SV OU Trying building a team from scratch for the first time

[UnsungMelody]

I've been playing on showdown on my original account for a little over 10 years and have just been copying teams from the forums and making small adjustments. Decided to make a new account and start fresh making my own teams to see how I can do on my own merits. I spent a couple hours building this team and swapping out pokemon as I played to see what I needed and what wasn't working because I have zero knowledge of the gen 9 meta. Here's what I have so far.

Breloom @ Focus Sash
Ability: Technician
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Seed
- Mach Punch
- Spore
- Tera Blast

Breloom is one of my favorite pokemon and I started the team with him. Pretty standard breloom build using technician with bullet seed and mach punch. Added spore for utility and fire tera blast to cover magearna, corvinight, or any others mach punch won't take out. I planned for breloom to be the core of the team but he's seemed more like a revenge killer.

Dondozo @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Liquidation
- Body Press
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Brought in to be a pivot for breloom. Corvinight originally filled his role but I wanted something a bit tankier and needed some extra coverage because the first couple drafts of this team didn't have any water type moves. He's the most recent addition to the team so I don't have much to say about him but I'm open to swapping him out or changing out the moveset.

Great Tusk @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Headlong Rush
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Rapid Spin

He's here to clear away hazards for Breloom's sash and knock off utility mostly. He had a bit more use than defog corvinight so he's stuck around. His utility is hit or miss and he's won a few games for me but also died unceremoniously. Not really sure how best to use him so any tips would be appreciated.

Iron Moth @ Booster Energy
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 124 Def / 132 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Fiery Dance
- Energy Ball
- Dazzling Gleam
- Psychic

Another relatively recent addition. I originally had volcarona on for more coverage and to be a special attacker since my team was very attack heavy. Thinking about switching back to volcarona because I've found quiver dance to be a little more useful. Any tips on how to use this one would also be appreciated.

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 196 SpD / 60 Spe
Calm Nature
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock

He's here to set up rocks and taunt, that's pretty much it. Sometimes the grass tera type will catch people off guard and I can get a sneaky kill with him, but he's primarily on the team for utility and occasionally a pivot for breloom or hydreigon.

Hydreigon (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Substitute
- Dark Pulse
- Draco Meteor

I wanted another special attacker and needed a pivot for ground moves so hydreigon seemed like a good pick. Occasionally I can swap in on an EQ and get a free setup with substitute and nasty plot. I've found he's rarely a liability but kind of hard to actually be really useful. Even if I can't get a nasty plot off life orb usually gives him enough of a boost to do some damage and have breloom finish them off.

 

[Motor Hawk]

To be completely honest, it's going to be pretty difficult helping anyone with their team because 1. The meta is so new and 2. The meta is so volatile.

The best thing I see to do with people who need help with their teams is to make suggestions to help counter some of the major threats until these threats get banned:



These mons are what you're up against and if you can't combat at least most of them you are going to have a bad time. This team is pretty good as is, but it seems like a previous meta team that you swapped heatran on for better bulk (maybe I'm wrong).

With that being said...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hard Suggestions​

-->

Heatran is a bulky boy, but clodsire does the job better in this case.

Unaware clodsire helps to combat magearna set-ups (after tera dark) and regieleki, two mons that are the most threatening on the list above. Heatran is nice, and I loved him in previous gens, but I don't think he stacks up as well (and I have missed WAY TOO MANY magma storms so maybe I'm just salty... But I digress). It's unfortunate but you really need to run (minimum) one or (even better) two ground types right now. And to fit into your SpD need, clod can hit hard with ground-type moves, throw down rocks, poison bulky mons, and most importantly recover reliably.

Clodsire @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Toxic Spikes
- Recover

Another mandatory type this gen is ghost which I would suggest on every team, including yours. But I am finding it difficult to swap mons around on your team so it can compete with the current meta without changing your team entirely. Instead, I am going to make suggestions to tweak your current team and leave some mons for you to try out which I have found to be good counters to the aforementioned.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Soft Suggestions
​

I would give it tera fighting/ grass for better punches/bullet seeds, and then swap tera blast for rock tomb to catch incoming mons off guard and lower their speed for a chance to further KO. Tera fire is fine, but unnecessary IMO. Loaded dice is also something to look into but with the current meta focus sash might be better.


HDB --> leftovers
Tera fighting --> tera steel

Leftovers give you some much-needed health back especially since you don't take much from rocks or spikes as is, and you have poison mons to remove t spikes. Tera steel is my preference to give you better resistance and help outlive moves that would normally KO you to then KO back.

Your other mons look good as is. But like I said, "I am going to make suggestions to tweak your current team and leave some mons for you to try out which I have found to be good counters to the aforementioned."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Useful Mons​

Gholdengo @ Air Balloon
Ability: Good as Gold
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Recover/ thunderbolt/ thunder wave
- Nasty Plot/ thunderbolt/ thunder wave
- Shadow Ball
- Make It Rain

Ghost is becoming more and more mandatory in this gen. With gholdengo, not only can you spin and defog block, but you can also pivot into status moves. Not to mention this set completely walls ursaluna and helps give you another ground immunity for as long as you keep your air balloon in tact.


