Jumping back into the game. Please give suggestions for an ubers team.

Question

I haven't played the game in a while, so i want to start actually learning the tiers inside and out. I've played from this gen a bit, but only to gather information for videos i've made. Anyway, this team is to revolve around the fact that there is very little in ubers that can counter toxic spikes, and with Mega Gengar in consideration, that number might just get even thinner.

The problem is that no uber pokemon can actually use toxic spikes, meaning you'd have to use a lower tier teammate and pay the cost of one slot that could have been used for something else. In addition, Mega Gengar, one of the most annoying pokemon in the tier, is running wild and completely capable of negating any spikes.

The general idea here is to set up toxic spikes in order to lure out possible counters. When built this team, I listed every pokemon and organized them by how threatening they were. I broke down the pokemon into three categories: Counters, dodgers, and blockers. Giratina and Mega Gengar are the two biggest threats to this strategy--Gengar for his typing and Giratina for having practical access to Defog. Dodgers are the flying/levitating pokemon like Rayquaza and Ho-oh that bypass spikes, and blockers are the steel types or the odd Arceus sets that laugh at toxic spikes.

So Set up spikes, lure out counters, snipe them down, and bleed down the remaining team members with poison. The player gains no real benefit from sending out the pokemon that aren't counters, dodgers, or blockers if they have them since they all have the best chance of stopping me. I've still got pretty good predicting abilities, but I don't play competitive, so I'm not well versed when it comes to team building. Any help would be appreciated. Not expecting anything amazing because I'm sure this is a crappy team made by a crappy player, so go ahead.

Twinmold (Scolipede) (M) @ Focus Sash

Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Toxic Spikes
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- X-Scissor

The main feature of the game. Toxic spikes goes without saying. Toxic is there specifically to put pressure on the lead pokemon, since Scolipede can't really do anything to almost anything in ubers. From my tests, most people attempt to set up a series of buffing moves. Geomancy Xerneas is the most common lead I saw that runs buffing skills, so it gets bled down from the poison while Mega Scizor goes in after Scolipede finishes his job. I've seen the occasional Aromatherapy Xerneas, but even that just gives Scizor more time to get in a kill.

The idea here is to get in at least one layer of spikes in order to lure out any potential Gengar that attempt to absorb the spikes. No Gengar, no more absorption. People with Gengar either tried to switch in by giving up their lead, prompting me to hit with Earthquake, which is a 2HKO. Thanks to speed boost, the turn Gengar comes in gives him enough of a boost to outspeed it, meaning that Scolipede can kill Gengar on his own, barring a sucker punch. That's only if my opponent happens to have Gengar though. In the event of something else, speed boost is still incredibly useful to outspeed something trying to kill him off.

X-scissor allows Scolipede to snipe down Deoxys leads (Save for Defense form, who hates Toxic) and fool out ones that go for taunt leads. It seems most of my tests were expecting me to abuse speed boost+Baton pass and couldn't understand why I wasn't using Blaziken. If Giratina comes in, I can run out and beat it down into the ground with one of my other teammates. See below.

Ho-Oh me Money (Ho-Oh) @ Leftovers

Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Roost
- Brave Bird
- Sacred Fire
- Protect

Ho-oh is always a wise choice for a partner, and this time is no different. His main job is to take out Genesect, Mega Scizor, and deal with Shaymin-S whenever they come in. Of course, he also takes the defensive too if need be. The set itself needs not explanation, pretty standard Ho-oh. I had Will-O-Wisp, but it seemed a bit unnecessary because of sacred fire's burn chance and the fact that he already could kill most things poison didn't already take care of. EVs and all are set so that he can snipe down everyone he needs to. Protect lets me bleed out time with poison.

PRRRRRROMOTION (Palkia) @ Leftovers

Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunder
- Spacial Rend
- Surf
- Protect

Pretty straightforward set. Thunder lets him pick off opposing Kyogre and come in on a water spout (30% damage on a standard set), among a few other things. He also helps to bleed out for more time with protect.

AEIOU (Yveltal) @ Life Orb

Ability: Dark Aura
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Dark Pulse
- Taunt
- Oblivion Wing

Yveltal's job is to beat down Gengar, Giratina, and Mega Lucario (the last of whom other teammates can deal with, but Lucario is 2HKO'd if he comes in on a switch) while the rest is pretty standard. Taunt stops giratina defog if need be, while dark pulse makes quick work of him for keeping him away. In addition, taunt is there to keep Lugia from recovering or setting up, while he can either burn a turn to switch, or resort to attacking and risk getting hit by sucker punch.

