Ive been consistently top 10 in ladder for TS, even cracking #1 a couple times, and i just wanted to share some thoughts and the team I've been using:
https://pokepast.es/0fb9bc09188dbc16
So first, just wanted to say i love this tier with a passion and i recommend everyone plays it. Okay, so sun and psychic terrain feel insanely strong. Even with the poltea ban, i have a feeling drednaw will replace the poltea spot, and indeedee hawlucha armorouge and drednaw will still be good. Sun is still insane with additions such as scovillain and charizard having insane stats, and protosynthesis mons getting stats (sandy shocks and slither wing). Torkoal runs eject button and everything else has momentum, so its hard to play around. One last thing, i dont agree with the tera ban but i can absolutely see why it gets banned. No tera should make the meta interesting. Now, the team I've used:
Head Joncho (Honchkrow) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Moxie
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Brave Bird
- Night Slash
- Sucker Punch
In my opinion, honch is one of the best mons in the tier. If a mon dies and the opponents mon is at low percentage, honch gets a free +1 and it snowballs from there. Most checks and resistences get 2hko'd so they cant switch in. Previously, tera steel allowed it to resist and kill fast fairies like scarf garde, or to eat ice shards and kill. Interested to see how this works w/o tera.
Iron ValiAIN'T (Gallade) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sharpness
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Psycho Cut
- Sacred Sword
- Leaf Blade
- Knock Off
This has been my medicham slot since day 1, because, well idk why, but it functions the same way. Now, with medicham gone, i expect gallade stonks to rise, and this should be your substitution. This paired with honch just allows you to end games when its 4-4. One of the two cleaners comes in and chips/kills a cpuple mons and the other finishes off. Turns out sharpness is borked and gallade 2hkos most everything, and ohkos a lot of mons that dont run bulk, especially with tera fighting.
Friend :) (Bellibolt) @ Leftovers
Ability: Electromorphosis
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Muddy Water
- Volt Switch
- Thunder Wave
- Slack Off
Idek how I can explain what this does for me, it takes hits and twaves or volt switches. Essentially making it glue for my team. Its an underrated defensive mon and is annoying for lots of teams to face. Without set up or choice band, this tanks every neutral hit, and live ground type moves too.
Fake Tusk (Donphan) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sturdy
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Ice Shard
I got tired of seeing great tusk in every single metagame ever so i opted for the cooler elephant. Meet fake tusk, who is good utility, similar to great tusk. You spin you knock you eq. If theres no rocks, this also serves as a beater to an opponents wincon. Ive been using this to beat scovillain and armorouge 1v1, but its good against like every team. Ive been thinking of running hdb, so sturdy always activates, but i think av makes it more annoying.
No Resists? (Flapple) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Hustle
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Grav Apple
- Outrage
- U-turn
Flapple huh? Yea for sure losing bc of hustle is tilting but after a +1 dd you have 1000 attack, and ~450 speed. Even the bulkiest mons are getting chipped a lot, and forces pressure on everything. If theres no fairies or steels (somehow) on the opponents team, flapple can get 6 kills in 7 turns. Running focus sash bc i didnt know what else to run. With no rocks, this serves as sturdy and can revenge most sweepers/threats. Ive used it both as a lead and a sweeper, and it excels in both. If your opponent has a passive lead rocker, free +1 +1. This. Hits. Hard.
Flower Mommy (Florges) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flower Veil
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Synthesis
- Moonblast
- Tera Blast
Finally, florges. Being max physdef and 175 or something spdef just allows this to tank a lot. Now, it hasnt been doing much for me lately, and i might change back to sylveon after tera ban, but its been crucial to my team. Cm + 1 turn healing is very good, and the bulk allows florges to live lots of hard hitting/super effective moves. Moonblast is one of the best moves in the game imo, and tera blast deals with steels, poisons, and fires- who resists fairy.
I've made a decent amount of teams and this is by far the best imo. Something about the way it meshes together makes it super effective to use and the results speak for themselves. I'm 83-28, and probably like 10 of them are due to gimmick teams and bad rng, but itll happen when using muddy water and hustle.