There goes the Sun.

[CarbonTheSecond]

There Goes the Sun.
A Gen 5 Ubers RMT.
​

As the Fifth generation of Pokemon is slowly passing the torch to its successor, a whole slew of sets, cores, and entire play-styles are being left in the dust. So, before a good part of the metagame becomes "outdated," I felt it appropriate to post the first serious Ubers team I built in BW2's environment. Hitting a max peak of 1998 on the PS ladder (33-10 at the time), I wouldn't consider the team particularly revolutionary, or even good, but hey, we all start somewhere. I look forward to your advice, and hope you enjoy the team!

At A Glance:

In Depth:​

Sunshine Inc.

Gojira (Groudon) @ Leftovers
Ability: Drought
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Fire Punch
- Stone Edge

The core of just about any Ubers sun team is, of course, Groudon. As I knew all too well when going into the team-building process, Drought allows for the entire team to function properly, and the behemoth's impressive bulk allows it to set up SR with ease. I thus went with the standard 252 HP/Atk spread, alongside an Adamant nature. However, beyond that, I had no experience crafting Groudon sets, and ignored all phasing options to focus on coverage moves. This choice had its benefits and disadvantages; while it left Groudon vulnerable to becoming setup fodder in some cases, it also scored a few surprise KOs on opponents who thought that they had successfully scouted Groudon's two attacking options. Still, I'm well aware that this is far from being a perfect set, and would love suggestions for improvement.


God Has, indeed, Arrived

Ex Machina (Arceus) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- ExtremeSpeed
- Shadow Claw

Ah, Ekiller. A staple of the Ubers metagame since Arceus' introduction in Gen 4. Much like what happened with my Groudon set, I went into the the team-building process with only a vague idea of how Ekiller worked. The result? I ended up not investing at all in bulk, instead fully investing in speed so as to win any potential speed ties with other Ekiller sets. After initially running a Life Orb, I switched to a Lum Berry given how easily Arceus would get worn down. Earthquake was chosen over Brick Break so as to hit Dialga, Zekrom, etc. harder, given that the rest of the team deals with Ferrothorn easily.


Walling Stuff 101

HyperOffensive (Giratina) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 8 Def / 248 SDef
Impish Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Sleep Talk
- Rest
- Dragon Tail

I've been using Giratina-A since BW1, and, despite its decline in usage and "viability" since then, I still find it to be one of the best all-purpose walls in the tier. In this case, Tina-A gives the team a spinblocker, phaser, and status-spreading mon all in one. The EV spread is fairly standard, being meant to allow Tina to easily withstand most neutral special moves (although Dialga, Palkia, etc. still tear right through), since Will-O-Wisp can cripple most physical attackers. Dragon Tail was chosen over Roar to avoid Taunt and punish ill-timed Dragon switch-ins, but I often found myself falling short of the damage needed to break substitutes.


The Phoenix Rises

Moltres + Steroids (Ho-Oh) @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 176 Atk / 84 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Substitute

While far from original, SubRoost Ho-oh ended up becoming the star of the team due to its ability to punish, well, everything. With SR out of the way, it can easily sponge the Draco Meteors that Giratina loathes, and respond with either one of its powerful STABs. Substitute works wonders, given just how many switches a sun-boosted Sacred Fire can cause, and Roost provides much-needed recovery if SR is up. Of course, the aforementioned SR weakness is often crippling, which is why...


They See Me Spinnin'

Obligatory (Tentacruel) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 HP / 32 Def / 224 SDef
Calm Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Scald
- Toxic Spikes
- Knock Off

...having a spinner, a role that is filled by Tentacruel in this scenario, is a prerequisite. In addition to counteracting hazards, Tentacruel often ends up introducing its own, and Knock Off, in addition to being generally annoying, bolsters the effectiveness of these Toxic Spikes by removing forms of passive recovery. Scald takes up Tentacruel's final moveslot, being the obligatory damaging move of the set. As far as synergy goes, the ever annoying jellyfish(?) provides a crucial resistance to the many rain-boosted water moves that otherwise trouble the team, although it is by no means a hard counter to threats such as Kyogre (Thunder cripples Tenta if the switch is obvious enough).


