[Wild cat] What a hot day!

[Kuroemon]

Hi, I'm kinda new in Pokemon battle.
I spent quite some time to build a sun team and all I can say is 5 win 5 lose.
After a lot of lose, I realize that I need some change, but honestly, I dont know what I should change yet. I need some advice!!!!

Team building progress

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I fell in love with the sun team as the first sign, so Ninetales came fisrt

I need a good spammer in the sun, and Venusaur's almost the best one

One more attacker, I choose almost-legendary-beast Arcanine

Heatran's always my big threat, so I need some one who can deal with him in case Arcanine's down, then I chose Victiny

I also had hard time deal with opponent's venusaur, so I need someone can force him switch, I chose Heatran

Last slot, I want someone who fast and strong enough to deal with dragon type. Azelf is good.

Since my team's quite weak to entry hazard and need someone who can deal with water type pkm, I changed Arcanine and Azelf into Dolphan and Latias.

A closer look

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My style is "hit fast and hit hard". So I focus on the speed and attack stat, max out spamming in sun potential.

[COLOR="Red"]Wildcªt (Ninetales) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drought
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SDef / 8 Spd
Calm Nature
- Flamethrower
- Will-O-Wisp
- Sunny Day
- Roar[/COLOR]

My leader in most battles. Make it sunny and hit anything hard with Fire blast. Solarbeam's for dealing with water and ground type, not really good with Politoed :P I never use Toxic before, it was there because its decent accuracy. I'm considering about using Sunny day instead of Toxic in oder to win the weather war. Once the gate's opened, Venusaur will shine. HP ice can take down any Dragon pkm with low S.Def in one hit and 2HKO any others.
I decided to change Ninetales's role a little. He still be my leader, but now, instead of an offensive leader, he's a defensive one. With new stat, he can take hits with ease, last longer in the weather war and bring some excitement. It's really fun to see a Dragonite get roar'ed after a DD :D Will-o-wisp for lowering opponent's sweep potential.

Wildcªt (Venusaur) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Chlorophyll
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 76 HP / 252 SAtk / 180 Spd
Timid Nature
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Growth
- Hidden Power [Fire]

How many sun team out there dont have Venusaur.
He abuse the sun more than good. I moved some EV from speed to HP for a better chance of survive. Once he get a chance to set up with 2 or more Growth, nothing can stop him. Usually, 1 growth is good enough to OHKO any one with decent S.Def, 2 Growth, he become a real monster, OHKO anyone without S.Def buff (and without Focus sash or Sturdy, of course). He can deal with dragon type and flying type by Sludge Bomb, play with bug type and abuse more in sun with HP fire.
Since Venusaur's sweep potential come from Growth's boost, I realize that without Modest nature, he still can become a monster then I make it to Timid to speed him up

Wildcªt (Donphan) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def
Adamant Nature
- Ice Shard
- Head Smash
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake

Alternative member of Arcanine, since my team need someone to get rid of entry hazard. With amazing HP and attack stat, he can kill Dragonite in 2 hits by priority move Ice Shard and take care of any birds by Head Smash, give Venusaur a chance to sweep. He can also force Heatran switch or even kill him if he try to do something. Though he cant deal much damage compare to Arcanine, but look at what he can do, it totally worth changing.

Wildcªt (Victini) @ [COLOR="Red"]Choice Scarf[/COLOR]
Trait: Victory Star
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- V-create
- Bolt Strike
- U-turn
- Brick Break

One of the best Fire pkm with Fire move is here. His main role is helping Nintales win the weather war. He can use Bolt strike to take down Politoed and Tornadus. U-turn for the team's momentum and Brick break's there to take care of Tyranitar in case Arcanine cant use Close combat. No one will ever wanna take his V-create, especially in sun and with Choice band.
Since 2 of my Choice Scarf user has been changed, I decided to give choice scarf to Victini as Funkasaurus's suggest. Without Choice Band, Victini's still a monster with boosted speed and V-Create.

Wildcªt (Latias) (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Recover

Alternative of Azelf. Amazing S.Def BS, although he stand in my team as an offensive member, he can still endure any neutral hit and strike back. More important, he's here to help the others get rid of water pkm. With his STAB Draco meteor, no Dragon can stand 1 hit without focus sash. Safe switch into someone wanna hit other members by ground move and scare them away.

Wildcªt (Heatran) (M) @ [COLOR="red"]Choice Scarf[/COLOR]
Trait: Flash Fire
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Earth Power
- Lava Plume
- Stealth Rock
- Protect

If I need someone to deal with opponent's Venusaur, no one better than Heatran. In most case, he can force them switch or take them down if they try to set up. Sometime, he play leader role to set up Stealth rock if needed. This slot used to belong to Salamence, but after some battles, I realize that Salamence doesnt suite my team, switch out and die! And then, sometimes, I faced my own team sweeper - Chlorophyll Venusaur - and I know that I'll be in real trouble if I cant take him down, but no one in my team can stop him from setting up. I remember that even after set up with 2 or more Growth, my Venusaur always has to switch out when he face Heatran. That why Heatran's here, instead of Salamence.
In the last version of the team, Heatran item has beem changed into choice scarf since Airballoon cant help much. With choice scarf, he can out speed +0 Dragonite and KO it with HP Ice.

