Sunny Days

[Delko]

Sunny Days​

Introduction:

Sun was the last weather I hadn't build a team around yet this gen, so one day I decided to try my hand at one of those. The first version of the team was some weird sun stall team with Harvest Exeggutor and RestTalk Heatran. It didn't work out very well so I tried a more offensive strategy with dual dragons (Haxorus and Dragonite) which was more satisfying. There were, of course, the obvious weaknesses that needed to be fixed and after using pretty much all viable pokes in the tier this team is the result. I can't provide any major achievement unfortunately since it only peaked at low 1400's but that's mostly because I don't really ladder. Anyway, enough of the chit chat, let's take a closer look.

In-depth look:

Dragonite (F) @ Choice Band
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Fire Punch
- ExtremeSpeed
- Earthquake
- Outrage​

Choice Band Dragonite is a beast! With its Dragon typing it provides this team with a solid amount of resistances and it's ability to hit like a truck is appreciated. I'd love to use both Dragon Claw and Outrage since I like the possibility to switch out from the first one and the raw power of the other but Earthquake is just needed because Heatran can be a real b*tch to this team, to bad so many of them carry Air Balloon these days. Sun boosted Fire Punch decimates the Steels resisting my Dragon STAB. ExtremeSpeed is probably the most appreciated move on this set as it has saved me countless times against opposing sweepers as Latios, Deoxys-S and such. With Forretress and Espeon on the team I can keep Multiscale intact throughout the entire match, just in case.

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Ninetales (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drought
EVs: 252 HP / 192 SDef / 64 Spd
Calm Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Will-O-Wisp
- Roar
- Flamethrower
- Sunny Day​

A somewhat custom set that's actually pretty effective at what it's suppose to do. Since Ninetales lures out opposing weather starters I can either cripple them with a burn or wither them down with residual damage, hence Roar. With Roar I can also prevent pokes as Cosmic Power Sigilyph, Calm Mind Latias and Volcarona from using Ninetales as set up fodder. Sunny Day looks weird but as I mentioned before weather starters love to switch in and with Sunny Day they take the residual damage while I still have the sun up, forcing them out again. And Flamethrower is for the obvious reliable STAB move. I gave it enough speed to outspeed max speed Tyranitar, Abomasnow and things that can beat them (like max speed Scizor). The rest is used to make Ninetales specially bulky so it can handle Volcarona more easily.

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Forretress (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Def / 80 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Spikes
- Volt Switch
- Gyro Ball
- Rapid Spin​

Standard Forretress is standard but effective nonetheless, it provides the team with the always useful Spin and Spikes support. Despite no offensive investment Gyro Ball is a pretty strong move hitting Espeon, Gengar and Outrage spammers for a decent amount of damage, while Volt Switch is useful to get switch advantage and to get some of my frailer guys in safely. The resistances of a steel type is never unappreciated.

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Dugtrio (M) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Arena Trap
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Sucker Punch
- Reversal​

Dugtrio is here to trap and kill opposing weather starters so I control the weather. It also deals with problem pokes as Heatran, CM Jirachi, etc. Dugtrio also sets up Stealth Rock for the team in case Espeon failed to bounce those from my opponent back. Earthquake is a reliabe STAB move with good enough damage and Sucker Punch is mainly a filler move but can come in handy against opposing priority users. Lately I've been using Reversal which is a pretty nifty move as well, killing various Air Balloon pokes and OHKO'ing Tyranitar, as well as doing a big amount to Blissey and Chansey so Venusaur has an easier time sweeping. Focus Sash seems like a somewhat "noobish" item but with Forretress and Espeon I usually keep my field hazard-free so it does have some use. 21 HP EV's to have 201 HP, so it can live 2 S-Tosses and have max Reversal power.

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Espeon (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Magic Bounce
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Psyshock
- Baton Pass
- Hidden Power [Fire]​

Espeon is one of the best supporters for a sun team like this, with it's ability to bounce back hazards, status, etc. With Magic Bounce and sun boosted Hidden Power [Fire] it's one of the best switch-ins against Ferrothorn, Skarmory and Forretress. Psyshock to beat opposing Calm Mind pokes and special walls and Hidden Power [Fire] to have good enough coverage that will beat most things after a Calm Mind or Two. Baton Pass lets me scout my opponent's move while it also lets me pass some CM boosts to another poke on the team, although most of the time it's Venusaur, I can also pass to Forretress so it has an easier time setting up. Sometimes I use Morning Sun for reliable recovery with a bulkier 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd EV spread which makes it easier to set up and sweep. CM Espeon is also a dangerous sweeper since it cannot be phazed out or worn down with status moves.

