Dancing in the Flames: A Sun Team (Ranked #3)

[Raj]

No one would have imagined weather taking a more important role than it did last generation, but to everyone's surprise, it did. After having success with Sandstorm teams, but finding them too bland, I decided to cook up a Drought team. The Alt I'm using with this team is burninator, after the song Trogdor.

The crew:

Dragonite @ Life Orb
Multi-Scale
Quiet
228 Att/ 252 Sp Att/ 28 Spe
~Draco Meteor
~Fire Blast
~Earthquake
~Extremespeed

Dragonite serves as my trusty Lead and throughout BW, I've found none better. It's attacks are pretty standard. Draco Meteor hits like.. a meteor. Fire Blast and Earthquake cover the rest. Fire Blast usually takes priority over Earthquake on Steels if I've already DMed. Extremespeed picks off weakened foes or is Dragonite's "last stand". The Speed EVs allows it to outpace Skarmory at 181 Speed. Oh, also pretty bad ass is Marvel Scale. If I attack first, the opponent's dead. If I'm slower, Life Orb hasn't dropped me from full health yet and the awesome defenses allow me to survive and KO just about anything back.

Ninetales @ Leftovers
Drought
Timid
252 HP/ 6 Def/ 252 Spe
~Flamethrower
~Solarbeam
~Hypnosis
~Confuse Ray

Pretty much the most important member of the team because it's provides Sun support for the rest of the team. I had been using 252 Sp Att over HP, but I've found longevity outweighs the additional power; Ninetales is weak anyway. The strategy is to come in something that I'll kill or scare off and attack accordingly. If I expect the switch, I Confuse Ray and depending on what comes in I might Hypnotize it. On serious team threats my first move is putting it to sleep and then I Confuse it in case it wakes up or if my opponent switches. It's really handy. Flamethrower is self explanatory and Solarbeam gets good coverage alongside with it.

Darmanitan @ Choice Scarf
Sheer Force
Jolly
252 Att/ 6 Def/ 252 Spe
~Flare Blitz
~Superpower
~U-Turn
~Rock Slide

For those who haven't had to face a Darmanitan in the Sun, this guy packs a punch. NVE hits still do a wallop. Against other weather teams, he comes in handy for scouting with U-Turn. Superpower is used exclusively on Tyanitar and Heatran, while Rock Slide catches the Flying types. Otherwise, Flare Blitz is the move to use; it does like 80% to Impish Gliscor. Yuh.

Venusaur @ Leftovers
Chlorophyll
Naughty
16 HP/ 252 Att/ 60 Sp Att/ 180 Spe
~Sleep Powder
~Power Whip
~Hidden Power Fire
~Growth

Venusaur's a fucking champ. Boasting 480 Speed in the sun, he's quite able to put something to sleep and then get a Growth boost. Fire/Grass gets great coverage except on the like of Heatran and Flying DRagons. After Growth, Power Whip 2HKOs common foes like Gliscor and Latios, as well as the OHKO on Gyarados and much anything else that doesn't resist it. In the sun, HP Fire's going to be getting a boost and the combination is devastating. Venusaur also proves valuable as my counter to Rain and even Sandstorm teams. It OHKOs Politoed and does a number on Tyranitar, both of which are outsped and get hit with the Yopper.

Volcarana @ Leftovers
Flame Body
Bold
248 HP/ 248 Def/ 12 Sp Def
~Fiery Dance
~Bug Buzz
~Butterfly Dance
~Morning Sun

Along with Venusaur, this is my other lasting attacking force. Volcarana gets brought out Mid-Late game after certain threats have been dealt with or weakened. No one really uses this bulky set at all, but it's far superior to the alternative on a sun team. With Defensive investment and boosts from Butterfly Dance, this guy's stats are soon soaring. Plus the high chances of raising Special Attack with Fiery Dance. Depending on what I see of my opponent's team, I'll alternate between Fiery Dance and Butterfly Dance. Sometimes it's not wise to Butterfly Dance because I've learned getting overly greedy invites Critical Hits. Morning Sun in the sun is just awesome, restoring 2/3 of Volcarana's health. He has no problem beating Heatran in the sun, despite immunity to Fire and 4x resistance to Bug.

Cresselia @ Light Clay
Levitate
Bold
252 HP/ 172 Def/ 84 Sp Def
~Thunderwave
~Reflect
~Light Screen
~Lunar Dance

Cresselia shrugs off what would be heavy blows for any other Pokemon. Thunderwave is my first priority and then I set up screen, starting with the imminent threat. Usually Cresselia last for at least two sets of double screens and Paralyzes half of the opponent's team. By the end of the game when I'm low on health and faster because of paralysis I Lunar Dance and caan bring in any one of my Pokemon in safely. This is usually Volcarana so that I don't have to worry about Stealth Rock severely crippling me. Besides, Volcarana is late game anyway so it suits it perfectly. However, if Volcarana isn't looking like the Poke able to finish off the rest of the opposing team, I'll adjust and bring back whatever need be.