Zamazenta @ Leftovers
Ability: Dauntless Shield
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Body Press
- Heavy Slam
- Iron Defense/ crunch
- Substitute/ crunch

A defensive monster that also walls Chien-pao. Not to mention it's faster than Pao too. Although you'd be going over to the dark side using this mon, sometimes to beat them you have to join them.

and are also monsters and really good wall breakers that I would check out. Although, again, dark side and all that.

Don't forget that the dondozo you have is a good matchup into andtoo.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ANYWAY, as I said, it's going to be pretty difficult to help with teams over these next couple of weeks. Or maybe I am just dumb and someone can make better suggestions than I. I still say we ban the top 20 most used mons after a month...
Eh, see me once July rolls around. Good Luck!

 

[Jieoogle]

To be completely honest, it's going to be pretty difficult helping anyone with their team because 1. The meta is so new and 2. The meta is so volatile.

The best thing I see to do with people who need help with their teams is to make suggestions to help counter some of the major threats until these threats get banned:



These mons are what you're up against and if you can't combat at least most of them you are going to have a bad time. This team is pretty good as is, but it seems like a previous meta team that you swapped heatran on for better bulk (maybe I'm wrong).

With that being said...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hard Suggestions​

-->

Heatran is a bulky boy, but clodsire does the job better in this case.

Unaware clodsire helps to combat magearna set-ups (after tera dark) and regieleki, two mons that are the most threatening on the list above. Heatran is nice, and I loved him in previous gens, but I don't think he stacks up as well (and I have missed WAY TOO MANY magma storms so maybe I'm just salty... But I digress). It's unfortunate but you really need to run (minimum) one or (even better) two ground types right now. And to fit into your SpD need, clod can hit hard with ground-type moves, throw down rocks, poison bulky mons, and most importantly recover reliably.

Clodsire @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Toxic Spikes
- Recover

Another mandatory type this gen is ghost which I would suggest on every team, including yours. But I am finding it difficult to swap mons around on your team so it can compete with the current meta without changing your team entirely. Instead, I am going to make suggestions to tweak your current team and leave some mons for you to try out which I have found to be good counters to the aforementioned.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Soft Suggestions
​

I would give it tera fighting/ grass for better punches/bullet seeds, and then swap tera blast for rock tomb to catch incoming mons off guard and lower their speed for a chance to further KO. Tera fire is fine, but unnecessary IMO. Loaded dice is also something to look into but with the current meta focus sash might be better.


HDB --> leftovers
Tera fighting --> tera steel

Leftovers give you some much-needed health back especially since you don't take much from rocks or spikes as is, and you have poison mons to remove t spikes. Tera steel is my preference to give you better resistance and help outlive moves that would normally KO you to then KO back.

Your other mons look good as is. But like I said, "I am going to make suggestions to tweak your current team and leave some mons for you to try out which I have found to be good counters to the aforementioned."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Useful Mons​

Gholdengo @ Air Balloon
Ability: Good as Gold
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Recover/ thunderbolt/ thunder wave
- Nasty Plot/ thunderbolt/ thunder wave
- Shadow Ball
- Make It Rain

Ghost is becoming more and more mandatory in this gen. With gholdengo, not only can you spin and defog block, but you can also pivot into status moves. Not to mention this set completely walls ursaluna and helps give you another ground immunity for as long as you keep your air balloon in tact.


Zamazenta @ Leftovers
Ability: Dauntless Shield
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Body Press
- Heavy Slam
- Iron Defense/ crunch
- Substitute/ crunch

A defensive monster that also walls Chien-pao. Not to mention it's faster than Pao too. Although you'd be going over to the dark side using this mon, sometimes to beat them you have to join them.

and are also monsters and really good wall breakers that I would check out. Although, again, dark side and all that.

Don't forget that the dondozo you have is a good matchup into andtoo.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ANYWAY, as I said, it's going to be pretty difficult to help with teams over these next couple of weeks. Or maybe I am just dumb and someone can make better suggestions than I. I still say we ban the top 20 most used mons after a month...
Eh, see me once July rolls around. Good Luck!

Hey, seeing the swap from to made me wonder, if a with Choice Specs wouldnt be better than the .
You could run

Dragapult @ Choice Specs
Ability: Infiltrator
Tera Type: Dragon (idk if dragon Tera would be that good)
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Flamethrower
- Hex
- Shadow Ball

And youd have a nice Special Attacker which outspeeds most threats and it profits from T-Spikes with Hex.
Also it might be a useful Counter to .

[also i forgot to say, i really like the team as it is right now, its just hard to say how it will perform in the newish meta]

 

[Motor Hawk]

Hey, seeing the swap from to made me wonder, if a with Choice Specs wouldnt be better than the .
You could run

Dragapult @ Choice Specs
Ability: Infiltrator
Tera Type: Dragon (idk if dragon Tera would be that good)
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Flamethrower
- Hex
- Shadow Ball

And youd have a nice Special Attacker which outspeeds most threats and it profits from T-Spikes with Hex.
Also it might be a useful Counter to .

