> Wonderful Guards <
Introduction
Hey guys. I've never really been on the forums but I did do quite the bit of OU and Ubers ladder while lurking around. Either way, I wanted to present my current most successful Ubers team and of course receive some feedback as to what I can change/improve on. As you can see, I'm a big shedinja fan because of its infamous wonder guard and the fact that a team around it can be deadly in the right hands.
Teambuilding Process
(Currently peaked at 1504)
As I have said before, Shedinja is my favorite pokemon and I wanted to make a somewhat decent team around this, and of course that meant adding ways to deal with the 5 weaknesses that Shedinja has.
Now, when you think of a fire problem, the first thing that comes to mind in this metagame is PDon. Who else better to deal with that problem than POgre? Primal Kyogre takes care of a LOT of problems that I have, giving me solution to the majority of the fire threats that could impose on Shedinja.
Another weakness that a shedinja-based team has is of course, hazards. Seeing how PDon is also one of the strongest hazard setters in the game, I needed a defogger who could not only take the hits of a PDon, but check it as well. Immediately, I went to Giratina-Origin. With this, I was able to solve the problem of a taking a hard hit from PDon's ground moves and his troublesome stealth rocks. Not to mention, it can take quite the hit from PDon's fire moves as well.
That being said, sometimes, having just a defogger simply doesn't cut the hazard control. This is where this lovable rock fairy comes in. At first, I was thinking of Mega-Sableye. However, I really didn't think Sableye fit with this kind of team; for one, I think having one ghost type is enough; and two, it just adds to another fairy weakness and of course, having at least one fairy type in the ubers metagame is kind of a requirement with all the dragons floating around. Adding MDiancie provides me with magic bounce for extra hazard control, and synergizes very well with Giratina-O. Plus shedinja loves magic bounce on its team.
That being said, this team is very switch/pivot based, but it had one main problem. Outside of MDiancie, the team looked too slow, and I needed a late game sweeper of some sort. I decided upon Genesect because it had access to U-turn and Extremespeed, which makes it an excellent revenge killer as well. Not to mention, it's a great pivot in conjuction with Shedinja.
Now, to be honest, at this point I was kinda stumped as to what I should choose next. I originally put Arceus but I found it not really fit this kind of team, and I didn't like how it's susceptible to burns either. So instead, I opted for Arceus-Ground, who solves as POgre's electric weakness, and grants me a win condition in the later edges of the game.
In depth
Shedinja @ Focus Sash
Wonder Guard ~~ 0 EVs | 0 Speed IV ~~ Relaxed/Sassy
Baton Pass
Will-O-Wisp
Toxic
Protect
Shedinja, IMO, has quite a decent niche in the Ubers metagame, being a pivot that can check a good amount of Xerneas sets (those that don't run HP fire or rock), Latios, Kyogre, etc as well as forcing your opponent into a mindgame with a lot more hassle than normally otherwise. Shedinja tends to lure in fire moves/fire types which gives Primal Kyogre a free switch, and/or lures in status moves that Diancie can take advantage of and bounce back. Baton pass allows me to maintain momentum after switching into the pokemon that it checks. Protect allows me to scout moves in the case of those rare cases where a certain primal decides to run toxic. I ran both Will-O-Wisp/Toxic in order to cripple BOTH Fire and Steel threats to this team. Do note that it is sometimes worth burning the focus sash to place a burn on a physical sweeper that you may no longer have the answer to in the late game (ie: E-killer Arceus). Needless to say, calculations aren't really needed here on a Shedinja.
Also, speed is minimized for pivot reasons.
Possible plays that you can do with Shedinja
1) Switch Shedinja into a Xerneas, and baton pass while luring out an opponent's Primal Groudon with my own Primal Kyogre, which allows it to dent one of their pokemon really hard with Origin Pulse.
2) Against a Xerneas running Geomancy + HP Fire, take a focus sash hit to place a toxic timer onto their Xerneas, switch Primal Kyogre to fizzle out the HP Fire, and Shedinja to render Moonblasts null. Keep them guessing stalling out the Xerneas. At the least, if you can manage to pull off 3~4 switches, it will put Xerneas in revenge kill range for Genesect.
