SM UU Cold

Cynde

toasty
is a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnusis a Past SPL Champion
PREFACE

Hey guys, with the possibility of Alolan-Ninetails dropping and since Kommonium Z got banned this team is effectively going to go through some significant changes / become obsolete which does take away some of the appeal of actually using this team. I have got to give credit to the lovely Pearl for the inspiration to build this team. Ever since I saw the veil team he used in Snake Draft I was really excited to try building something like that myself. It's easily been my favourite team to use lately because it's both fun and fast which makes it great for both room tours and ladder. I've been using this team, or variants of it since Kommonium-Z existed. It hasn't achieved much tournaments wise other than a few wins here and there in sub forum tours, but it's been pretty consistent on ladder. I low-key think that one of the reasons why I like this team so much is that I never really get annoyed about losing with it because it's a strange team as is, and the fact that it's been as consistent as it has is already a surprise. The premise of the team is really really simple. It focus on getting up Aurora Veil and then abusing them with sweepers. It's a really flexible team to play with and by that I mean in a given match up any of these Pokemon have the potential to sweep, but lets be real, more often than not, it's with Scizor.

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TEAM DEVELOPMENT


These two guys are what the entire team started off with. Aurora Veil has been one of the dumbest things to ever be introduced in Pokemon in my eyes. It's genuinely so frustrating to play against because it augments sweepers a ton and makes them much harder to deal with than they normally would be. Between the two of them they provide the team with Screens, Hazards and Hazard Control which are all valuable assets.


Scizor was the first Pokemon I had in mind when constructing this team, it's the most dangerous set up sweeper in the tier but without investing in bulk it still is quite frail but under Aurora Veil it's pretty devastating. It makes it a lot easier to set up on Pokemon like Gliscor, for example.


Enter S-Rank Pokemon number 2. Latias is also a really really scary Calm Mind user that synergises really well with Scizor and does a good job of beating down Pokemon that could potentially beat it. In addition to that it is a good deterrent for Pokemon that might try to clear Aurora Veil.



Enter S-Rank Pokemon number 3. Azumarill was actually added for more defensive reasons rather than offensive ones. There was a pretty big weakness to the likes of Mega Sharpedo and Choice Scarf Hydreigon so I wanted a check to them that could also immediately put pressure on the opponent if required. I do hate BD Azumarill, but it does fit.



Salazzle was the final piece that did a number of things, it served as a Scizor check, a Serperior check, something that could punish defensive teams and is my Z-move wielder. Scizor and Salazzle also have some similar checks in things like Tentacruel so one can be used to wear down checks for the other.


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THE TEAM



~~

DETAILED ANALYSIS




Salazzle @ Poisonium Z | Timid Nature
Oblivious | 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
- Fire Blast
- Sludge Wave

- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Nasty Plot


This is a pretty cool Pokemon that gets really really under-utilised and honestly I probably wouldn't have selected it if I didn't hear TSR hyping it so much. He does for good reason anyway, It's faster than a bunch of scary Pokemon like Serperior and Latias and has the typing to check stuff like Cobalion and Scizor. Considering the metagame has a high amount of Fairy- / Steel-types and they often find themselves on the same team, Salazzle actually ends up being a really big threat on paper, with its limiting factors being bulk and a rocks weakness.

The moveset I elected to go with was a pretty straightforward one, it has two STAB moves in Fire Blast and Sludge Wave in order to maximise the damage output, Nasty Plot in order to punish bulky teams, which it can do quite effectively due to its strength and immunity to Toxic. Hidden Power [Grass] was the last move I selected because beating Quagsire is something that has to be considered when looking for a Pokemon to punish fat. I elected to go with Z-Sludge Wave to be able to KO Latias and Rotom-Wash. Oblivious ensures I can set up the Nasty Plot, in case this somehow has to deal with a Taunt, which it normally wouldn't.

There isn't really a lot of wiggle room with this set unfortunately, I tried a couple of different things like Hidden Power [Ice] to provide more flexibility against Gliscor but losing out on Quagsire is really bad. Firium-Z was the other option I considered which allowed me to run Hidden Power [Grass] and have flexibility in a Gliscor / Muk match up but not being able to fuck with Rotom-Wash hard really sucks because of how big of a threat it is to this team.



Aurorus @ Focus Sash | Timid Nature
Snow Warning | 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Freeze Dry
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Encore


Part one of the Aurora Veil duo. It serves an important function, naturally, in getting Hail up so Sandslash can set the Veil. Generally it is best to lead off with it to begin immediate pressure with Stealth Rock + Hail chip. Unfortunately as a lead it does suck that it has no way of keeping the opponents hazards off the field so it's good that Sandslash can accomplish that. Despite this it does have the necessary tools to mess with a lot of hazard setters and removers.