Nipplicious (Landorus-Therian) (M) @ Life Orb

Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Superpower

Intimidate. I absolutely love debuffing, although it's definitely not as good as it could be in pokemon. This is to bring down some rocks if I can force a switch on something. Rock slide gives a more reliable Ho-oh beatdown (I don't go higher because I hate the low accuracy of all the rock moves out there :r) and superpower is there for mega lucario and switching in on him with the intimidate to soften things. Not sure what the status is gonna be with Aegislash since it's suspect, so for the sake of this team, I'm assuming that it'll be bumped up to ubers.

Sukuna Hikona (Scizor-Mega) @ Scizorite

Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Pursuit
- Bullet Punch
- Swords Dance
- U-turn

Pursuit is here in the event that Gengar is out when the spikes are already in effect. What I don't want happening is Gengar making the choice to run away so he can come back in and absorb the spikes, so Pursuit is there to make sure his ass stays mine. Not so much fun to get locked in now, is it? :P Bullet punch is standard STAB priority, while the rest is simple. In addition, Scizor is nice to have early game for his quick bullet punch against Xerneas that get crippled by Scolipede.

I've also been considering Arceus (for some more reliable counters to crap out there), Mega Gengar (For poison use, possibly a Venoshock to capitalize on poison and make quick work of Xerneas), and Shaymin-S (for a support role on the team and holding scolipede back together with healing wish if I screw up), but I still haven't settled on something I like for this spot yet.

Other Notes to self: Add in a means to countering arceus, change up EVs on Yveltal to outspeed only what he needs to and to invest more in attack, add in more reliable ways to counter Mega Venusaur and other Scolipede, and make clearer analysis on what to do in event of different Deoxys forms.

Comments

Probably best not to run Water Spout with CM Ogre. Lacks recovery, and even tho you're playing mind games, Water Spout's power will more likely reduce by quiet a bit before you get a cm or two up. Personally, I would spec or scarf it.

You also may or may not be forgetting about other pokemon that run Defog, barr Giratina and stuff. MK's RMT, as well as my own collab with Jojo both ran Defog Arceus, which with a little extra speed investment gets the jump on Yveltal, and gets to fire off Defog.
You also lack a little switching ability into crap like Kyogre. Scarf Water Spout still deals a good 40% to your current Kyogre, while Specs gets the 2HKO.

Also, with your luring Mega-Gengar strategy, please note that people won't be switching it in the moment you get your Toxic Spikes up, or even a turn or two after. It needs to mega-evolve beforehand, and I believe that if a non-grounded Poison type becomes grounded, it does not remove Toxic Spikes unless you switch out and back in. I might be wrong tho.
This would generally mean they would look for a safer switch in time. And if they do switch it on on Scolipede, you will need to wait until they Mega-evolve to fire off your Earthquake (Probably won't be an issue normally tho)

Also Sash Deoxys-A leads can still beat you with the combination of Psycho Boost + Extremespeed or something, preventing your setup.

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Meh in fairness, I haven't played Ubers in a bit. I'm going off my knowledge, which may be somewhat outdated.

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I love the way you are going about and using TSpikes in the tier. Absolutely great strategy.

However, I find a couple of things wrong :(

First of all, you have absolutely no (zero, nothing, nada) to beat what I consider the kings of Ubers (Kyogre an Arceus Normal). Speaking in terms of set usage, Modest Scarf Kyogre is one of the most common in the meta, and by the looks of it, it can theoretically sweep you. Of course, you can always pressure it's presence with a Sucker Punch from Yveltal, but that will usualy ony be the case AFTER you lose somethig to it.  Ekiller can also set up on almost anything on your team, and Scizor isnt a reliable check, as a nee set of Arceus uses Overheat to specifically weaken/kill common switch ins such as MMawile, Scizor, and Aegislash.

Second are the pokemon and sets. You happen to be using a great strategy of TSpikes in Ubers, but I have to admit, Scolipede isn't fit for the job. Personally, I find Weezing to be a superior option, as not only does it get TSpikes, but Will-o-Wisp and Clear smog as well, making it greatly useful against Lum Berry variants of Arceus, as well as capable to tank a +2 ESpeed from Ekiller (it takes about 35%; that's a HUGE feat).