Enter The Juggernaut

OP (Kyurem-White) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Turboblaze
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Ice Beam
- Fusion Flare
- Dragon Pulse

You'd be hard-pressed to find a single team in the Gen 5 metagame that fails to include a fast, hard-hitting dragon, and this squad is no exception. While Kyurem-W is better known for its devastating Choice Specs set, my team required a faster option. With Base 95 speed, Kyu-W outpaces the majority of the metagame, including the entire group of Base-90 scarfers (notably, though, it still can't quite catch Genesect or Palkia). Of course, the set still hits hard, as Kyurem-W's base 170 Special Attack makes a mockery of most defenses. Draco Meteor nearly guarantees kill against most foes, Fusion Flare can be equally lethal under the sun, and Ice Beam and Dragon Pulse provide good cleaning options.

Final Notes:​

Well, that just about does it for the team. I've thoroughly enjoyed using it in the past, and it provided the first step into the tier that I needed at the time. Feel free to use the team, if you so desire, although there are many better options on the RMT section. I would also just like to give a big shout-out to the guys in Showdown's Ubers channel, as I really appreciate all the advice you guys have given me over these last few months. So, enjoy the RMT, and I'll see you guys around!

Ex Machina (Arceus) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- ExtremeSpeed
- Shadow Claw

Gojira (Groudon) @ Leftovers
Ability: Drought
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Fire Punch
- Stone Edge

HyperOffensive (Giratina) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 8 Def / 248 SDef
Impish Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Sleep Talk
- Rest
- Dragon Tail

Moltres + Steroids (Ho-Oh) @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 176 Atk / 84 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Substitute

OP (Kyurem-White) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Turboblaze
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Ice Beam
- Fusion Flare
- Dragon Pulse

Obligatory (Tentacruel) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 HP / 32 Def / 224 SDef
Calm Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Scald
- Toxic Spikes
- Knock Off

​

 

[Sweep]

Hello. Right now, your team is very weak to Palkia and Latios, especially if Stealth Rock is up. Because you lack a Dragon resist, Latios and Lustrous Orb Palkia can pretty much get a free kill every time they come in. As Kyurem-W is your best bet to revenge them, your problem is exacerbated when your opponent pairs a fast dragon with a Steel type. Another problem that I see with your team is a general weakness to stall, though Tentacruel's Knock Off is a cool way to frustrate stall teams (useless vs. Giratina-O and Ghostceus though :(). I could see a Specially Defensive Heatran fitting nicely on your team. Heatran does a nice job against Latios and Latias, while holding its own against Palkia at least once so long the sun is shining. Run enough Speed investment to creep and Taunt base 90's (220 should be enough). You can give Heatran Stealth Rock and slap Dragon Tail on Groudon, helping you out against Swords Dance Ghostceus which looks problematic. Heatran would replace Lum Berry EKiller, which is weak and offers little for your team apart from revenge killing.

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 120 Spd / 140 SDef
Calm Nature
- Taunt
- Lava Plume
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock / Protect

By NO means is Heatran an ideal switchin in Sun to non-scarf Palkia, but it can do it once and launch a Toxic. This also checks Ho-Oh pretty well, though not as well as the physically defensive set. Taunt harrasses stall teams :D.

I'd also recommend speed creeping some of your Pokemon a tiny bit, especially Ho-Oh and Giratina-A. The bulk loss is negligible and outrunning other bulky base 90's can be helpful. Overall not bad for your first team, good luck.

 

[Shaymin 492]

I'd say change Dragon Tail on Giratina to Roar, as Sub Ho-Oh is always around, and Dragon Tail really won't do much (not to mention it missing sometimes). I don't really like Scarf Kyureum-W, but if it works for you, I guess you can keep it. Spinning is kind of really difficult in Ubers, so maybe try a Magic Bouncer. Pretty good team but don't listen to me, I've never used an actual sun team.

 

[ogasian]

Nice team CarbonTheSecond! As sweep said, Latios/Latias/Kia can be annoying to your team. To remedy this, I suggest Genesect over Kyurem W. it can somewhat switch into Lati@s and threaten with a powerful STAB U-turn. Also, it is much less hazards weak than Kyurem W, a nice thing for a Scarfer IMO. Also, change Ekiller to 184 hp/252 attck/68 speed Adamant. This gives Ekiller much more power and bulk, and really the only reason to run Jolly is to beat out Band/LO Terrakion. You might want to consider Banded Ho-Oh to absolutely demolish everything as long as Rocks arent up, or consider LO subroost cause lefties is piss weak.