Stealth Rocks are necessary. Freeze Dry + Hidden Power [Fire] is great coverage, especially if their ice resists are a combination of something like Rotom-Wash + Scizor, this set can mess with those really well. Considering that most of this tiers hazard removal is a Water-type or weak to Ice-type Freeze Dry is just a great way to ensure that you'll be having rocks up, at least for the beginning of the battle. In addition to hitting the obvious Scizor, Hidden Power [Fire] is also really important for chipping away at Klefki which is super fucking annoying. Encore is a nice last move to punish Defog / Rocks / Spin or whatever attack your opponent goes for before Aurorus faints which gives you an advantage with one of the breakers. The reason I run Timid is for Modest Primarina. Focus Sash is important to be able to tank one hit to get up rocks.

There are different possibilities with this moveset. Thunder Wave / Blizzard are the only two other moves I've experimented with but overall they do not provide as much use to the team as the current moveset does. While creeping Modest Primarina is nice, a Modest Nature on this is certainly viable to do more damage to the likes of Klefki.



Scizor @ Life Orb | Adamant Nature
Technician | 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Quick Attack
- Superpower


It's the most dangerous Pokemon in the tier so there's really not that much I can specifically say about this. Games usually end with this Pokemon because it has access to double priority and the other Pokemon generally are able to create scenarios where this can set up and win.

I went with a slightly modified moveset that I saw sparrow use ages ago. It was the first time I considered the effectiveness of Quick Attack on Scizor. With Adamant, Life Orb and Technician it is actually really strong and is a great way of picking off some important threats to this team like Mega Manectric, Rotom-Wash and Scarf Infernape. His set had Knock Off but I prefer Superpower because the extra damage against Scizor and being able to touch Cobalion is really useful. Swords Dance makes it strong and Bullet Punch is STAB priority that helps with with mons like BD Azu and DD Mega Altaria.

I tried running a Jolly Nature with Knock Off > Quick Attack for a while which wasn't horrible but it wasn't as consistent as Quick Attack so I ended up changing it back and sticking with it. This does have downsides like making Doublade and Chandelure a lot more of a bitch to deal with.



Azumarill @ Sitrus Berry | Adamant Nature
Huge Power | 92 HP / 252 Atk / 164 Spe
- Belly Drum
- Play Rough
- Aqua Jet
- Knock Off


I hate this set. I really do and I hate that it's pretty much necessary here. It rarely gets more than one kill a game (true even after belly drumming) and more often than not this Pokemon is relegated to taking a hit and retaliating while being at a decent amount of HP after consuming the Sitrus Berry or picking things off with a late game Aqua Jet.

Belly Drum isn't actually the worst thing ever because being under Veil actually makes Azumarill sorta hard to revenge KO which makes it suck less. It's a good way of taking advantage of teams that rely on Amoonguss as their only and immediate Azu answer or ones that have Scarf Hydreigon as their best method of beating a +6 Jet. Having priority with this and Scizor sort of makes up for the relatively slow nature of the team. Knock Off is nice for helping wear down Quagsire / and pick up the KO against Amoonguss at +6. The EV spread allows Azumarill to creep Mantine so you don't get hazed while still maintaining a little bit of a bulk.

There are literally no other belly drum sets that I've tried over that have done anything. I haven't tried band but I suppose that would alright. Losing out on Sitrus would not be the greatest however.



Latias @ Life Orb | Timid Nature
Levitate | 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- Calm Mind
- Thunder
- Psyshock
- Draco Meteor


Enter the other most threatening Pokemon in the tier. This guy fulfils a pretty important role as an Electric-type response (albeit a flimsy one, especially if people are using that aids Electric-type + Muk pairing) which is important as nothing else really wants to switch in on that.

Using Calm Mind on this is an important tool for keeping up the pace as under no circumstance do you want veil removed, but if it has to be you should at least be in a position to faint something. Thunder is here because it pressures most hazard removers (they are almost all water-types) so it forces the opponent to think twice about trying to get rid of Veil or Stealth Rock and if they do they take a lot of damage from Latias. It's also Lati's best way of hitting Scizor. Psyshock is here because Blissey can get really god damn annoying. Draco Meteor is a catch all nuke that is generally what I use to check Gliscor. Life Orb is important here to maximise the Thunder damage.

Hidden Power [Fire] over Thunder is an alternative to better pressure Klefki, Scizor and Doublade but comes at the cost of not being able to punish hazard removers as well. Psychic is another possibility to do more damage to the likes of Rotom-Wash without using Draco but not being able to significantly damage Blissey kind of sucks.