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Venusaur (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Synthesis
- Sludge Bomb
- SolarBeam
- Hidden Power [Fire]​

Venusaur is the main revenge killer and late game sweeper. Pretty standard set but oh so effective in the sun. SolarBeam looks stupid with the weather wars in the current OU, but I really need the extra base power for the likes of Gliscor, etc, Venusaur usually comes out late game when the sun is permanent anyway. Hidden Power [Fire] to remove obvious Steels and such, while Sludge Bomb is mainly a filler move, but it does a good amount Dragon types, who otherwise can be a bit of a problem for this team. Synthesis is the odd move on this set and from personal experiences proved to be more useful then Growth, which Calm Mind pass kinda makes up for (thanks to KM888 for suggesting this).

Conclusion:

I know this team looks like the bog standard sun team and it probably is, but that doesn't mean it's less effective in any way. As usual I tried to include some "creativity" and although I didn't got much to work with, it worked out imo. I got some fun and exciting matches with team but since I'm getting busy IRL I decided to retire it (plus I got some joined teams in the making ;)) That's it for this team, I hope you liked it. if you got some suggestions, comments, etc feel free to post them.

Importable:

Hide

Ninetales (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drought
EVs: 252 HP / 192 SDef / 64 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Will-O-Wisp
- Roar
- Flamethrower
- Sunny Day

Venusaur (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Synthesis
- Sludge Bomb
- SolarBeam
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Dragonite (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Fire Punch
- ExtremeSpeed
- Earthquake
- Outrage

Forretress (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Def / 80 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Spikes
- Volt Switch
- Gyro Ball
- Rapid Spin

Dugtrio (M) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Arena Trap
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Sucker Punch
- Reversal

Espeon (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Magic Bounce
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Psyshock
- Baton Pass
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Threatlist:

There are pokemon that can cause me some problems. Although I do have a way of dealing with them, I have 1 way and 1 way only. If my opponent can play around that I'm gonna have a pretty hard time. I tried multiple sollutions which I listed as well, but I'm sure there are better options.

DD Dragonite: Since Forretress is my initial switch-in against Dragonite, it can set up with ease. Venusaur still outspeed Adamant variants at +2 but most of those carry ExtremeSpeed so that doesn't matter. I usually try to break Multiscale as soon as I can and then keep hitting it as hard as possible before it has a chance to set up.

Specs/ CM Lati@s: I can't switch anything into a Choice Specs Draco Meteor so I have to sack something before I can revenge kill it with Venusaur or ExtremeSpeed Dragonite. Sub Calm Mind Latias is also annoying and my best bet here is to keep Multicale intact which isn't always that easy. I just have to prevent it from setting up and it will be okay.

Hippowdon:Unlike the other weather starter, Dugtrio cannot deal with this one. This means I am having a hard time to win the weather war. Luckily it isn't common though.

SM Cloyster: Shell Smash Cloyster can be a problem too, my main way of dealing with it is Forretress' Volt Switch. Another possible solution is to use a Timid nature on Venusaur, although that will loose out on many KO's.

 

[Chieliee]

you know, I suck at rating and stuff, but I think you should give Sleep Powder over Synthesis a try on Venusaur. It might have shaky accuracy, but it can cause many switches, which is good with Forry on your team.

 

[Soulfly]

I cant really understand why you use synthesis on venusaur , so i join tje above comment.

EDIT: Nvm , i mistaken synthesis as aromatherapy .... defenatly keep synthesis.

 

[Twannes]

Nice team Delko. Obviously, I kinda tested it with you so I'm gonna present some optional changes which might make the team a little bit better.

First of all, Dragonite doesn't need Dragon Claw and Outrage. Team preview most likely shows the best switch-in to an outrage, so you can predic that early-game. That is why i suggest running Earthquake>Dragon Claw. EQ beats Heatran, althoug duggy can take care of Heatran, but only if hazards are not present, Heatran uses SR on the switch or as a revengekiller.

Ninetails looks good. Although HP fighting can be usefull to break Heatrans balloon, Roar is the better option.