3) Switch in Genesect against Lugia, then U-turn into Shedinja. Attempt to lure a toxic and bounce it back with a Mega Diance Switch
Kyogre @ Blue Orb
Primordial Sea ~~ 172 HP | 252 SpA | 84 Spe ~~ Modest
Rest
Sleep Talk
Origin Pulse
Ice Beam
Now here is the one that I'm still having a bit of trouble deciding. I originally ran a Calm Mind set, but I found RestTalk to be vastly superior. I would really like feedback on this: Do I opt for a more defensive POgre, or do I opt for a faster POgre? I have mixed opinions on running RestTalk on a wall breaker EV set, but the RestTalk has saved more than Calm Mind has ever done.
Either way though, this is a standard RestTalk Kyogre as far as movesets go. 84 Speed EVs are there so that I can outspeed most pokemon that don't run speed EVs on a base 100 speed (ie: Defensive variants of Yvetals, Non-geomancy boosted Xerneas) and allows me to put severe dents into the enemy team once Primal Groudon has been eliminated. HP EVs are placed so that it can take a hit from Moonblast and give a bit of breathing room for some Geomancy Xerneas counterplay ( number 2 ) mentioned above.
+2 252+ SpA Fairy Aura Xerneas Moonblast vs. 172 HP / 0 SpD Primal Kyogre: 303-357 (78.9 - 92.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Arceus-Ground @ Earth Plate
Multitype ~~ 252 HP | 148 SpA | 108 Spe ~~ Modest
Calm Mind
Recover
Judgment
Ice Beam
This arceus is my main switch to DD Mega Salamence, who would otherwise 6-0 the team. HP EVs are placed so that it can take a +1 double-edge and kill it with an clean ice beam (+1 252 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Arceus-Ground: 354-417 (79.7 - 93.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO). Other than that, the EVs are spread out so that it can outspeed the vast majority of the bulky pokemon in the metagame, and provide a late game win-condition with calm mind and recover. Ice beam also allows Arceus to hit Giratina-O, who is a very common switch-in to this Arceus forme. It's also very important to make sure NOT to reveal this form until late game.
Diancie @ Diancite
Magic Bounce ~~ 128 HP | 128 SpA | 252 Spe ~~ Timid
Protect
Moonblast
Diamond Storm
Earth Power / Stealth Rock
This is my Mega Diancie. At first glance, you're probably looking at my EVs and going "Why are you using 128 HP EVs?" 128 HP EVs actually allow Diancie to take hits from many things that otherwise stop it from doing what it normally does. The HP EVs allow Diancie a 60% chance to take hit from +2 Sludge Bomb from a Focus Sash Darkrai, prevent Life Orb Yvetal from 2HKOing Diancie with Dark Pulse on switch-in, and survive Giratino-O Earthquake. That being said, STAB Moonblast can still hit dark/dragon threats really hard even with a miniscule 128 SpA investment. Diamond Storm OHKOs Ho-oh, which otherwise becomes a severe threat to this team. Earth power is there to punish any Primal Groudon switches. Stealth rocks is a bit of a random throw-in, but with the nature of the team and how it pivots, it's not as hard to set up stealth rocks even with a Mega Diancie, despite how counterintuitive it is. However, Diancie's speed is something that I feel should never be sacrificed regardless of set.
252+ SpA Life Orb Dark Aura Yveltal Dark Pulse vs. 128 HP / 0 SpD Mega Diancie: 116-136 (42.4 - 49.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
+2 252 SpA Life Orb Darkrai Sludge Bomb vs. 128 HP / 0 SpD Mega Diancie: 242-285 (88.6 - 104.3%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO
248+ Atk Giratina-O Earthquake vs. 128 HP / 0 Def Mega Diancie: 208-246 (76.1 - 90.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Giratina-Origin @ Griseous Orb
Levitate ~~ 244 Atk | 248 Def | 16 Spe ~~ Adamant
Defog
Shadow Sneak/Shadow Force
Will-O-Wisp
Earthquake
Standard Giratina-O defog set. I personally prefer running 16 speed as a benchmark so that I can outspeed pokemon who otherwise use 12 speed in the same bracket. Defog is obviously the biggest player here, allowing the team to do loads of pivots. Will-O-Wisp cripples many physical sweepers, and is the main method of dealing with E-killer Arceus. Earthquake lets me check Primal Groudon and force it to switch, which then allows me to defog. I personally prefer Shadow Sneak over Shadow Force mostly due to the fact that Arceus can just switch in and set up an SD for free. Shadow sneak also allows it to be a priority sweeper late game.
