SM Ubers Turnabout Arrows, a DD Zygarde + Tspikes Cloyster HO (Peaked #5, 1818 ELO on ladder)

[Ropalme1914]

Hey, I'm Ropalme1914 and this is my second RMT. This team is a team that I've been using for a LONG time (before USUM came out actually!), so I know a lot about it. However, this team is not entirely original: the first version is a well known team that was used on tournaments by a few players like TTG and Lacus Clynes by the end of SM, and this is only my adapted version of it. This team, like any other with a suicide lead, is a very offensive one that aims to open the path for Zygarde to sweep, which is not very hard considering the amount of setup opportunities it gets and the amount of Pokémon aimed to support it here. The name is just a little tribute to Ace Attorney, one of my favorite gaming series, and because of how Zygarde can win lost games a lot of times

~~The Teambuilding~~
​

Like I said, the original team is not mine, so I'll just go with the changes that I made from the original team that I got back on SM (which also had its own variations at that time) and talk about why they're here later:

Original Team

Cloyster @ Focus Sash
Ability: Skill Link
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Icicle Spear
- Shell Smash
- Toxic Spikes
- Rapid Spin

Zygarde-Complete @ Groundium Z
Ability: Power Construct
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Thousand Arrows
- Dragon Dance
- Substitute
- Extreme Speed

Xerneas @ Power Herb
Ability: Fairy Aura
EVs: 72 HP / 252 SpA / 100 SpD / 84 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Geomancy
- Thunder
- Focus Blast

Arceus-Flying @ Sky Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 112 HP / 144 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Judgment
- Recover
- Calm Mind
- Refresh

Gengar-Mega @ Gengarite
Ability: Shadow Tag
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Wave
- Taunt
- Destiny Bond

Groudon-Primal @ Red Orb
Ability: Desolate Land
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Precipice Blades
- Rock Tomb
- Stealth Rock
- Roar

Every Pokémon suffered a change, so let's go one by one. Cloyster originally had Rapid Spin, but I didn't like the fact that Cloyster was basically deadweight against a Mega Lucario team (which makes me lead with anything else except it or Xerneas, and by the time Cloyster probably has the chance to come in, its Sash will be broken by hazards), so I've been trying to use Liquidation instead. I'm still testing it, so for now, it isn't a definitive change. Zygarde had Extreme Speed to pick off weakned foes like Geomancy Xerneas and prevent revenge kills from Pokémon like Ekiller and Rayquaza, but I found it way too weak to be useful most of the time, so I changed it to Dragon Tail to stop it from being phazed. The IVs also were changed to 30 HP just for the Complete forme after 2 Subs. Xerneas is basically the same except for taking 8 EVs from HP to Speed so it can outspeed -1 Marshadow. It doesn't change any calcs, so I think there's no reason to make that change. Arceus-Flying was a great wincon for the team back on SM, but due to Dusk Mane Necrozma and Ultra Necrozma being released on USUM, I felt that a change to Yveltal was the best thing to do. It also improved the matchup against Marshadow a little as a bonus. Gengar was changed to the Hex Trapper set because it supports Zygarde better by giving it more chances to setup, improves the matchup against Dusk Mane a lot, and Destiny Bond was unreliable most of the time. Groudon was changed to a offensive set because I could deal with Xerneas with the rest of the team, it took all of the momentum that I built, and was deadweight against support Arceus formes.

~~The Team~~

Cloyster @ Focus Sash
Ability: Skill Link
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Icicle Spear
- Shell Smash
- Toxic Spikes
- Rapid Spin
​

Cloyster has always been my favorite lead on Ubers. This time, it is used to lay Toxic Spikes on the field. Toxic Spike is a deadly combination with Mega Gengar and Dragon Dance Zygarde, due to the power of boosted Hex helping a lot against Ground-types that can threaten the team like Double Dance Primal Groudon and Arceus-Ground, while Zygarde can abuse it with Substitute to let a lot of its checks like Arceus-Fairy, Primal Kyogre and Xerneas be in range of one of its moves. Shell Smash along with Icicle Spear provides a good source of damage and not let it be deadweight against most things after it has already layed its Toxic Spikes, while it also prevents it from being setup bait. Rapid Spin, when combined with the two moves above, makes it have the best overall lead matchup on the tier, clearly winning against Excadrill, winning against Deoxys-Speed unless it runs Psycho Boost, and not letting other hazard setters like Pdon put it for free. Sometimes, I replace it with Liquidation to deal with Mega Lucario, which if it comes on Cloyster, it can setup a SD and sweep my entire team, but most of the time I can deal with it with the other Pokémon on my team just by not leading with Cloyster.

