Featured Uber RMT

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Overview

This featured team is from one who is quite familiar with success in the Uber's tier. In this team, locopoke takes his team that performed admirably in the fourth generation, winning him 2 Smogon Tours, and adapts it for play in the Black and White Uber's metagame. locopoke employs a few rarely-seen Pokemon, such as Gastrodon and Tyranitar, to great effect. This team mainly focuses on residual damage, but it does have a powerhouse or two to crush the opposition if the opportunity presents itself.

Lead

locopoke starts off the match with a lead that specializes at taking down a few popular leads, while still being able to get up Stealth Rock. Tyranitar easily handles Deoxys-S, as Payback OHKOs even 252 HP variants with the help of Sandstorm; Forretress, Payback followed by Fire Blast limit it to 1 layer and prevent its Custap Berry from activating; Darkrai, whose Timid Focus Blast fails to OHKO while Superpower does massive damage; and others too tedious to list out. Although locopoke's team doesn't rely on Sandstorm, the extra damage it causes can help. Tyranitar also has excellent defenses, and its Lum Berry is often left intact even after the lead encounter. Tyranitar is not always essential though; team match up will commonly dictate how useful it is mid to late-game. Therefore, Tyranitar's usefulness to the rest of the team cannot be objectively gauged. It's still a great not-so-common lead though!

Core

Nattorei, Giratina-O, Gastrodon, and Kyogre form the unique core of this team. Nattorei has excellent typing, and said typing comes with a very valuable asset in Ubers: a Dragon resist. Nattorei's Grass and Steel typing allow it to wall countless threats, and it can do damage to some while not even attacking (thanks to Iron Barbs), and setting up Spikes all the while. Nattorei can also poison an otherwise troublesome sweeper and tank hits like a champ, or switch to an appropriate teammate, while the opponent's Pokemon slowly dies. Its Attack and selection of offensive moves isn't too shabby either. Giratina-O covers Nattorei's weaknesses perfectly; it resists Fire and is completely immune to Fighting. The reverse is almost true, but Nattorei is neutral to Ice. Other than that, it resists all of Giratina-O's weaknesses. Giratina-O can also switch into a Forretress trying to spin away Nattorei's hazards and burn it to a crisp with Hidden Power Fire. This team, as locopoke points out, is a bit weak to Ho-Oh, and Giratina-O's excellent natural bulk and raw power allows it to somewhat check Ho-Oh. Giratina-O also checks other threatening Pokemon, such as Rock Polish Groudon to name one. The spectral Dragon is also locopoke's only Pokemon immune to Spikes, making it crucial when facing opposing balance or stall. Gastrodon is a rather odd Pokemon, but it functions extremely well none the less. Its excellent defenses and immunity to Water-type attacks, thanks to Storm Drain's new mechanics, make it a near 100% counter to Kyogre, bar critical hits or freeze hax from Ice Beam. Access to Recover and the aforementioned bulk allow Gastrodon to easily wall many threats, such as non-Choice Specs Palkia and Dialga, with ease. The last peace to this team's core is Kyogre. Kyogre is more of a support Pokemon on this team, but it certainly pulls its weight. The unexpected Roar, in conjunction with the numerous entry hazards locopoke employs and combined with Kyogre's excellent bulk, is a great tool to weaken the opposing core. Kyogre checks some important threats too, such as Rock Polish Groudon and Ho-Oh. Rest and Sleep Talk allow Kyogre to function as a status absorber while keeping itself healthy too. The rain Kyogre brings to the battle also dulls Nattorei's Fire-type weakness, although his team by no means relies on rain. As you can see, this core focuses on a more defensive approach.

Sweepers

This team doesn't really have many sweepers in the literal sense, but it does have a couple heavy-hitters that keep the opponent on their toes. Giratina-O's spread and type coverage ensure almost nothing is safe from its rampage. locopoke must be careful, however, as Giratina-O is also an integral member of his core. Dialga is more of a revenge killer than a sweeper, but it can still "orchestrate a sweep with Dialga by racking up enough damage on all of my opponent's Pokemon with entry hazards and then cleaning up with Dragon Pulse," as locopoke puts it. As you would expect from a defensive team, locopoke's team doesn't really have an overall "sweeper," despite these two Dragon's offensive presence.

Threats

This is a great team, but it is not without its flaws. Choice Specs Dialga can run through this team like a knife through butter after its been weakened a bit, and locopoke has to rely on hazards and prediction to wear it down, for the most part. Bulk Up Dialga also causes this team a few issues if locopoke's Choice Scarf Dialga is weakened or dead, as locopoke doesn't really have much to handle it besides a Roar from Kyogre; which he cannot do if Dialga is the last Pokemon, obviously. Steel Arceus can also cause some issues in the rain, as its superior Speed allows it to Roar away Kyogre before Kyogre can respond in kind. Dragon Dance Rayquaza, and Salamence to a lesser extent, can steam roll right through this team if it happens to have Overheat and a Jolly nature, and locopoke has to rely on a whole lot of prediction to make it out of that situation. Thankfully, there aren't too many opportunities for Rayquaza to set up. Quite a few Arceus Calm Mind sets can give locopoke some trouble, but who isn't a little weak to Arceus... In general, set up sweepers can be quite a pain to this team, but locopoke usually leaves little opportunity for them to set up. The usual Pokemon that bug stall can obviously cause some problems, but this "stall" team has Darkrai pretty well covered, unlike the majority of other stall teams. Ho-Oh can be a pain, as it is for really any Uber team, but locopoke has a few checks. I won't bore you with a long list of Pokemon that have caused some trouble along this team's journey, but there's one thing locopoke will surely have no trouble with: Kyogre!

Conclusion

locopoke's fourth generation team, which earned him much success, has transitioned fantastically into the fifth generation in the team you see above. Despite the faults this team has, it has held its own against many esteemed battlers, and the cracks in this team's defenses can be mended with good playing and prediction. All in all, this is an excellent team, and it presents more than one interesting and unique feature.

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