[also i forgot to say, i really like the team as it is right now, its just hard to say how it will perform in the newish meta]

I thought about that but then your team gets done in by psychic types since you have no psychic resistance sans hydreigon.

Ice is also kind of an issue but every threatening ice mon gets walled (more or less) by dondozo.

 

[Jieoogle]

I thought about that but then your team gets done in by psychic types since you have no psychic resistance sans hydreigon.

Ice is also kind of an issue but every threatening ice mon gets walled (more or less) by dondozo.

ah youre right especially with now being available

 

[UnsungMelody]

To be completely honest, it's going to be pretty difficult helping anyone with their team because 1. The meta is so new and 2. The meta is so volatile.

The best thing I see to do with people who need help with their teams is to make suggestions to help counter some of the major threats until these threats get banned:



These mons are what you're up against and if you can't combat at least most of them you are going to have a bad time. This team is pretty good as is, but it seems like a previous meta team that you swapped heatran on for better bulk (maybe I'm wrong).

With that being said...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hard Suggestions​

-->

Heatran is a bulky boy, but clodsire does the job better in this case.

Unaware clodsire helps to combat magearna set-ups (after tera dark) and regieleki, two mons that are the most threatening on the list above. Heatran is nice, and I loved him in previous gens, but I don't think he stacks up as well (and I have missed WAY TOO MANY magma storms so maybe I'm just salty... But I digress). It's unfortunate but you really need to run (minimum) one or (even better) two ground types right now. And to fit into your SpD need, clod can hit hard with ground-type moves, throw down rocks, poison bulky mons, and most importantly recover reliably.

Clodsire @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Toxic Spikes
- Recover

Another mandatory type this gen is ghost which I would suggest on every team, including yours. But I am finding it difficult to swap mons around on your team so it can compete with the current meta without changing your team entirely. Instead, I am going to make suggestions to tweak your current team and leave some mons for you to try out which I have found to be good counters to the aforementioned.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Soft Suggestions
​

I would give it tera fighting/ grass for better punches/bullet seeds, and then swap tera blast for rock tomb to catch incoming mons off guard and lower their speed for a chance to further KO. Tera fire is fine, but unnecessary IMO. Loaded dice is also something to look into but with the current meta focus sash might be better.


HDB --> leftovers
Tera fighting --> tera steel

Leftovers give you some much-needed health back especially since you don't take much from rocks or spikes as is, and you have poison mons to remove t spikes. Tera steel is my preference to give you better resistance and help outlive moves that would normally KO you to then KO back.

Your other mons look good as is. But like I said, "I am going to make suggestions to tweak your current team and leave some mons for you to try out which I have found to be good counters to the aforementioned."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Useful Mons​

Gholdengo @ Air Balloon
Ability: Good as Gold
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Recover/ thunderbolt/ thunder wave
- Nasty Plot/ thunderbolt/ thunder wave
- Shadow Ball
- Make It Rain

Ghost is becoming more and more mandatory in this gen. With gholdengo, not only can you spin and defog block, but you can also pivot into status moves. Not to mention this set completely walls ursaluna and helps give you another ground immunity for as long as you keep your air balloon in tact.


Zamazenta @ Leftovers
Ability: Dauntless Shield
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Body Press
- Heavy Slam
- Iron Defense/ crunch
- Substitute/ crunch

A defensive monster that also walls Chien-pao. Not to mention it's faster than Pao too. Although you'd be going over to the dark side using this mon, sometimes to beat them you have to join them.

and are also monsters and really good wall breakers that I would check out. Although, again, dark side and all that.

Don't forget that the dondozo you have is a good matchup into andtoo.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ANYWAY, as I said, it's going to be pretty difficult to help with teams over these next couple of weeks. Or maybe I am just dumb and someone can make better suggestions than I. I still say we ban the top 20 most used mons after a month...
Eh, see me once July rolls around. Good Luck!

Thanks for the suggestions! Heatran has felt like the weakest member of the team so I’ll definitely try clodsire out. The biggest problem I’ve had has been with regieleki so that might be a good option. Ursaluna and urshifu haven’t been massive issues as long as breloom is still around. The others are hit or miss but I feel like I can manage most of the threats you mentioned.

Hey, seeing the swap from to made me wonder, if a with Choice Specs wouldnt be better than the .
You could run

Dragapult @ Choice Specs
Ability: Infiltrator
Tera Type: Dragon (idk if dragon Tera would be that good)
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Flamethrower
- Hex
- Shadow Ball

And youd have a nice Special Attacker which outspeeds most threats and it profits from T-Spikes with Hex.
Also it might be a useful Counter to .

[also i forgot to say, i really like the team as it is right now, its just hard to say how it will perform in the newish meta]

Funny enough I actually originally had dragapult on the team instead of hydreigon, but as an attacker. I wanted a strong special attacker and a ground immunity so I swapped him out for hydreigon.