Ho-Oh is fine, honestly, and you can even sacrifice some SDef EVs for Attack (like about 40-92), but not really necessary. However, I recommend using 248 HP EVs, as this reduces the damage you take from SR. Also, you can even try Substitute > Protect, as this helps you get in an extra hit when you predict a threat to come in, and it couples well with Regenerator. Your choice though :P

In all honesty, this Kyogre set is outdated. I could see something like this working in Gen 5, where perma weather was still a thing, but due to the weather nerf, Kyogre just doesnt have the commodity of everlasting Rain. And while i may sound unoriginal, you are currently lacking a Scarf. I highly suggest making Kyogre a modest Scarf set, as not only is it a dangerous sweeper, but it forces a LOT of switches as well, making sure you put those TSpikes to good use.

Yveltal is fine,

LO Landy-T isnt as great as you'd think. Honestly, it's just a pivot, not a sweeper. It need's all the HP it can have, and giving it an LO just whittles him down for the opponent. There is actually an alternative to what you seem to e trying to achieve with it: Earth Plate. Since EQ is going to be your most used attack, you can use that item to get a damage output close to that of LO's (since Rock Slide is really only for opposing Ho-Oh). Also, Superpower is quite useless on it; Anything Superpower hits, EQ will hit, and probably stronger too. I suggest changing Superpower to Toxic, as you can nail in switch ins who may have a TSpikes immunity by being a levitator/flyer, or if the opponent has already gotten rid of them.

Last is Scizor. While being a great Xerneas counter, it will still need some SDef investment. Imo, you shouldn't be exceeding 160 Atk EVs on MScizor, and you could maybe try Roost > Swords Dance? Steel typing doesnt have the best coverage in Ubers, so I cant really think of many times you's be using it to the fullest.


Will add sets later.

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dat gigantic comment is fit for an answer lol
minus the sets that is

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Hey, thanks for the comments. Honestly, those would be fine for answers, but I can't upvote comments. :r

Anyway, off to clarify a few things:

Yeah, I can drop CM. I just put it in because I needed something extra. I'll put something different on it.

You are correct that there are other pokemon that can carry defog in Ubers, notably Ho-oh and Lugia, however, they would have to drop incredibly important assets in order to legally have it. For instance, Ho-oh and Lugia can learn defog, but they would both have to drop their hidden abilities. I figured those were too important to justify gaining defog on their side. I do see from both suggestions that Arceus is still going to be problematic, so I'll have something for him.

As for the Gengar thing, I should clear up that my strategy doesn't count on Gengar coming out. I'm only saying that if my opponent does have a Gengar (which would be the worst case scenario given his ability to take in spikes), then I have a way of beating it down if it comes in. I have the entirely different situation ready if my opponent chooses not to do that and sends in something else instead. It is just mind games to a degree, but I have a different branch specifically for when Giratina comes in. I cripple it with toxic and reset another layer of spikes before going out.  If there's a rest variant, that means that if it has its orb, it can't carry a lum/chesto berry to recover from a rest instantly, giving me a turn advantage, possibly two. If it doesn't, that means it is vulnerable to the toxic spikes itself (which I'll know upon it switching in, meaning I'll know whether to keep scolipede in or not) and leads to the same scenario. I have different branches of what to do based on what pokemon comes in.

I did consider weezing, but in practice, he just wasn't doing it for me. I am a big fan of debuffing with Clear smog, but the asset of being able to outspeed after a single turn of speed boost proved to save me several times in the game. I see your point about Arceus, but I do think I'll just have to switch something else on the team in favor of dealing with him and then stick with Scolipede.

I should note that I only have Landy there for pivoting--I have no intention of sweeping with him, so I see what you mean about the life plate. Though if anything, I might switch him out for something strong that carries priority fighting to do the same job for him.

Notes to self: Bring something to deal with Arceus, Kyogre, change item and CM on own Kyogre (or better yet, run a Palkia), prepare for situation of Espeed/Psycho boost Deoxys-S, consider priority fighting replacement for Landorus and also change SD over to roost or protect on scizor. Consider Substitute over Equake on Ho-oh.

Thank you guys so much for the suggestions.

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DT gets back into competitive? Never thought I'd see the day. Too bad (for me) that it's after I stopped. I would have loved to battle you a few months ago (or preferably gen 5 when I actually had some skill left)