 

[Souf]

Hi there,

Nice team you have there. From what I see, there's quite a bit that can be done to this team to make it better. At first glance, nothing on your team appreciates taking on Dragons, taking water type hits, especially if rain is up, and entry hazards. With that said, let's get right into it. First off, a few nitpicks. I recommending changing your Venusaur's nature to Timid > Modest. With a Timid nature, you outspeed all relevant threats with the sun up, such as Choice Scarf Keldeo, Terrakion, and even Scarf Latios. Next, I recommend changing your Ninetales set to the "defensive" variant. To be blunt, Choice Scarf Ninetales is not even close to viable in the current metagame, so a defensive set is better. With a defensive Tales, you can take water hits, in the sun, better. Next, a nitpick for Heatran; using Fire Blast > Lava Plume, Hidden Power Ice > Protect, and a Timid nature. Since your Heatran has Air Balloon and an offensive EV spread, it should have an offensive moveset to go along with it. Fire Blast hits much harder, especially when the sun is up, and Hidden Power Ice hits dragons like Salamence or Dragonite. And a Timid nature helps outspeed +0 Adamant Dragonite. Next, to assist with the water type weakness, I recommend using a Latias > Azelf. A Life Orb set can go along with the offensive nature of the team. Latias can also assist in facing opposing sun teams. Since both of your Choice Scarfers are no longer members of the team, I recommend changing Victini's item to a Choice Scarf. While you do lose power from not having a Choice Band equipped, Victini still hits like a truck without it. Last, but certainly not least, to help with the entry hazard issue, I recommend using a Donphan > Arcanine. An offensive spinner set should do fine here. Donphan can rapid spin entry hazards as well as put a dent into Dragons like Dragonite and Salamence with Ice Shard or even Head Smash.

Sets

Heatran
Modest --> Timid
Lava Plume --> Fire Blast
Protect --> Hidden Power Ice

Venusaur
Modest --> Timid

Victini
Choice Band --> Choice Scarf

Latias (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Recover

Donphan (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Ice Shard
- Rapid Spin
- Head Smash

Ninetales (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drought
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SDef / 8 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Will-O-Wisp
- Flamethrower
- Roar
- Sunny Day

Good team and good luck!

 

[undisputed]

Hey!

Welcome to Smogon and competitive Pokemon! I'm glad to say that you have a solid team even if you label yourself as a "beginner." The main problem is your team lacks a strong direction (Pokemon like Arcanine and Azelf are out of place), but you've got a solid foundation for a Sun team regardless. I'll focus on changing those two, as well as helping you with some of your set choices.

First, Arcanine is pretty mediocre. Its Fire typing overlaps with most of your team anyway. Chances are that if Arcanine could sweep, Heatran or Victini could too. They all beat similar Pokemon, and they all have similar counters too. For this slot, I think you'd be wise to choose a Water switch-in with Rapid Spin, like Starmie. Right now, your team is pretty weak to Stealth Rock. Sun Teams can rarely afford to switch into Stealth Rock more than once or twice. Additionally, I don't want you to rely on Venusaur to switch into Politoed. It's your main sweeper, and you need to protect it accordingly. Starmie takes Water attacks reasonably well, and Rapid Spin will give Ninetales and Victini those crucial extra switches. For moves, I'd use Recover / Scald / Psyshock / Rapid Spin. For EVs, go with 248 HP / 8 Sp Def / 252 Speed and a Timid Nature.

Next, Azelf feels very out of place. I understand its role as an all purpose revenge killer, but it's not the best, nor is it very effective. For example, Dragonite, one of the biggest threats to a Sun Team, will just use ExtremeSpeed for an easy KO. I think a much better alternative would be Life Orb Mamoswine. Usually, I'm not a very big fan of Mamoswine, but I think it will have some use on your team. It's a huge threat to Tyranitar with Earthquake, and it easily all the Dragons in this metagame. In a little bit, I'm also going to suggest you use Stealth Rock on your Mamoswine in order to put a Choice Scarf on Heatran. For the time being, I suggest Earthquake / Ice Shard / Icicle Crash / Stealth Rock with an Adamant nature.

Before I get to Heatran, I'd really like you to change your Ninetales spread to the standard Specially defensive variant. You can find it on site pretty easily. Sun Teams need Sun to be effective. Scarf Ninetales is absolutely Tyranitar or Politoed bait, and you'll never win matches if you can't beat those. Will-o-Wisp weakens Tyranitar, and Special Defense variants can switch into Politoed most of the time.

Finally, I think Scarf Heatran would be pretty awesome on your team. It's a pretty under used threat these days, but a Scarf Fire Blast in the Sun is going to be really scary. Heatran can also double as your Revenge Killer, a hole Azelf once filled. So essentially, you can conserve Heatran to counter set-up Pokemon like Dragonite, or you can just go for sweeps with boosted Fire Blasts. Since Mamoswine has Stealth Rock now, Heatran doesn't have to worry about that either. For moves, I'd go with Fire Blast / Dragon Pulse / Earth Power / Hidden Power Grass. HP Grass is just to hit Politoed off guard. Dragon Pulse for Dragons, obviously. Earth Power checks other Heatran. Fire Blast is your go-to move.

Good luck!

 

[Kuroemon]

Thank to you guys, my team is much better now :D
Battles are now last longer and more exciting. Team's members can cover each other better than before and I can make switch easier in certain situations in which I could only gamble with the old team.