With Forretress and Dugtrio, I suggest changing their movesets a little. Use Stealth Rock on Forretress and give Dugtrio Reversal. This will help you in taking out Blissey/Chansey, while they try to wear you down with Seismic tosses. Heck, I even had a Dugtrio take out Ferrothorn with Reversal (EQ turn 1, bring me down to sash, the KO with reversal). It is also needed to take some mons out like Latias. You can 2HKO with sucker punch, but you need to have your sash and it gets easily broken when you set up SR. You still keep SR, which is more important than Spikes to have on the battlefield (also breaks Dragonite's Multiscale).

You might want to edit Espeon's Ev spread a little bit to take a DM from Lati@s, but i think that wouldn't make a huge difference, just keep that as it is.
Venusaur is fine. The recovery is needed.

Also I noticed that Conkeldurr can be pretty dangerous to the team because Espeon can't switch in due to Payback and I'm not sure if Psychic can KO. No ideas for possible changes though.

So a nice team overall, I know I works thanks to personal experience, you just need to play your team carefully and using Team Preview as needed.


Good luck with the team!

 

[Mynism]

Venusaur is the only thing that can take water/electric attacks so thats better to give it a 66% recovery move when you can, isn't it ?

 

[ginganinja]

Hey man its a really solid team you have here and after playing it a few times I know from experience its pretty good. I have looked over your threatlist and really, a Choice Banded Scizor is going to check most of them pretty well. Choice Band Scizor gives you secondary priority which makes revenging stuff like Dragonite, Cloyster and Lati@s a heck of a lot easier. In all honesty, I would consider dropping either Forretress or Espeon for it. I know from experience that both together they really are awesome at keeping hazards off the field (I don't think I ever managed to keep hazards up in our games lol) however (whenever I played you) Espeon and Forretress (and Dugtrio) all overlapped so much that I was able to threaten you with Latias. Anyway, its just something to think about as bugger all people run Latias bar me lol.

Even if you don't take the above suggestion I would still consider Morning Sun on Espeon over Hidden Power Fire. I get that Hidden Power Fire lets you roast Ferrothorn and Skarmory however half your team has Fire attacks anyway and you have Forretress to spin away hazards as well. Morning Sun gives Espeon a little bit more lasting power letting you CM pass and check hazard setters a bit more easily

Thanks all I can say man, GL with the team

 

[Harlot]

I'm not sure how useful Forretress is, as this team looks to be offensively based and Forry looks out of place.

 

[HBK]

Well I dislike Sun and Hail but i'd be foolish to ignore how good this team is.Having played it once and beating it by the narrowest of margins I think I could be of some help to you.I think an sdef heatran would fit well on your team and help you tank DM's and Outrages from DDnites and WoW Tyranitar's without risking losing your 'Tales to a lum berry Stone Edge tar(rare but I run that :) ) and more realestically Scarftar and CBtar.I once faced a Sunny Day team that ran Sunny Day on venusaur.I beat his 'Tales and later sacked my Tar thinking I had won the weather war and this venusaur comes in Sunny Day's and sweeps me.You could do the same or alternatively you could run Growth.Nothing much to say apart from that.Great team and Good Luck my friend!

 

[BTzz]

Hello :). Nice sun team! Your team does a great job of limiting Tyranitar's/ Politoed's switch ins and you have a ton of threats covered. I don't have much to add from the other rates, but I've got a couple of suggetions. I support Ginganinja's suggestions of Scizor, but if you want a more deffensive aproach you could try Specially Deffensive Jirachi. | Jirachi @ Leftovers | Careful | 252 HP / 224 Atk / 32 Spd | Wish | Protect | Iron Head | Body Slam |. You probably already know how Jirachi goes about dealing with TR Reuniclus and Lati@s so I won't get into it :p. Jirachi's Wishes will obviously be big for you team. They give Dnite/Venasaur another chance at sweeping and they heal up Ninetales/Dugtrio during a weather war. Personally, I would give Jirachi a try over Forretress. With, Espeon you might be able to keep Stealth Rocks off your side untill you get the chance to kill there Rocker. You also have Venasaur to soak up those Toxic Spikes. Since you have Wishes, I think you could afford to run Sleep Powder on Venasaur over Synthesis to gain that offensive mommentum. Something you could try on Ninetales is Overheat + Power Swap over Roar and Flamethrower. This combo also prevents Volcarona/Latias from setting up and forces them out, but you now have a possiblity of getting some boost for your Ninetales. I've had a Volcarona set up 6 QD's on Ninetales only to have them swapped for my Overheat -2 (+6 Ninetales sweep?). Roar is fine, this is just something to consider.

gl!