Shiny Genesect @ Choice Scarf
Download ~~ 252 ATK | 252 Spe | 4 SpD ~~ Hasty
U-turn
Extreme Speed
Blaze Kick
Iron Head
The classic and very standard choice scarf Genesect. Unlike the other part of the team, this mon doesn't run any specific EVs other than the fact that it's gotta go fast and hit hard. Genesect also has insanely good synergy with Shedinja and Kyogre, which literally cover all of it's weaknesses while maintaining momentum. U-turn is it's powerful stab that allows me to threaten Darkrai and possible Greninja leads. Extreme Speed is what allows me to start a late game sweep and possibly revenge kill a Xerneas who has invested enough speed to outrun this scarfed Genesect (Mostly HP fire Xerneas's). I've never been a fan of explosion on Genesect, and my only alternative was Blaze Kick. Blaze kick allows me to deal with steel types who like to switch into my Genesect and even take out a Ditto who has imposter'd my shedinja. Iron head is a given STAB move to take out many Fairy threats and some ice mons such as Kyurem-White.
Choice Band Ho-Oh - I do not have a pokemon who can switch into it's brave bird other than Diancie, and even then, it can only be done once before I'm it becomes in kill range the next time it switches.
Support Arceus's - Those who run Calm Mind, Recover, AND a status move like will-o-wisp become a very big nuissance for me. I cannot stop them from setting up. The only way to contest it is to bring out my own Arceus-ground and fight a calm mind battle. Special mention to Arceus Water who stops my only possible check to that moveset.
Choice Scarf Shaymin Sky - The only way i can deal with this is to bring out my Genesect and hope that it doesn't get flinched mid-attempt on blaze kick.
Skill Swap + Taunt Deoxys-Speed - If Deoxys-S and Xerneas is on the same team, it becomes very hard to stop a well played Xerneas. Since this team requires Shedinja to stop Xerneas, hazards must not be allowed. Try to aim to bounce back a taunt or attempt to pivot genesect on a skill swap read. Other than that, one stealth rock and it's pretty much over.
Some replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ubers-349667345 - Showing that this team isn't necessarily weak to imposter ditto
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ubers-348245573 - Another Random replay
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ubers-346625421 - Somewhat silly Arceus Ground sweep
That's the bulk of it. Any and all feedback is appreciated~
Introduction
Hey guys. I've never really been on the forums but I did do quite the bit of OU and Ubers ladder while lurking around. Either way, I wanted to present my current most successful Ubers team and of course receive some feedback as to what I can change/improve on. As you can see, I'm a big shedinja fan because of its infamous wonder guard and the fact that a team around it can be deadly in the right hands.
Teambuilding Process
(Currently peaked at 1504)
As I have said before, Shedinja is my favorite pokemon and I wanted to make a somewhat decent team around this, and of course that meant adding ways to deal with the 5 weaknesses that Shedinja has.
Now, when you think of a fire problem, the first thing that comes to mind in this metagame is PDon. Who else better to deal with that problem than POgre? Primal Kyogre takes care of a LOT of problems that I have, giving me solution to the majority of the fire threats that could impose on Shedinja.
Another weakness that a shedinja-based team has is of course, hazards. Seeing how PDon is also one of the strongest hazard setters in the game, I needed a defogger who could not only take the hits of a PDon, but check it as well. Immediately, I went to Giratina-Origin. With this, I was able to solve the problem of a taking a hard hit from PDon's ground moves and his troublesome stealth rocks. Not to mention, it can take quite the hit from PDon's fire moves as well.
That being said, sometimes, having just a defogger simply doesn't cut the hazard control. This is where this lovable rock fairy comes in. At first, I was thinking of Mega-Sableye. However, I really didn't think Sableye fit with this kind of team; for one, I think having one ghost type is enough; and two, it just adds to another fairy weakness and of course, having at least one fairy type in the ubers metagame is kind of a requirement with all the dragons floating around. Adding MDiancie provides me with magic bounce for extra hazard control, and synergizes very well with Giratina-O. Plus shedinja loves magic bounce on its team.