 

[CarbonTheSecond]

Hello. Right now, your team is very weak to Palkia and Latios, especially if Stealth Rock is up. Because you lack a Dragon resist, Latios and Lustrous Orb Palkia can pretty much get a free kill every time they come in. As Kyurem-W is your best bet to revenge them, your problem is exacerbated when your opponent pairs a fast dragon with a Steel type. Another problem that I see with your team is a general weakness to stall, though Tentacruel's Knock Off is a cool way to frustrate stall teams (useless vs. Giratina-O and Ghostceus though :(). I could see a Specially Defensive Heatran fitting nicely on your team. Heatran does a nice job against Latios and Latias, while holding its own against Palkia at least once so long the sun is shining. Run enough Speed investment to creep and Taunt base 90's (220 should be enough). You can give Heatran Stealth Rock and slap Dragon Tail on Groudon, helping you out against Swords Dance Ghostceus which looks problematic. Heatran would replace Lum Berry EKiller, which is weak and offers little for your team apart from revenge killing.

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 120 Spd / 140 SDef
Calm Nature
- Taunt
- Lava Plume
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock / Protect

By NO means is Heatran an ideal switchin in Sun to non-scarf Palkia, but it can do it once and launch a Toxic. This also checks Ho-Oh pretty well, though not as well as the physically defensive set. Taunt harrasses stall teams :D.

I'd also recommend speed creeping some of your Pokemon a tiny bit, especially Ho-Oh and Giratina-A. The bulk loss is negligible and outrunning other bulky base 90's can be helpful. Overall not bad for your first team, good luck.

Thanks for the rate, Sweep. Looking back over the team, you're quite right about Arceus adding no major value to the team, and I'll be testing out the Heatran set and improvements right away.

I'd say change Dragon Tail on Giratina to Roar, as Sub Ho-Oh is always around, and Dragon Tail really won't do much (not to mention it missing sometimes). I don't really like Scarf Kyureum-W, but if it works for you, I guess you can keep it. Spinning is kind of really difficult in Ubers, so maybe try a Magic Bouncer. Pretty good team but don't listen to me, I've never used an actual sun team.

Once again, thanks for the rate. While testing out Sweep's modifications, I'll likely be putting Dragon Tail on Groudon, so I suppose switching to Roar on Giratina-A would allow for a more diversified approach to phasing. Not going to swap Tenta for a Bouncer, though, since neither Espeon or Xatu add too much else to the team, imo.

Nice team CarbonTheSecond! As sweep said, Latios/Latias/Kia can be annoying to your team. To remedy this, I suggest Genesect over Kyurem W. it can somewhat switch into Lati@s and threaten with a powerful STAB U-turn. Also, it is much less hazards weak than Kyurem W, a nice thing for a Scarfer IMO. Also, change Ekiller to 184 hp/252 attck/68 speed Adamant. This gives Ekiller much more power and bulk, and really the only reason to run Jolly is to beat out Band/LO Terrakion. You might want to consider Banded Ho-Oh to absolutely demolish everything as long as Rocks arent up, or consider LO subroost cause lefties is piss weak.

Hey there, Ogas. Thanks for the suggestions, they're all very well reasoned. Admittedly, I'm a bit hesitant to swap out Kyurem-W for Genesect; while Gene is less hazard weak & packs a more diverse movepool, it can't really keep up with Kyu-W's damage output. Still, I'll give the change a shot, and thanks for the idea. If I decide to keep Ekiller over Sweep's Heatran, or need more damage from Ho-oh, I'll give the other suggestions a bit of testing as well, but no promises since I've been low on time. :/

 

[shrang]

Just a nitpick, but

Ah, Ekiller. A staple of the Ubers metagame since Arceus' introduction in Gen 4

Arceus was banned for most of gen 4 since Azure Flute never got released, so you can't really say it was a staple in gen 4 because it was never used, lol