As you can imagine, Rain Teams are a threat, but I can usually deal with them with Venusaur. The most important thing to remember when using weather is keeping your summoner alive while trying to eliminate their summoner. After that, it's always game over. I'd greatly appreciate any advice on this team (I know some of the EVs look wack, I just submit to my OCD and give them nice round numbers. So if you've got any questions or suggestions or anything to say about this team at all, post away!

 

[uber effective]

Thats one Dam good team.

 

[Dezza Laa]

Hey,

I versed this team, and I got to say that Volcarona set is pretty good. I would know from experience running to exact identical set. I thought I had you but you got me :P. However I do see, even though Volcarona has Morning Sun, Rapid Spin support is necessary. The kryptonite of Sun teams has to be field hazards, taking around 25% for most Sun abusers. That means that Ninetales and Dragonite and Darmitan are going to have a hard time switching continuously.

I also see Shell Smash Cloyster as quite a potent threat, Cresselia the only one who isn't hit super effectively by Rock Blast + Icicle Spear. Luckily he has a hard time setting up, but if he does it's going to hurt.

Sub SD Chomp it going to decimate this team, especially coupled with Tyranitar. TTar can switch into Solarbeam on Ninetales start up Sand and switch to Garchomp to take the NVE hit, if it even hits with the amount of hax. He can then Sub up as you switch and pretty much have its way with this entire team. Tyranitar also has no problem continuously switching into Ninetales, seeing as nothing is hurting him with his sublime special defense. Same thing with Excadrill.

Speaking of dragons Scarf Hydrogein, fellow MS Dragonite and CM Latias/Specs Latios will be a bother. I wouldn't go to the extent of adding a Steel Pokemon, because I know how difficult it is to have them on a Sun team, 2x weaknesses are boosted to 4x and 4x to 8x. I'm just saying you have to be cautious and honestly this will often mean sacrificing a couple of your Pokemon.

Rain is also the same as sandstorm, seeing as how Solarbeam needs a charge and a Scald from Politoed could probably kill you. Then a NP Thundurus/CS Tornadus could shred through this team rather easily.

For these reasons I am going to suggest an unorthodox set that I am currently running on my sun team :).

Cloyster (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Skill Link
EVs: 252 HP / 40 Atk / 152 Def / 64 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Shell Smash
- Icicle Spear
- Rock Blast
- Rapid Spin

The speed allows you to outrun base 125's after a Shell Smash. Rapid Spin > Shell Blade because of Sun. A lot of physical defense because this is a bulky set :). He handles all the aforementioned threats and problems. You may not like the idea but I suggest you give it a whirl :). I would suggest putting him over Cresselia because she isn't doing anything besides supporting Volcarona, who shouldn't need support anyway with Cloyster Rapid Spinning hazards. One final note is that you ought to try Lum Berry on Volcarona. Extra protection never hurt ;).

GL

 

[Red Alert]

couple things I noticed;

1. politoed can switch in on ninetails without fear, with an effective 4x resistance to flamethrower and rain making solar beam have to charge. If they have rocks up you can pretty much forget about having sun up.

2. I'm pretty sure specs latios outspeeds (outside of sun) and OHKOs every single person on your team with draco meteor, meaning he gets a free kill every time he's out. Not sure if you've run into that at all.

Also, why are you playing dream world? Your team has all released abilities and you'll get more competition in OU.

 

[Green Mage]

Your sun team is very similar to mine, except that i use sawsbuck in place of darmanitan who i found dies terribly to rocks and flare blitz recoil.

Another suggestion is espeon over cress. Which one is the better screener is a good debate; espeon has speed, offenses and an amazing ability, but cress has the important ground immunity and the bulk. I just find that cress just sits there too often while espeon can rack up some damage and even a kill or two. If you're gonna use cress, i'd suggest trying moonlight > thunder wave and having something else spread toxic around. With that sort of bulk behind screens, there isn't much of anything that's gonna break you with a beefed moonlight; on the flipside, espeon can do the same thing while being immune to status.

 

[Red Alert]

Your sun team is very similar to mine, except that i use sawsbuck in place of darmanitan who i found dies terribly to rocks and flare blitz recoil.

Another suggestion is espeon over cress. Which one is the better screener is a good debate; espeon has speed, offenses and an amazing ability, but cress has the important ground immunity and the bulk. I just find that cress just sits there too often while espeon can rack up some damage and even a kill or two. If you're gonna use cress, i'd suggest trying moonlight > thunder wave and having something else spread toxic around. With that sort of bulk behind screens, there isn't much of anything that's gonna break you with a beefed moonlight; on the flipside, espeon can do the same thing while being immune to status.

Espeon is nice because you can switch in a lot of walls and end up making them status/hazard themselves, as well as giving yourself a free turn to set up reflect or light screen.