That being said, this team is very switch/pivot based, but it had one main problem. Outside of MDiancie, the team looked too slow, and I needed a late game sweeper of some sort. I decided upon Genesect because it had access to U-turn and Extremespeed, which makes it an excellent revenge killer as well. Not to mention, it's a great pivot in conjuction with Shedinja.
Now, to be honest, at this point I was kinda stumped as to what I should choose next. I originally put Arceus but I found it not really fit this kind of team, and I didn't like how it's susceptible to burns either. So instead, I opted for Arceus-Ground, who solves as POgre's electric weakness, and grants me a win condition in the later edges of the game.
In depth
Shedinja @ Focus Sash
Wonder Guard ~~ 0 EVs | 0 Speed IV ~~ Relaxed/Sassy
Baton Pass
Will-O-Wisp
Toxic
Protect
Shedinja, IMO, has quite a decent niche in the Ubers metagame, being a pivot that can check a good amount of Xerneas sets (those that don't run HP fire or rock), Latios, Kyogre, etc as well as forcing your opponent into a mindgame with a lot more hassle than normally otherwise. Shedinja tends to lure in fire moves/fire types which gives Primal Kyogre a free switch, and/or lures in status moves that Diancie can take advantage of and bounce back. Baton pass allows me to maintain momentum after switching into the pokemon that it checks. Protect allows me to scout moves in the case of those rare cases where a certain primal decides to run toxic. I ran both Will-O-Wisp/Toxic in order to cripple BOTH Fire and Steel threats to this team. Do note that it is sometimes worth burning the focus sash to place a burn on a physical sweeper that you may no longer have the answer to in the late game (ie: E-killer Arceus). Needless to say, calculations aren't really needed here on a Shedinja.
Also, speed is minimized for pivot reasons.
Possible plays that you can do with Shedinja
1) Switch Shedinja into a Xerneas, and baton pass while luring out an opponent's Primal Groudon with my own Primal Kyogre, which allows it to dent one of their pokemon really hard with Origin Pulse.
2) Against a Xerneas running Geomancy + HP Fire, take a focus sash hit to place a toxic timer onto their Xerneas, switch Primal Kyogre to fizzle out the HP Fire, and Shedinja to render Moonblasts null. Keep them guessing stalling out the Xerneas. At the least, if you can manage to pull off 3~4 switches, it will put Xerneas in revenge kill range for Genesect.
3) Switch in Genesect against Lugia, then U-turn into Shedinja. Attempt to lure a toxic and bounce it back with a Mega Diance Switch
Kyogre @ Blue Orb
Primordial Sea ~~ 172 HP | 252 SpA | 84 Spe ~~ Modest
Rest
Sleep Talk
Origin Pulse
Ice Beam
Now here is the one that I'm still having a bit of trouble deciding. I originally ran a Calm Mind set, but I found RestTalk to be vastly superior. I would really like feedback on this: Do I opt for a more defensive POgre, or do I opt for a faster POgre? I have mixed opinions on running RestTalk on a wall breaker EV set, but the RestTalk has saved more than Calm Mind has ever done.
Either way though, this is a standard RestTalk Kyogre as far as movesets go. 84 Speed EVs are there so that I can outspeed most pokemon that don't run speed EVs on a base 100 speed (ie: Defensive variants of Yvetals, Non-geomancy boosted Xerneas) and allows me to put severe dents into the enemy team once Primal Groudon has been eliminated. HP EVs are placed so that it can take a hit from Moonblast and give a bit of breathing room for some Geomancy Xerneas counterplay ( number 2 ) mentioned above.
+2 252+ SpA Fairy Aura Xerneas Moonblast vs. 172 HP / 0 SpD Primal Kyogre: 303-357 (78.9 - 92.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Arceus-Ground @ Earth Plate
Multitype ~~ 252 HP | 148 SpA | 108 Spe ~~ Modest
Calm Mind
Recover
Judgment
Ice Beam
This arceus is my main switch to DD Mega Salamence, who would otherwise 6-0 the team. HP EVs are placed so that it can take a +1 double-edge and kill it with an clean ice beam (+1 252 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Arceus-Ground: 354-417 (79.7 - 93.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO). Other than that, the EVs are spread out so that it can outspeed the vast majority of the bulky pokemon in the metagame, and provide a late game win-condition with calm mind and recover. Ice beam also allows Arceus to hit Giratina-O, who is a very common switch-in to this Arceus forme. It's also very important to make sure NOT to reveal this form until late game.
