Team: Eye of the Storm

I was recently approached by kingdaddydmac, who had two requests for me. The first was to help him start up ProjectMoshPit, the new Machinima Pokémon channel. The second was to build him a couple of new teams so he could start battling again. I finished one of the teams pretty fast, and talked it over with him on the first day. It was a Rain team, so it was pretty easy to build and I got to include some anti-metagame sets from here that he'd never seen before.

Dave also wanted a Clear Skies team. I personally love good non-weather teams, but they're harder to build and take more effort. After several days of brainstorming and test battles, I finally came up with something that could hold its own against opposing weather teams.

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Heatran @ Air Balloon
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Stealth Rock
- Flamethrower
- Earth Power
- Toxic

Heatran's still a great Pokémon, but it's not at the top of the usage stats like it used to be. One thing about Clear Skies is that you don't have Tyranitar for Stealth Rock. I also don't find Ferrothorn that great outside of Rain, so my choices were a bit limited. Heatran is probably the best option for the role: he sets up Stealth Rock, provides really useful Fire coverage and manages to hit hard as well.

I tried a number of movesets before settling on this one. Dave was very clear about the fact that he liked offensive teams, so I made sure not to use any really defensive sets. The moveset is more something you'd find on a specially defensive set, though; obligatory Stealth Rock, Flamethrower for reliablity (I haven't needed the extra power of Fire Blast), Earth Power for other Heatran and Toxic to hit bulky Waters like Jellicent and Gastrodon. The latter also gives me something to actually use on Volcarona.

Slowbro @ Leftovers
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SAtk
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Psychic
- Flamethrower
- Slack Off

One thing I definitely wanted to share was my obsession with Slowbro. Few sets are as underrated and genuinely good as the 3 Attacks one I shared on this site. Slowbro walls Terrakion, Conkeldurr, Landorus, and even Excadrill, thanks to its great bulk and Regenerator. In a lot of matches, Slowbro actually stays at full health because of it switching in and out to take on physical threats.

Scald is a great STAB with a 30% burn rate - perfect for a physical wall. Psychic is what allows this set to take on Conkeldurr so well, and is Slowbro's most powerful move. Flamethrower 2HKOes Ferrothorn, meaning I can often predict on the switch and prevent any hazards; it helps that few people expect Slowbro and even fewer expect it to use Fire moves. Slowbro has pretty much the perfect Speed stat - it's slower than Conkeldurr, meaning Payback's damage is halved, but faster than Ferrothorn. Slack Off is great for extra recovery, even though Regenerator does a lot of healing itself. Slowbro's awesome all around. Go away, Gliscor.

Roserade @ Leftovers

Trait: Natural Cure

EVs: 252 HP / 140 SDef / 116 Spd

Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)

- Leaf Storm

- Sleep Powder

- Toxic Spikes

- Rest

Roserade was added in over Celebi because the original team had a big problem with Toxic Spikes. It still does a good job of countering bulky Waters, but it also provides some useful utility along with its offensive moves.

Leaf Storm is used over Giga Drain for the extra immediate power. The main reason I opted for Toxic Spikes was so I could use Sleep Powder, which has helped to catch some threats on the switch (as well as stuff like Ferrothorn in Rain). Toxic Spikes are also pretty good in this metagame, crippling all the weather starters and some important cores as well. HP Fire would have been nice for Ferrothorn and Scizor, but I needed Rest for the extra reliability against Rain.

Jirachi @ Leftovers

Trait: Serene Grace 

EVs: 252 HP / 220 SDef / 36 Spd 

Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk) 

- Wish 

- Body Slam 

- Iron Head 

- Fire Punch

With the addition of Gliscor over Scizor, I only had one Steel-type left. This meant that I needed to go with a bulkier Jirachi set to take on Latios / Latias, so the only choice I had was to roll with a specially defensive set.

A more defensively-oriented EV spread and Wish give Jirachi good survivability. Body Slam is generally preferred on this set to potentially paralyze incoming Ground switch-ins. Iron Head + paralysis gives opponents only a 30% chance to move and helps for taking down special attackers. I chose Fire Punch instead of Protect because I like a more offensive pace with this set. It also helps for 2HKOing the likes of Scizor and Ferrothorn.

Gliscor @ Toxic Orb

Trait: Poison Heal

EVs: 244 HP / 176 Def / 88 Spd

Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)

- Swords Dance

- Earthquake

- Ice Fang

- Taunt

Gliscor was added on to help Slowbro out with certain physical attackers, namely LO Excadrill. This is a really standard set, but it's probably the best option in terms of balancing between offense and defense.

Not really much to say about the moveset. I chose Ice Fang over Facade to handle Dragonite more easily, and because I'm not too weak to Rotom-W. Taunt is a lot more useful than Protect here, since I'm vulnerable to entry hazards and Slowbro helps to cover the physical threats that Gliscor can't handle. Even though I don't use Swords Dance too often, Gliscor can actually sweep past some weakened teams in a pinch.

