SM RU Under Pressure

Mac3

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Under Pressure

I'm not good at introductions but this time I'll try a bit more than I usually do.

So originally I built this squad after watching googly play with the Moltres, Articuno, Zapdos squad, and seemed like a fun core. I also really love Moltres as that was what my first stall team in RU was built around, here, so I guess I have a bit of a bias for it. Articuno was another thing that has recently had a resurgence in RU mostly thanks to HypnoEmpire and his rmt, Freezer. This team wasn't intended to be serious in the beggining but after laddering with it I realized that it was actually quite solid. Pyukumuku has also come to my attention recently as it can be hard to switch into as with the new move block, it can now trap mons and toxic them. I've always loved pressure stall as well which is the main reason I built this team.
-- Quick Look --

I built around the pressure core of Moltres and Articuno which are the only available of the bird trio. They also provide a way to beat many of the tiers best rockers, such as Registeel, M-Steelix and Nidoqueen. This core also helps vs. opposing stall teams thanks to their ability, Pressure.



Flygon was the next addition to provide my team a way to Defog vs. rock types, such as Gigalith and non-ice punch Rhyperior. Flygon also is a good counter to the most common Salazzle set as it takes around ~80% and Ohkoes back with Earth STAB.



Pyukumuku was the next addition as it allows me to check set-up sweepers which aren't already covered such as SD Feraligatr, SD Bruxish, and SS Barbaracle/Cloyster. It can also transform opposing mons into the Water type which takes away their STAB's, this helps greatly in the Sigilyph match-up which usually just 6-0's stall.



Umbreon was added next for Wish support which greatly helps Registeel, as it doesn't have any reliable recovery. Registeel also provides Rocks which is always needed on a good team, atleast in singles. Isn't much I can say on this as Umbreon and Registeel are really quite common on stall.


-- In Depth --


Under Pressure (Moltres) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 164 Def / 96 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Roost
- Flamethrower
- Air Slash / Will-o-Wisp


Moltres is 1/2 of this teams starting point. Moltres is my teams check to Decidueye, Bewear and Pangoro which all pressure normal stall a lot. Moltres is the Defog user against M-Steelix as it ohkoes Articuno with Heavy Slam, Moltres always 2hkoes M-Steelix with Flamethrower. The 96 Spe with Timid nature allows it to outspeed max speed Deicueye whie the HP evs allow it to take less from Stealth Rock while the rest is dumbed into defense. Moltres is also my main switch-in to physical spikers like Chesnaught and M-Glalie and can Ohko or heavily damage both with respective STAB.
Will-o-Wisp can be used instead of Air Slash as then you can weaken physical attackers for the whole game, while also being able to take away Registeel's passive recovery.



Spear Mint (Articuno) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 116 Def / 144 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Roost
- Heal Bell
- Freeze-Dry


Articuno is a huge part of why this team works as it checks two of the major Stealth Rockers in this meta, Registeel and Nidoqueen while also being able to pp stall Bronzong. Heal Bell is used to not be pressured by Toxic as 16pp would be too little as Pressure allows Articuno to not be Toxiced with no Heal Bells left by the same mon. Stealth Rock also has too little pp with Pressure and loses all its pp way before Defog does. The speed evs allow Articuno to outspeed Jolly Honchkrow while, again, 248 HP evs allow Articuno to be able to switch in to Rocks two times without dying. The rest was put into defense to improve my match up against trapper Araquanid and Honchkrow.


Helt Borta (Flygon) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 32 SpA / 164 SpD / 64 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Roost
- Earth Power
- Toxic


Flygon is used to be able to be able to defog on Gigalith and non-ice punch Rhyperior which helps a lot, although they aren't very common. Earth Power is a unusual choice but it is able to 2hko M-Steelix before rocks without that much investment while still being able to keep Leftovers. Toxic is toxic which is very helpful in chipping down the opposing team. The nickname means "Completely Gon(e)." The speed evs and Timid allow it to creep Timid Nidoqueen while the rest of the evs are dumbed into SpD to better tank Salazzle.


Lego (Pyukumuku) @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 192 Def / 64 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Block / Taunt / Light Screen / Spite
- Toxic
- Soak
- Recover


Pyukumuku was the first mon I added that didn't have defog. An unaware mon is almost always needed on stall to be able to check set-up sweepers such as SD Feraligatr, SD Bruxish and many Shell Smash users. CM Psycho Shift Sigilyph is usually always hard for stall but as Pyukumuku has Soak it removes a lot of power from Air Slash which allows Umbreon and Articuno to pp stall the Air Slashes which allows me to beat it quite confortably. The def ev's allows Pyukumuku to tank two Psychic Fangs from Waterium Z Bruxish after Rocks. Block allows Pyukumuku to trap pokemon that it walls and kill them with Toxic. Taunt allows Pyukumuku to beat Snorlax which otherwise just 6-0's my team.


Yue (Umbreon) @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 29 Spe
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell
- Foul Play


Umbreon was my next choice as it performs very well in all teams it is put in, especially stall. The set is quite standard except for the speed ivs, which allow it to underspeed 10iv M-Banette, so it doesn't die from Destiny Bond on the second turn. Heal Bell is run on Umbreon as well which is mostly because of safety reasons as Articuno's Heal Bell is usually only used when Articuno itself gets poisoned.