Zygarde-Complete @ Groundium Z
Ability: Power Construct
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
IVs: 30 HP
- Thousand Arrows
- Dragon Dance
- Substitute
- Dragon Tail
​

The main Pokémon of the team. DD Zygarde-Complete can just sweep entire teams on the late-game due to its bulk letting it setup multiple times even against offensive teams. Thousand Arrows hits everything in the tier for neutral or super effective damage, so you don't really need any coverage move. Dragon Dance is what makes Zygarde a potent sweeper, since 100 Attack is pretty low for Ubers standard, after multiple setups, there are few things that can take a hit from it. Substitute guarantees a setup on a switch, does not let Zygarde get any type of status (something that can really destroy it), and creates more setup opportunities against things that can not break it with one move like opposing defensive Zygarde, Giratina-A, Celesteela and burned Necrozma-DM. Substitute also stalls for poison turns, which makes Zygarde able to break most of its checks: it guarantees the OHKO on Xerneas and Kyogre with +1 Tectonic Rage after one turn of poison and makes it an almost guaranteed OHKO on support Arceus formes like Ground and Fairy after two turns of poison. Finally, Dragon Tail makes it impossible to phaze out normally due to it being faster than other phazer, improving the matchup against Giratina, Lugia and defensive Groudon. It also lets it phaze a Pokémon that could deal with it normally to another that is setup bait, so you can boost even more and deal with it.

Xerneas @ Power Herb
Ability: Fairy Aura
EVs: 64 HP / 252 SpA / 100 SpD / 92 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Geomancy
- Thunder
- Focus Blast
​

Xerneas serves as a secondary win condition when Zygarde won't be able to do it. Xerneas can also pressure Dark- and Dragon-types like Yveltal, Tyranitar, Mega Salamence and Rayquaza and defeat some other problematic Pokémon like Arceus-Ground and Marshadow. The EVs might seem outdated, but they're proposital, since Yveltal can heavily pressure this team, so I think that surving 2 Oblivion Wings is better than having that extra physical bulk. It also has a little more Speed than usual so it can outspeed -1 Marshadow, which can help if I don't want to risk Groudon missing a move against it, and the bulk that's lost is not noticiable. Thunder and Focus Blast gives it the best overall coverage for a late game sweep, hitting Ho-Oh, Primal Kyogre, Primal Groudon and others.

Yveltal @ Life Orb
Ability: Dark Aura
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Rash Nature
- Dark Pulse
- Oblivion Wing
- Sucker Punch
- Taunt
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Yveltal comes in as an answer to all Necrozma formes, providing a Ground immunity, checking Marshadow and as a way to break stall, something that before was one of the main roles of Arceus-Flying. Dark Pulse and Oblivion Wing are suficient to hit most of the tier for good damage with few exceptions like Magearna and Arceus-Fairy. Sucker Punch is used to revenge kill faster foes like Ultra Necrozma, RP Groudon, RP Dusk Mane and others. Taunt not only prevents Defog, which is something that this team appreciates a lot, but also blocks recovering moves, making it not lose momentum against Pokémon like Ho-Oh, and setup moves like Geomancy from Xerneas and Rock Polish from Mixed Primal Groudon.

Gengar-Mega @ Gengarite
Ability: Shadow Tag
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hex
- Sludge Wave
- Will-O-Wisp
- Taunt​

Mega Gengar posesses a great synergy with the team by abusing Cloyster's Toxic Spikes with Hex, getting rid of Fairy-types for Yveltal and Zygarde, burning opposing Pokémon for more setup chances, breaking stall, blocking Defog and even getting rid of its users, checking Ekiller and defeating most of Xerneas checks like Lugia and Necrozma-DM. Before, it was the Utility Trapper set, however, Hex has proven itself more useful due to how it deals with Necrozma-DM, being more consistent and abusing Toxic Spikes to pressure foes like Arceus-Ground.