 

[Pocket]

I've been running a similar CM-passing Espeon on my team, and I would personally go max HP / max Spe to do its primary job of utilizing Magic Mirror and passing CMs (whereas sweeping comes second). Although, HP Fire may seem redundant on a Drought team, Ferrothorn really cuts Espeon's set-up short with powerful Power Whips and Gyro Balls, so I'd stick with HP Fire. You may choose to minimally invest in SpA to net it some important KOs on the steel types. Psyshock is a move to consider, since Espeon actually has higher SpA than Reuniclus, allowing it to break through Latias and Chansey / Blissey with relative ease as long as its not too battered. With Max HP investment, it would fare better against CM wars and soaking hits from Latios if it comes to that.

Brizznetz's specially defensive Jirachi's suggestion would certainly come in handy in keeping your Espeon alive, but a Heatran may also come in handy, providing you with a second Drought abuser and a second recipient of CMs, not to mention it can deal with Dragonite without EQ. A defensive set can replace Forretress, but an offensive set, particularly ScarfTran, may replace Dragonite as your bulky revenge-killer.

 

[kkoala]

Have you considered changing rapid spin on forretress? Seems overlysituational with espeon also being on the team

 

[Twannes]

He has Rapid spin in the case me mispredicts and hazards come up. magic bounce requires really good prediction as a lot of pokes can carry SR.

 

[hustoka]

It's a very sturdy team, and quite good. I am a supporter.

 

[X5Dragon]

Hey Delko I'm digging this team, and since I love Dragonite to death I would suggest replacing Outrage with EQ because then you would have complete coverage (well only Heatran resists Dragon/Fire) but you'll be surprised at how many times you'll find yourself in a situation where a Heatran blocks your way. And since your running a choice item Outrage is not suitable. Ideally Dragonite would have learned dual chop to break subs but hey, got to work with what you got..

Another option if you get tired of Dragonite's base speed is the DD Lum set:

Dragonite @ Lum Berry
Multiscale
Adamant
252 Atk, 252 Speed, 4 HP

Dragon Dance
Outrage
Fire Pwnch
Extreme Speed

Dragonite has a turbo button called Multiscale, and after 1 DD he has both the power of a choice band plus the extra speed plus FREEDOM. That, and the Lum berry is for those prankster or anyone trying to shut you down while you Dance.

 

[Saurus]

I'm not trying to poke holes in your team, I'm merely curious as I've never used a Sun Team before, but isn't Forretress a huuuuge target when fire's power has been bumped up a few notches, and to a lesser degree with Venusaur?

 

[BTzz]

I'm not trying to poke holes in your team, I'm merely curious as I've never used a Sun Team before, but isn't Forretress a huuuuge target when fire's power has been bumped up a few notches, and to a lesser degree with Venusaur?

You wouldn't keep your forretress in on Fire attacks anyways so it doesn't really matter if suns up or not. Forretress cant even survive the weakest of un-sun boosted fire attacks so again, sun being up doesn't make much of a difference.

 

[Chieliee]

Forretres is actually really good on a sun team, as it gives these 3 things:

Rapid Spin
Hazards
Momentum (Volt Switch)

sun teams need all of those.

 

[The Grand Babido]

cool team but youre not abusing sun enough in my opinion. sure, youre pretty much ensuring you always keep the weather up, but when your only pokemon who is really abusing it is venusaur, youre not using the potential to the full.

simply put, id like to see you use a bulky volcarona with fiery dance/quiver dance/bug buzz/morning sun over forretress. youre going to be forced to play espeon quite recklessly, and throw it into the likes of ttar and co much more often as forretress cannot spin the hazards anymore .. although thats not necessarily a bad thing. lets say your opponent finds a free opportunity to bring in ttar. you switch to espeon and the ttar does one of two things. a) stealth rock b) crunch. if a), you have set sr up on your opponents side of the field and can bp to dugtrio on the crunch (as you have negated sr so its sash remands intact). you kill tyranitar, set up rocks and guarantee your own weather. obviously thats the best option. if your opponent crunches, you lose espeon but you get a free kill on ttar. this means that your opponent loses their weather changer and loses the ability to set up stealth rock. even if the worst comes to the worst, the second option is still better for you than your opponent, especially when you have venusaur and volcarona to abuse in permanent sun.