Terrakion @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- X-Scissor

And finally we have Terrakion, one of the most underrated OU choices around. I like the Choice Band set a lot, but I needed a Scarf on this one so it could revenge kill some specific threats. Scarf Terrakion doesn't hit as hard, but it's great for cleaning up weakned teams late-game and patching up any lingering weaknesses.

Close Combat is what I use for late-game cleaning; it still does a lot of damage with Terrakion's Base 129 Attack. It also can be used to check threats like Scrafty and other Terrakion. Stone Edge is for Volcarona and Dragonite, which I don't want to get too many boosts in. Earthquake doesn't provide much more coverage, but it's helpful for actually doing something against things like Toxicroak. X-Scissor is an emergency move for weakened Reuniclus, Latias and Latios (although Jirachi and Scizor cover those threats pretty well together), as well as Celebi.

 I had some pretty great results with this team during test battles. I didn't ladder enough to get a significant ranking, but I played against some good battlers to measure its performance (Ojama raged pretty hard after his 0-4. Sorry man). I think this team does best against Sand, but I still feel a bit pressured against weather in general. It's probably just psychological. Either way, I hope Dave finds the team as satisfactory as I did.

Sample Battle

Core: Registeel / Slowbro

The classic RegiBro core returns in BW with a number of useful new features. Registeel remains much the same as before, but Slowbro received an outstanding new ability in Regenerator and two solid STAB moves: Scald and Psyshock. Other than that, the two form a core that can easily take on some of the most dangerous physical and special threats in UU.

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Registeel @ Leftovers 

Trait: Clear Body 

EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef 

Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk) 

- Stealth Rock 

- Iron Head 

- Seismic Toss 

- Toxic

Slowbro @ Leftovers 

Trait: Regenerator 

EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef 

Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk) 

- Calm Mind 

- Scald 

- Psyshock 

- Slack Off

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Registeel covers most special threats with its gigantic Special Defense stat. It also works as a reliable Stealth Rock user and status spreader, thanks to its bulk and natural utility. Iron Head provides Registeel with a solid STAB move to hit Ghosts (notably Mismagius) with, while Seismic Toss is a great all-around move on a special wall. Toxic is preferred over Thunder Wave for hitting Ground-types and bulkier opponents.

Slowbro patches up its partner's weaknesses by functioning as the best physical wall in the tier. With a Calm Mind set, it can also take over as a bulky setup sweeper. Scald works nicely as a solid STAB move with a 30% burn rate, capable of crippling physical sweepers. Psyshock hits common switch-ins on their physical side, almost guaranteeing a OHKO after Stealth Rock on max HP Roserade. It also lets Slowbro win one-on-one against many other Calm Mind users. Slack Off rounds out the set by giving Slowbro reliable recovery, although Regenerator's 33% heal rate keeps Slowbro healthy just by having it switch out. 

These two Pokémon have some of the best defensive synergy in the game, making them the UU equivalent of SkarmBliss. Pair this core up with hazards, bulky offensive members and a late-game cleaner, and you'll have a solid UU team on your hands.

Set: 3 Attacks Slowbro

Slowbro @ Leftovers

Trait: Regenerator

EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SAtk

Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk) 

- Scald 

- Psychic 

- Flamethrower 

- Slack Off 

Slowbro is one of the few UU Pokémon that can perform as well as most OU's. Its main advantage over other bulky Waters is its ability Regenerator. Combined with considerable bulk, Regenerator allows Slowbro to wall nearly every physical attacker in the OU metagame. Even Adamant Excadrill's X-Scissor fails to KO after a Swords Dance. Slowbro can also handle Conkeldurr, Terrakion and even Ferrothorn thanks to its high physical bulk and great move pool.

Scald and Psychic provide Slowbro with useful STABs. The former has a nice 30% burn rate, while the latter gives Slowbro more power and a way to hit Conkeldurr. One nice thing about Slowbro is that it's slower than Conkeldurr (meaning Payback's damage is halved), but faster than Ferrothorn. Flamethrower manages a 2HKO on Ferrothorn, meaning you can prevent it from setting up at all if you hit it on the switch. Slack Off is Slowbro's main recovery move, and is helpful if you decide to stay in. Otherwise, frequent switching with Regenerator will likely keep Slowbro at high health anyway.

Although this is my favorite set, I'm a fairly offensive player. Some like to use Ice Beam for a better way of dealing with Dragonite. Thunder Wave is also a pretty good option to hit fast sweepers with. Toxic can also work well against bulkier opponents. Fire Blast isn't necessary, since Flamethrower has perfect accuracy and still gets the same KOs. Overall, Slowbro's excellent physical bulk and varied move pool make it my personal favorite bulky Water and a great choice for nearly any team.