 

[Alacantara]

I would consider putting a little more investment in speed on venusaur. If you give him 200 evs in speed he will outrun scarf genesect.

with 208 invested he will outrun +1 base 100 pokes like jirachi or salamence. attacking wont do much to mence but at least you could have a chance to put him to sleep.

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

I would also suggest a speed bump on Venusaur, up to however many EVs it takes to tie with Scarf Chomp (250 speed stat). If Cress goes down, Chomp will outpace everything on the team and hit for huge damage and you really down want him ending your Venusaur sweep.

 

[WaterBomb]

A couple of minor suggestions for you to consider:

On Ninetales, Solarbeam is just too risky. With the amount of types resisting grass and frequency of weather inducers, you will be hard pressed to get off a Solarbeam. Especially since Tyranitar is FAR easier to keep alive than Ninetales, so you will have your work cut out for you winning that particular weather battle. If you really want to keep a grass move, go with Energy Ball. However, since you already have the Grass/Fire attack combo on Penusaur, I'd suggest going with HP Ground or Fighting.

On Darmanitan, you have two options. If you insist on keeping him Scarfed, go with Adamant nature. Jolly is not going to help you outspeed anything else of note, so you'll want the extra attack. The other option, and the one I recommend, is switching to a Life Orb, since Sheer Force negates its recoil. If you do this, you can keep your Jolly nature. I ran a Sun team for a while with Darmanitan as its core, and I found his speed to be surprisingly adequate, despite all the fast pokes in this gen.

Those are my two suggestions. I like the rest of the team, it seems to synergize well. Also on a final note, it's already been mentioned several times but I would like to agree, you should really consider a Spinner to remove opponent entry hazards. Your weakness to Stealth Rock is far too great to ignore.

Hope this helped. Best of luck!

 

[Lucknade]

Have you tried Superpower>Earthquake on Dragonite? You can't use Multiscale if you do, but you gain amazing coverage and the ability to score bigger hits on some potent threats, like Tyranitar and Chansey/Blissey.

 

[Benlisted]

Hey, nice team you've got here, and very impressive performance I must say! Some really original elements in here which I'm sure contributed to your success, as well as not merely sticking to the mons Sun teams reguraly use.

Anyway, there's a few recommendations I'd make in any case. SolarBeam essentially cuts your moveslots on Tales down to 3 until you can remove an opposing inducer, which is a pretty crippling disadvantage. I was initially skeptical about CR and Hyp as status options, but once you think about it I can see how they combine to work nicely, if being a tad risky. So over SolarBeam I'd either go with Energy Ball if you want to retain the coverage, or imo try out ChestoRest, adding to your survivability hugely which may prove useful when relying somewhat upon luck to stop things like TTar maiming you and lacking a spinner.

I'd consider Adamant on Darm as well, since Jolly doesn't really allow you to beat anything significant - +1 neutral natured base 97s to 110s or so, who all tend to run +spe when scarfed, meaning the main thing you beat are things like Adamant DD Haxorus (no idea how common that is).

I have a few suggestions for your Venusaur. Since Tales is pretty much relying upon Hypnosis to prevent herself from being utterly destroyed by TTar etc, I wouldn't also run a sleep move elsewhere. This frees you up to run another coverage option. Now, the second thing I'd do is use Giga Drain over Power Whip, allowing you to drop Lefties and use LO since you'll easily heal off the residual damage with the draining effect, whilst doing more damage. It still hits Gliscor, Gyara etc just as hard, frees you up to invest solely in SpA to hit harder, and beats out Blissey one on one to leave you with +6 (unless they pack Flamethrower). The only thing you lose the hit on is Latios and some other Dragons, which is why Sludge Bomb should be your other choice of move - hitting Flying/Dragons for neutral too (and cleanly OHKOs Latios at +2). Finally I'd put 220 at least in Spe to allow you to outrun ScarfChomp, who can give Sun hell if using Fire Fang.

Volc looks cool, I'd consider ChestoRest to help you avert status crippling you.

I also second the use of Cloyster in the last slot, as Dezza's offensive one with Rapid Spin looks fantastic for you. Hazards destroy Volc and Tales, and T-Wave support is kind of useless when half your team can reach incredible speeds with ease (and another has Extremespeed). Screens are ofc great support, but you should be able to find opportunities to setup both your sweepers with ease even without them, and having a third deadly setup sweeper will only allow you to put more pressure on your opponent. Lunar Dance becomes unneeded when you can remove hazards and have 3 setup sweepers along with Darm and DNite to decimate the opponent.

 

[iforgot120]

Cloyster (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Skill Link
EVs: 252 HP / 40 Atk / 152 Def / 64 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Shell Smash
- Icicle Spear
- Rock Blast
- Rapid Spin

Are the boosts from Shell Smash necessary? If you replace it with Spikes, that gives the team some hazard support, too.
(Also, is Spd Special Defense or Speed?)