Diancie @ Diancite
Magic Bounce ~~ 128 HP | 128 SpA | 252 Spe ~~ Timid
Protect
Moonblast
Diamond Storm
Earth Power / Stealth Rock
This is my Mega Diancie. At first glance, you're probably looking at my EVs and going "Why are you using 128 HP EVs?" 128 HP EVs actually allow Diancie to take hits from many things that otherwise stop it from doing what it normally does. The HP EVs allow Diancie a 60% chance to take hit from +2 Sludge Bomb from a Focus Sash Darkrai, prevent Life Orb Yvetal from 2HKOing Diancie with Dark Pulse on switch-in, and survive Giratino-O Earthquake. That being said, STAB Moonblast can still hit dark/dragon threats really hard even with a miniscule 128 SpA investment. Diamond Storm OHKOs Ho-oh, which otherwise becomes a severe threat to this team. Earth power is there to punish any Primal Groudon switches. Stealth rocks is a bit of a random throw-in, but with the nature of the team and how it pivots, it's not as hard to set up stealth rocks even with a Mega Diancie, despite how counterintuitive it is. However, Diancie's speed is something that I feel should never be sacrificed regardless of set.
252+ SpA Life Orb Dark Aura Yveltal Dark Pulse vs. 128 HP / 0 SpD Mega Diancie: 116-136 (42.4 - 49.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
+2 252 SpA Life Orb Darkrai Sludge Bomb vs. 128 HP / 0 SpD Mega Diancie: 242-285 (88.6 - 104.3%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO
248+ Atk Giratina-O Earthquake vs. 128 HP / 0 Def Mega Diancie: 208-246 (76.1 - 90.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Giratina-Origin @ Griseous Orb
Levitate ~~ 244 Atk | 248 Def | 16 Spe ~~ Adamant
Defog
Shadow Sneak/Shadow Force
Will-O-Wisp
Earthquake
Standard Giratina-O defog set. I personally prefer running 16 speed as a benchmark so that I can outspeed pokemon who otherwise use 12 speed in the same bracket. Defog is obviously the biggest player here, allowing the team to do loads of pivots. Will-O-Wisp cripples many physical sweepers, and is the main method of dealing with E-killer Arceus. Earthquake lets me check Primal Groudon and force it to switch, which then allows me to defog. I personally prefer Shadow Sneak over Shadow Force mostly due to the fact that Arceus can just switch in and set up an SD for free. Shadow sneak also allows it to be a priority sweeper late game.
Shiny Genesect @ Choice Scarf
Download ~~ 252 ATK | 252 Spe | 4 SpD ~~ Hasty
U-turn
Extreme Speed
Blaze Kick
Iron Head
The classic and very standard choice scarf Genesect. Unlike the other part of the team, this mon doesn't run any specific EVs other than the fact that it's gotta go fast and hit hard. Genesect also has insanely good synergy with Shedinja and Kyogre, which literally cover all of it's weaknesses while maintaining momentum. U-turn is it's powerful stab that allows me to threaten Darkrai and possible Greninja leads. Extreme Speed is what allows me to start a late game sweep and possibly revenge kill a Xerneas who has invested enough speed to outrun this scarfed Genesect (Mostly HP fire Xerneas's). I've never been a fan of explosion on Genesect, and my only alternative was Blaze Kick. Blaze kick allows me to deal with steel types who like to switch into my Genesect and even take out a Ditto who has imposter'd my shedinja. Iron head is a given STAB move to take out many Fairy threats and some ice mons such as Kyurem-White.
Some replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ubers-349667345 - Showing that this team isn't necessarily weak to imposter ditto
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ubers-348245573 - Another Random replay
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ubers-346625421 - Somewhat silly Arceus Ground sweep
That's the bulk of it. Any and all feedback is appreciated~
Last edited:
