Hogg
grubbing in the ashes
Rock 'n' Roll Suicide - Gyarados HO
You're too old to lose it, too young to chase it...
Introduction
Time takes a cigarette, puts it in your mouth...
Hey, all. I wanted to share a hyper offense team I've been playing with lately. I built this around Gyarados, and I think it does an excellent job of showcasing its offensive potential. When it dropped, most of the talk surrounded the SubDD set - which makes sense, as it's an incredibly threatening set. However, I wanted to build around an offensive DD + 3 attacks set focused on breaking down common bulky cores.
The team has been very successful. Though obviously I've only been running it for a week total, I've used it in test games against a lot of talented players and it consistently puts in work against just about every playstyle. Just dicking around with it on the ladder easily brought one of my alts into the top 25 on the ladder, and it has won all but one roomtour I've entered it into.
Teambuilding
You're so natural, religiously unkind...
I knew I wanted to build around offensive DD Gyarados. In particular, I wanted to run DD with a Life Orb and Waterfall/EQ/Double-Edge. While Double-Edge seems like an odd choice, I found it was the most consistent move at breaking down opposing teams, as it can smack dragons, bulky waters, Rotom-Mow and similar threats without needing to rely on Bounce (which is fairly easy to play around). I knew I wanted to use it alongside Salamence, as DDos + DDmence seemed really threatening for a lot of teams.You're so natural, religiously unkind...
Since my goal was to use Gyarados to break down bulky teams for another sweeper, I decided to play around to find a set of sweepers that could consistently take on every common team archetype. I toyed around with a lot of different threats, including Haxorus, Absol and Slurpuff, before settling on a core of five offensive 'mons I was happy with: Gyarados, Salamence, Lucario, Infernape and Mega-Swampert.
To tie things together I went with a suicide lead Aerodactyl. Aero is in my opinion the most consistent suicide rocker in the tier, as Azelf struggles with faster 'mons in general and can't consistently get multiple turns as Aero often can.
Oh no love, you're not alone... Just turn on with me
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 176 Atk / 80 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Double-Edge
- Fire Blast
Aerodactyl is the most consistent Stealth Rock lead in UU right now, able to outspeed the entire unboosted tier and use Double-Edge to kill itself to block Spin/Defog. Unfortunately Double-Edge is illegal alongside Unnerve, so you can't block berries, but it's still worth the sacrifice here. Anyhow, there's nothing super fancy about this. Block hazards and set up, get rocks up, die. Everything else on the team should provide enough offensive pressure that rocks will stay up (and if they don't, it usually means you've gotten an extra turn of setup, which is almost always worth the sacrifice). EVs guarantee the OHKO on Forretress with Fire Blast while also giving you a 90% chance to 2HKO Cobalion, with the rest in Attack to power up Double-Edge.
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 29 HP
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Double-Edge
This was what I more or less built this team around. Double-Edge surprises and smacks a lot of things that think they can come in and play around your STABs, hitting Grass types, Dragons and Waters as hard as Waterfall normally would without ceding momentum like Bounce often does. It's a great surprise also in the inevitable Gyarados v. Gyarados matchups that I often see. Life Orb and Double-Edge is suicidal as hell, but Gyarados is not really here to sweep; it's here to break teams down so that one of your other teammates (most often Salamence or Swampert) can sweep. I went with Jolly both for the Speed ties and because otherwise Mega-Sceptile is actually pretty threatening to this team - but you can set up a DD on any of its moves, outspeed and OHKO with Double-Edge.
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Iron Tail
This is in my opinion the scariest 'mon in UU. MoxieMence is so punishing with only a single turn of setup, and often it doesn't even need that single turn. I love bringing this in early game to nab an easy revenge KO with EQ or something, since nobody wants to give Salamence a free turn. Alongside Gyarados, it is an incredibly scary DD sweeper, and better still, it sets up on a lot of the things that beat Gyarados. It also is one of the several ways you have for beating Sableye, who otherwise plagues teams like this, thanks to Lum Berry.
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 29 HP
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Bullet Punch
- Extreme Speed
Porygon2 can be a real pain for Gyarados and Salamence (although Mence can actually break through it or wear it down), so adding a strong Fighting type made sense here. The Diamond Dog remains one of the hardest 'mons for bulky teams to deal with, especially as you have to play guessing games around its set, since it can often pop its counters with coverage or with NP. I considered NP Luke, which I usually prefer to SD Luke in this meta, but SD fit the team better. Strong priority is pretty important for a team like this, and it does nasty things to Whimsicott, who can otherwise be annoying. I went with Bullet Punch because Mega-Aero can be a pain to this team otherwise, and because you can use Bullet Punch to pop Sableye - +2 Bullet Punch hits before the wisp and does ~70% damage on average, and with good rolls you can 2HKO a healthy Sableye and pave the way for one of your other sweepers. I went with Jolly primarily for Entei, although I've toyed with switching back to Adamant.
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Fire Blast
- Grass Knot
- Vacuum Wave
If you haven't noticed a bit of a theme here, I like to have at least two decent answers to every common anti-offense 'mon such as Sableye or Whimsicott. Infernape was a solid fit, then, as it can switch into anything Sableye wants to through at you. This also helps breaks down most common bulky Waters with Grass Knot, and with Vacuum Wave can stop some problematic 'mons such as Crawdaunt, Mega-Sharpedo and Cobalion cold.
Ability: Damp
EVs: 80 HP / 252 Atk / 176 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rain Dance
- Earthquake
- Waterfall
- Ice Punch
Even with BP Luke, Mega-Aerodactyl was annoying, as was VoltTurn, so in went Mega-Pert. Also, I found that the combination of MPert/Mence was particularly threatening against Zapdos, as Mence sets up on non-HP Ice Zapdos and Pert sets up on non-HP Grass Zapdos. This is actually my main win condition in most games, as the rest of the team tends to do a pretty good job at breaking down most threats. I'd originally had Jolly here, but I found that against teams with Scarf Mienshao/Hydreigon, I could usually use them as setup bait with my other 'mons, so I went with Adamant for the much-appreciated power boost. This spread outspeeds M-Aero while giving the rest some extra bulk. Not much else to say here - there's a reason this is one of the top
Conclusion & Replays
No matter what or who you've been
No matter when or where you've seen
All the knives seem to lacerate your brain
Though the Gyarados meta is obviously still fresh as hell, I thought I'd post this team as I think it has a lot of potential in the current meta, and because it showcases a more offensive Gyarados set than the SubDD that I suspect will remain the standard. I think a lot of people think that making a team like this is as simple as "pick suicide lead, slap on five random setup sweepers," but the team was actually put together to have an answer to every relevant metagame threat.No matter what or who you've been
No matter when or where you've seen
All the knives seem to lacerate your brain
I don't have a ton to say else to say about this team. I don't have a huge number of replays saved, because I mostly built this to help friends test teams, but like I said I did play with it on the ladder for a couple of days and used it in a few roomtours, so I managed to nab a couple of replays:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-314989156 - vs Aquadext
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-315525590 - vs pif (sorry pif, didn't save the replay of you later kicking my ass with the same team)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-314729744 & http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-314735847 - A couple of random ladder games against a team that seems like it should have a god matchup against this team, with multiple Speed Boost users and solid anti-offense 'mons like bulky Zapdos and Mamoswine
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-319811259 - Another random ladder battle, but a pretty textbook case of how to break down bulky threats like Doublade and Reuniclus.
If I get any more decent replays I'll post them. I don't really ladder much these days, but the team matches up well against most playstyles, so it's a solid ladder team.
Shout-Outs & Importable
And you're not alone...
Gimme your hands, 'cause you're wonderful
Gimme your hands, 'cause you're wonderful
I don't really like doing shout-outs in general just because I know I'm going to leave a million people out, but the main two people to shout out are the two people who I worked with the most when I was making this team, teal6 and Christo. - both of these guys listened to me obsess over ideal Aerodactyl spreads and helped me test and fine-tune the team. You guys are awesome and I really appreciate all you do. teal6, kick some ass and take some names this SPL - I'll queue up some Meek Mill for you every time you play. Christo., as always I expect nothing but greatness from you even if you're no longer Christo the Gr8.And you're not alone...
Gimme your hands, 'cause you're wonderful
Gimme your hands, 'cause you're wonderful
Aerodactyl @ Focus Sash
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 176 Atk / 80 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Double-Edge
- Fire Blast
Gyarados @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 29 HP
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Double-Edge
Salamence @ Lum Berry
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Iron Tail
Lucario @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 29 HP
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Bullet Punch
- Extreme Speed
Infernape @ Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Fire Blast
- Grass Knot
- Vacuum Wave
Swampert-Mega @ Swampertite
Ability: Damp
EVs: 80 HP/ 252 Atk / 176 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rain Dance
- Earthquake
- Waterfall
- Ice Punch
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 176 Atk / 80 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Double-Edge
- Fire Blast
Gyarados @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 29 HP
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Double-Edge
Salamence @ Lum Berry
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Iron Tail
Lucario @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 29 HP
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Bullet Punch
- Extreme Speed
Infernape @ Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Fire Blast
- Grass Knot
- Vacuum Wave
Swampert-Mega @ Swampertite
Ability: Damp
EVs: 80 HP/ 252 Atk / 176 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rain Dance
- Earthquake
- Waterfall
- Ice Punch
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