Sandslash-Alola @ Light Clay | Jolly Nature
Slush Rush | 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
- Aurora Veil
- Rapid Spin

- Icicle Crash
- Earthquake


Part two of the Aurora Veil duo. Sandslash does almost nothing in every game other than set Veil and clear hazards and will generally never see any function outside of that as after setting Veil you would rather see it faint so you get as many turns as possible trying to abuse Veil.

Aurora Veil is dumb. Rapid Spin helps clear hazards which is really important for Azumarill to be able to take Psychic Fangs from Sharpedo and for Salazzle and Latias to not get worn down. Icicle Crash is the only STAB move it runs which is nice for hitting Gliscor. I run Earthquake here because I think it's important to be able to damage Klefki and Doublade. Light Clay extends the number of screens turns which lets me abuse Veil as much as possible. Jolly Nature + Slush Rush gives me the best change of guaranteeing Veil in any given match up.

I tried Knock Off / Toxic over Earthquake to cripple Rotom-Wash because it was super frustrating to deal with but in my experience I found that being able to pressure Doublade and Klefki was a more valuable asset. They're definitely cool options though.

~~

THREATLIST

  • Defog Rotom Wash: Defog Rotom Wash sets, especially those that carry Wisp are a very bad match up. However, those are susceptible to being worn down really quickly so that should be your primary goal when facing that. If they don't have Wisp and are defensive, Scizor / Azumarill / Lati can set up on it and try to get something started. Really frustrating to deal with though, especially if paired with pursuit.
  • Klefki + Ghost-type: This pairing is also really annoying because it results in this team being worn down a lot faster than it should be. Normally there would be an easier time with counterplay as Sandslash can deal with the non HP [Fire] variants pretty handily but if it is paired with Jellicent / Doublade / Scarf Chande it can be a real bitch.
  • Mega Sceptile: This thing puts on pressure right off the bat. However, Salazzle and Latias can both take one hit and Sandslash can outspeed it in Hail but this is still a really rough match up
  • Mega Aerodactyl + Quagsire: The best methods of pressuring Quagsire with this team are Salazzle and Latias, both of which are pretty vulnerable to Pursuit Aerodactyl especially on stall teams. Just win the 50/50.
  • Muk: Nothing kills this outright which is pretty frustrating so just wear it down and go from there.
  • Quick Attack Scizor: If it gets a chance to set up freely it can get out of hand, but normally you should be able to deal with it under Veil. Just keep your own Scizor healthy if you suspect it to be QA.
  • Choice Scarf Chandelure: No ghost resist. Keep Azu healthy. Or run Knock Off Scizor and hope you catch it. Do remember though, all you need to do is get it in range of +2 Scizor.
  • Glare Serperior: It's just really annoying but generally between priority and Latias / Salazzle there are ways around most Serperior sets, especially if Veil is up.
  • Mega Manectric: It's usually best to force it out with Latias to put yourself in a favourable position where you can knock it down with Quick Attack priority.

~~

IMPORTABLE

Salazzle @ Poisonium Z
Ability: Oblivious
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Sludge Wave
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power [Grass]

Aurorus @ Focus Sash
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Freeze-Dry
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Encore

Scizor @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- Quick Attack

Azumarill @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 92 HP / 252 Atk / 164 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Belly Drum
- Aqua Jet
- Knock Off
- Play Rough

Latias @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Thunder

Sandslash-Alola @ Light Clay
Ability: Slush Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Aurora Veil
- Icicle Crash
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin


~~

CONCLUSION

First off I gotta once again give credit to Pearl for inspiring me to make this, and just in general someone who makes cool teams that I enjoy seeing / stealing. Need to thank Pak as well for using this team and variants of it as much as he did which helped me identify flaws with it. s/o to pals and thanks for reading.
 
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The team seems fine to start with but there are some unexplained or uneeded things in there.

Firstly, it's a little gimmiky to dump all those speed EVs on Aurorus considering its only usefulness is to counter Modest Primarina, which often doesn't even run speed EVs. It would be better invested to boost the already colassal HP stat in order to improve endurance. If speed is insisted, Rock Polish is required to boost the pitiful 58 speed stat.

Next, Scizor prefers recovery in order to not immediately fall after a single SD, which beats the point. Roost over Quick Attack is the change I would recommend. This also helps compensate for the Life Orb that whittles Scizor down in the background.

Lastly, a small change to Latias: Latias get both TBolt and Energy Ball, both of which are more reliable than Thunder. It's not like Latias has useless SpA so reliablity still has quite a big degree of importance.
 
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