definitely use morning sun on espeon > hp fire. sure, hp fire beats forret, scizor and ferrothorn, but why bother when you can just baton pass out to volcarona and easily grab a quiver dance boost? i guess ferrothorn has thunder wave, but scizor and forretress become liabilities (provided you can prevent hazards) when volcarona is lurking around in the background.

you can mix up venusaur's set to lure out heatran to help volcarona, although its not winning without roar. you can also afford to give it hp ice to help with your dragonite issues and once again help a volcarona sweep. solarbeam/hp ice/earthquake/synthesis or growth is still a reasonably good moveset but misses out on zong who you have volcarona for (and cbnite will be weakening it anyway . . . )

the only thing that you really need to worry about is playing around rock attacks as dugtrio is your only resist and forretress didnt really mind taking physical rock attacks when it needed to. just make sure you play dugtrio and espeon sensibly and you should be fine. good luck!

 

[Delko]

K, thanks for all your suggestions guys, I appreciate it ^^

So I'll be trying these made suggestions:

- Earthquake has been slashed in with Dragon Claw on Dragonite;
- Scizor instead of Forretress;
- Jirachi instead of Forretress;
- Heatran instead of Forretress or Dragonite;
- Volcarona instead of Forretress;
- Morning Sun on Espeon.

Thanks again!

 

[Howard]

Jeez, all of the comments I was gonna make got taken, except two, and they were made, you just didn't read them lol. Putting Psyshock over Psychic on Espeon is going to give you another counter to a lot of pokemon that would normally wall your Espeon, namely Blissey, as well as continue to KO the pokemon that Psychic would. The second one is an even bigger issue with me, putting Reversal on Dugtrio. It gives you 2 things. It allows you Reliably OHKO T-Tar everytime and EQ+Reversal will KO all but the most bulky variants of Politoed. The best way to win the weather war is to kill the other teams weather. And no Pokemon will do that better for you than Duggy. GLB.

 

[Woodchuck]

Okay, some comments:
252 HP / 252 Spe Espeon is cool with Calm Mind / Psychic / Baton Pass / Morning Sun, it stalls out a lot of stuff and I ran it over the espeon you have now. I highly recommend it :3
actually stored power might be better than Psychic but sometimes i just need to hit stuff without boosting.

Also Earthquake is pretty much necessary on Dnite lol

Otherwise, great team! :3
i did manage to beat it a while back but it's fun to use as well!

 

[Delko]

Espeon needs 252 SAtk EV's to have a chance to OHKO the likes of Conkeldurr, Machamp, etc. I'll try out Psyshock with that bulkier spread though, thanks.

regarding the other suggestions; I slashed in Earthquake over Dragon Claw on Dragonite. I also tried the suggestions over Forretress but the Spikes support it offers, which makes it easier for Espeon, Venusaur and even Dragonite to net that extra ko.
I know that I don't abuse the sun to the fullest by using stuff as Volcarona, but I don't want to depend on weather so much, I automatically loose when I loose the weather war; besides I'm also using sun to disrupt my opponent's weather which is also effective.

 

[Delko]

Bump!

 

[D4RR3N]

Hey dude, nice team.

Since DD Dragonite is problematic to your team as you mentioned in your threat list, i'd say you could try out Red Card > Leftovers on Forretress. Switching Forretress into something like a boosted Outrage could force Dragonite out, and therefore Dragonite will be taking 25% of health from Stealth Rocks the next time it switches in, and that'll make it easier to be KO'd.

Next, as most of the people mentioned in this threat, you should really consider using Earthquake > Dragon Claw on your Dragonite, as Earthquake can hit the likes of Heatran hard. But if you really wanna use a Dragon move on that slot, i'd say Dual Chop should be considered, it has the same power, and you could hit pokes behind a sub.

Otherwise, great team. GL

Edit: Lol sorry i juz realized Dragonite can't learn Dual Chop >.>

 

[Delko]

Thanks Darren ^^

If only Dragonite could learn Dual Chop, that would be great.

I like the Red Card thing though, as it's pretty unexpected, I'll try that out. Thanks!

Also trying Porygon2 instead of Espeon to handle Dragons easier.