon in it, and i'm trying to export this team to Pokemon Sun and Moon as well, it is kind of a stall, balanced team but i'm needing improvement on it, because i don't know if it's solid.

Here is my team:

Qwilfish @ Focus Sash
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Poison Jab
- Explosion
- Spikes

In my team, my Qwilfish has the role of a Lead Spike Setter, because of it's amazing speed with the Jolly nature, nice bulk with Intimidate and the ability to hold 2 to 3 Spikes and then explode with Focus Sash, and in certain situations it can use Waterfall or Poison Jab to STAB certain threats for the other teammates. It's a Pokemon that i adore very much indeed.


Swanna @ Life Orb
Ability: Big Pecks
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Scald
- Defog
- Roost

My Swanna is an Offensive Defogger, because of it's ability to clean entry hazards and the powerful Special Attack attributes it is linked with. With Roost it regenerates to continue it's possible sweeping (it might help), Hurricane is not that accurate, but is a quite reliable STAB that when it hits, it might confuse pokemon, possibly trapping it and with Scald it may burn physical attackers, which is a nice threat. A Life Orb is a really nice item, that it pays off with Roost, because of the damage it deals and the Timid nature helps with Speed, that might take some speedy attackers.


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

Now Blissey is a lovely physical wall, that protects from lots of threats (except Fighting, but is nice), is a quality bulky Pokemon that can put pressure late-game with Toxic and Seismic Toss, that gives fixed damage to most of the Pokemon out there, with Soft-Boiled, it can hold for long periods of time, and pressuring the poisoned opponent. With Heal Bell, it can cure status ailments, so that the other teammates can go back to track. A Bold nature is really nice, giving more Defense stats and hindering the Attack stat, which is not a problem for Blissey.


Absol @ Darkinium Z
Ability: Super Luck/Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
- Superpower

Absol is a great attacker, so it can protect its teammates with it's powerful attacks, Swords Dance boosts it's Attack, to get the possibility to OHKO various problems that might screw the whole game, Knock Off is a must use STAB, as it knocks off items and gives a lot of damage with Swords Dance and the move multiplier. Sucker Punch is a nice move to apply with faster Pokemon, as it might put it down in some risky situations, and finally Superpower, that knocks other Dark types, with little stat reduction, which is very nice. An Adamant nature and boosted Attack and Speed EVs are very useful to sweep when possible, and with Black Hole Eclipse it might take some resistant Pokemon.

Aggron @ Aggronite
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Heavy Slam
- Earthquake
- Fire Punch

As i've mentioned, this set tries to stack Spikes, and with Mega Aggron it works even better, by stacking Stealth Rock (and trying to hold it in), dealing massive damage to some Pokemon. With his Mega Evolution, it loses it's Rock typing and learns the ability Filter, which it takes less damage with Fighting moves, being capable of handling a few. With Heavy Slam, it might take Mega Altaria, for example, as Fairy Pokemon are threathening to this team. With Earthquake, it might take down Rock Pokemon and Fire, for example, if the other player switches for Infernape, Mega Aggron might knock him with a nice STAB damage. And Fire Punch protects it from Grass types, for example, with nice damage, i'd say this is an essential Pokemon for my team, because of it's function and it's Careful nature with maxed out SpD, resisting lots of special damage.


Mienshao @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 100 HP / 156 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Fake Out

And finally, Mienshao (which is not yet decided, but it might be). It is a very speedy attacker, that with it's flinching power with Fake Out, and then it can use High Jump Kick or U-turn to deal damage to Fairy types and with Knock Off, it might give some good damage to Psychic types, which is very nice, and with Regenerator, it can switch out and heal itself up to trade for a better matching Pokemon, and with its Jolly nature and Assault Vest, it can hold it tight with Special Psychic attackers. (This one you can trade it for other good choice)


In my conclusion, i think this set is quite nice, and can give me quite some wins, but the questions i have are the following:

1 - Is this team solid?

2- Does it need any alterations?

3- Tips for strategy

And please, try to keep my first 5 pokemon (except Mienshao). I consider myself a Pokemon pro but i need help for those above me. That's it!

Duddy

 

[Twilight]

Hi DuddyKyurem48 I'm going to start off with saying that in this rate I won't be sticking to your desire of trying to keep the first 5 initial Pokemon. This is simply because Qwilfish, Swanna and regular Absol have no niche in the UU tier at all. For instance there is no reason to utilize regular Absol when the mega variant is semi-viable in the tier. Same for the other two, they are simply outclassed by the other water types in the UU tier. Hopefully this helps answer your first two questions and I'll attend to the last question at the end of this rate.

Major Changes:

>

: I suggest swapping Swanna for Mantine which is a much better Defog user and check to Scizor, Lucario, Cobalion and Infernape answer on these semi-stall teams. Haze being a cool tool in its arsenal to help manage a lot of these threats and beat them down 1 on 1. Very standard set here, and while it isn't as offensive as Swanna it shouldn't be your main priority on this type of team.

>

: Nidoqueen gives you a better grounded poison type capable of handling threats like Terrakion a lot better. Thanks to the ground typing it also gives you a way to prevent electric spam which you previously lacked. Nidoqueen gives the team Toxic Spikes which is extremely useful for easing the matchup against fat teams. It also works well in tandem with Mienshao and the next Pokemon I suggest using.

>

: Celebi is important for easing the stall matchup greatly, but also helps you combat against bulky water-types like Primarina, Slowbro and Suicune which can give you a hard time. While Mantine can wall some variants of them it can get overwhelmed, so Celebi helps out a lot. Recover is a nicer option to improve its longevity and help it have an easier time to setup.Dazzling Gleam isn't that useful other than for the Latias matchup with Hydra being handled by Blissey + Shao, but its an option still. Psychium Z gives it a nuke capable of breaking past its checks including steel-types like Scizor.

Minor Changes:

: I recommend you use either Toxic to help put things like Latias, Moltres and bulky waters etc. on a timer. Roar is also an option to stop Pokemon freely using you as setup fodder and can work well with putting things on a timer with the T-Spike support. Both options are useful in the final slot, so feel free to test around with it.

: While I like to have Toxic on Blissey I recommend you use Wish as a few of these members really appreciate having a way to restore health. It helps allow them to continue checking the threats they are required too.

<Click Sprites for Importable>
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I hope you like the changed and apoligies again for not keeping most of the original Pokemon, but from a competitive standpoint it was best to remove them to be an effective team in the UU tier. As for how this team plays out, it mainly involves pivotting around to get into favourable positions to setup hazards or get in Celebi to start breaking fatter teams. Against offensive teams minimze the opportunities they can get to setup freely against passive Pokemon like Blissey or Aggron depending on the Pokemon. Overall the team will function a lot better and fits the balance / semi-stall archetype you wanted. If you have any questions let me know ^_^