Groudon-Primal @ Red Orb
Ability: Desolate Land
EVs: 180 HP / 252 SpA / 76 Spe
Mild Nature
- Precipice Blades
- Overheat
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Tomb
​

Primal Groudon closes the team providing a much needed Stealth Rock support, a check to Primal Kyogre and Speed control with Rock Tomb. The defensive set was used before, but it took a lot of momentum of the team, so I changed to a offensive one with Overheat so it can beat most Defoggers, including taking around 85% from support Arceus-Ground on the switch. Groudon also is a solid answer to a lot of Pokémon that otherwise I would struggle to switch into, like Fairy-types such as Magearna and Xerneas, and Ho-Oh. Rock Tomb prevents Mega Salamence from setting up on it and has some good utility by slowing opposing Pokémon, making it easier to revenge kill them or setup on it.

~~Threats~~
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: Support Arceus-Ground is one of the harder Pokémon to deal with this team, since it can Defog away my Toxic Spikes my Ground immunity has a weakness to Ice and I have 2 Ground weakness. Most of the time, you deal with it by pressuring it enough so it can't use Recover, by using Xerneas, with Groudon's Overheat on the switch, and with the Toxic Spikes damage. The SD set is much easier to deal with, since I can burn it with Gengar and even setup on it with Zygarde.

: Primal Groudon is a Pokémon that I can deal with it like any other most of the time, however, Mixed Rock Polish is something else. It is the only Groudon set that can OHKO Zygarde, so if it comes and setups a RP after my Cloyster's sash is broken and it isn't in range of Yveltal's Sucker Punch, it will sweep. However, it can't find setup opportunities most of the time since Gengar carries Taunt and Xerneas deals way too much damage at +2, but dealing with does come with losing Gengar for free. Fast Eruption sets can also catch the team off guard, but Gengar and Yveltal can weaken it most of time so it's not that big of a deal.

: Once my Groudon is down, Primal Kyogre can come in and just claim a KO. Its huge special bulk also lets it take hits from Gengar and Yveltal, making it pretty hard to kill most of the time. However, it is slower than most of my team, so it takes a lot of hits also, making it not last long enough to break more than two Pokémon most of the time.

: Mega Lucario, while lacks the chance to setup SD most of the time, can destroy the team if it does get it. It can get a SD off if it comes in front of Cloyster or if it comes on Xerneas and succesfully predicts a switch, so you can deal with by not letting those two scenarios happen. Without setup, however, you can easily deal with it with Mega Gengar, Primal Groudon and Zygarde.

: Lugia can be very annoying due to its bulk with Multiscale letting it beat Xerneas and Groudon easily, and also defeating Zygarde on the 1v1. However, it loses horribly to Yveltal and Mega Gengar can easily trap it to stop it. If both of these Pokémon get KOed or too weak, Zygarde can also deal with if it has a Substitute up and (preferably) Stealth Rock on the fiel, by forcing it to switch out with Dragon Tail and KOing it latter with Thousand Arrows.

: Lunala is another Pokémon that most of the time that comes in, it can claim a KO. With Shadow Shield up, none of my Pokémon aside from Yveltal can OHKO it, so Scarf variants can be pretty problematic if Yveltal is gone. However, if Shadow Shield is broken, it is not that much of a problem since Xerneas can setup and KO it, Gengar OHKOes it with Hex and Zygarde can OHKO it with +1 Tectonic Rage, making Stealth Rock very important when facing this Pokémon.

~~Final Thoughts~~
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This team is a very effective hyper offensive that I've been using for some time and always had success with it, peaking top 10 a lot of times and even top 4 when I was really invested on it, since it can deal with pretty much anything if played right. There are some other Pokémon that can also give this team some work like Ho-Oh and Magearna, but most of the time they are too pressured to really take care of everything, and I do have some answers to them like Zygarde and Groudon. Finally, here is a pic of my proof of peak and some replays:

Proof of peak

Replays

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ubers-753247149 - vs Primal Kyogre, Giratina-A, Ho-Oh and Arceus-Dark
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ubers-750254661 - vs Excadrill Hyper Offense
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ubers-750155045 - vs Defensive Yveltal, Groundceus and Magearna
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ubers-746562541 - vs Stall