1999 (Registeel) @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Protect
- Toxic
- Seismic Toss


This is another standard stall mon, in the form of Registeel. It provides a large necessity in my team which is Stealth Rocks. Although because of my team I usually don't put up rocks until the opponent's rocker is either 1, dead or 2, has run out of Stealth Rock pp. This usually means that rocks aren't actually put up that often because I'll probably just defog them away in a couple of turns anyway. Toxic is there to be able to damage Ghost types who aren't affected by Seismic Toss and protect gives Registeel more Leafies recovery.

-- Threats --


Hoopa is very threatening to my team as it can sub up on Pyukumuku which allows it not to be affected by any status moves. This makes it so I would have to pp stall it which if in conjunction with Feraligatr will almost always end in me losing the match. I have some counterplay which is going directly into Moltres when Hoopa comes in and clicking Flamethrower to get as much damage as possible, for Articuno to come in and finish the job off as they both outspeed.



Curselax is another large threat, this time even larger than Hoopa. As it has access to Rest toxicing it with Pyukumuku doesn't matter which make it very hard to beat. This is also because it can pp stall Pyuku as Rest essentially gives it two turns of no pp usage. This is why Taunt is an option on Pyukumuku to be able to deal with Snorlax after a couple of Curses.



Choice Specs Kommo-o has no switch-in on my team, I have very limited counterplay though. I have to predict perfectly and try to not allow it to switch in for free as it only comes in on Umbreon for free as Registeel, Pyukumuku and Flygon can toxic it which makes it much easier to deal with.


(Ice Punch)
(Toxic)

This isn't so much that they break my team, but they can set rocks on my team which is very bad as that makes things that Moltres and Articuno beat for my team pressure it very hard. Pangoro is a great example of this as usually Moltres can beat it but with Rocks it can't switch in.



SD Rockium-Z Virizion just outright 6-0's my team as it Ohkoes all my mon with STAB or Stone Edge. There is nothing I can do in this matchup other than forfieting.



Mismagius is also threatening as it can Taunt Pyukumuku to stop Toxic. Usually my play is going directly Umbreon and Foul Playing. If its Z-Dazzling Gleam I just outright lose though. Mismagius can't really come in on anything on my team though.


-- Battles --

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-665502941 vs. Lija
This battle shows my team vs. quite a common core of mons. This is also against a good player which is hard to find on ladder. It shows how I deal with Nidoqueen as a rocker and also how much work the core of Articuno + Moltres can do.


https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-665802460 vs. UltraBallzz
This battle shows how hard it is to deal with Snorlax on the opposing team. Although it didn't help anything with him critting my Pyukumuku.


https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-665999754 vs. Barton
This is a usually hard matchup for stall as the Sigilyph set that s/he uses is usually a very good answer to stall but as I have Soak on Pyukumuku it makes it quite easy to deal with. My team had a very good match up as well if I kept rocks off the field which was made much easier when I crit his Rhyerior turn 1.


-- Importable --
Under Pressure (Moltres) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 164 Def / 96 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Roost
- Flamethrower
- Air Slash
Spear Mint (Articuno) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 116 Def / 144 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Roost
- Heal Bell
- Freeze-Dry


Helt Borta (Flygon) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 32 SpA / 164 SpD / 64 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Roost
- Earth Power
- Toxic


Lego (Pyukumuku) @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 192 Def / 64 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Block
- Toxic
- Soak
- Recover


Yue (Umbreon) @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 29 Spe
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell
- Foul Play


1999 (Registeel) @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Protect
- Toxic
- Seismic Toss


 
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Very solid looking team, and impressive consistency given the randomness of the ladder. I won't leave a full rate since everything here looks very well crafted, particuarly your ev spreads, but have you considered running roar as your padt move on moltres? Air slash seems rather unescesary, and while I can appreciate the usefullness of wisp, roar seems like it would have equal utility, while at least frustrating curselaxes attempts to sweep. Grats on the peak and great team overall.
 

HypnoEmpire

Yokatta...
Awesome team, cool to see Pyukumuku used on stall. It was fun seeing you use this on the ladder (you're missing Sub SD Absol in the threat list :]) and it's cool to see more variations in stall. I just have a few recommendations that might improve some matchups.
gligar.png

Gligar @ Eviolite
Ability: Immunity
EVs: 248 HP / 124 SpD / 136 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Defog
- Roost

You're weak to Hoopa and vulnerable to rockers like Gigalith and Diancie, so this fixes up both. I don't think Flygon is doing enough right now to warrant the team slot, as it seems to me it's being used because its a Salazzle check that learns Defog. Gligar also helps with passive rockers with Toxic since wasting all of Articuno's Heal Bell pp for one mon can be pretty lame, even with Umbreon as backup. The Gligar spread could be changed up to your liking, such as running more Speed to Knock Off Honchkrow's Life Orb or running some Defense for something. The SpD takes a +2 Fire Blast from Salazzle from full and avoids a 2HKO from neutral Hoopa.

Assuming Gligar over Flygon, you are now significantly weaker to Salazzle. You can help circumvent this weakness by running Light Screen over Block / Taunt on Pyukumuku. This may sound odd, but hear me out. With Light Screen, you tank everything and anything Salazzle could throw at you while being able to pp stall Snorlax since Light Screen has a ton of pp. Can also help a bit with other strong special attackers like Kommo-o and Moltres.

I'd put Bewear and Machamp on your threat list, maybe Pangoro too. Adamant Band Bewear does like 75 min to Moltres and Machamp's Facade does 60 min. Machamp can remove Moltres' Leftovers, so it'll be pretty hard to switch into these two. It's especially bad when they're getting free turns from Umbreon and Articuno.
 

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