SV OU Finally picked up OU (recovering randbat addict) high effort post pls help I wanna be the very best

[JaberChimcharYT]

Hi, I just started OU yesterday after becoming a randbats degen and spending my whole summer laddering (started in May, peaked 1950). I was able to break 1500 in OU today with this team, which is an extremely basic meta squad, so I'm not going to write too much about the picks. I don't care very much about using Pokemon "I like," I just want to ladder as efficiently as possible. That being said, I do hate certain mons and refuse to use them, namely Hattrene, Garganacl, and Alomolola. Also, this might sound somewhat dystopian to old-heads, but I built this team almost entirely using ChatGPT and usage statistics. Here's my ChatGPTeam:

Samurott (Samurott-Hisui) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Sharpness
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Ceaseless Edge
- Sucker Punch
- Razor Shell
- Taunt

Samu's role is pretty obvious, she sets hazards with Ceaseless Edge, prevents opponent setup with taunt, and sucker punch is prio to get in some extra damage if she's outsped at 1hp. Razor shell's just some water stab for pressure. Tera ghost has actually won me a few games early by blocking fighting moves to get early picks, and also spin blocks which is gud tek

Gholdengo @ Air Balloon
Ability: Good as Gold
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Make It Rain
- Shadow Ball
- Recover
He's my Gho-to pivot blocking defog and rapid spin. Dude he gets so much utility, I switch him in when I predict status moves, ground moves, normal moves, fighting moves, his goated ability even blocks random non-damaging moves like Trick. Non-boosted make it rain and shadow ball hit plenty of viable mons strong enough, and NP turns him into a beast. The only thing is Recover, maybe this is cuz of misplays, but I hardly ever get to use it because of his lackluster speed. Maybe I switch for a dazzling gleam to hit Zamazenta?

Great Tusk @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Knock Off
- Headlong Rush
- Ice Spinner
Not much to say, he's an OU staple apparently. Clears hazards and a good switch in against a ton of common opponents. Knock off to strip items and obviously coverage along with ice spin. Tera water seems decent but I also never used it so far. Only thing is headlong rush leaves him super vulnerable, especially to special moves. I thought about switching it for EQ, but everyone runs it so idk.

Raging Bolt @ Booster Energy
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 20 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Thunderclap
- Dragon Pulse
- Thunderbolt
I hate the paradox pokemon names so he's ancient raikou to me. Booster energy makes him strong enough, but if I get a calm mind off he's dummy powerful. Tclap is clutch especially lategame, dragon pulse is reliable stab and can predict ohko switchins like lando-T and great tusk. Thunderbolt hits hard. Tera fairy to check opposing dragon stabbers and zamazenta

Dragonite @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Multiscale
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Extreme Speed
- Earthquake
- Roost
Often sweeps even with only one DD and tera normal, EQ for ground coverage and prediction roosts on switch in. Love him

Kingambit @ Black Glasses
Ability: Supreme Overlord
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Kowtow Cleave
- Sucker Punch
- Iron Head
U know why he's here. Pretty ironic that a chess-inspired mon has created a metagame so reliant on prediction and 50-50s. If I predict an attack, I sucker punch. If I predict a sucker punch, I hit SD. If I predict a SD, I hit Kowtow cleave. If I predict a switch to a dark-resist or steel-weak mon, iron head. For now, there are a lot of cooler people than me running unviable teams, so iron head is fine, but when I come across more enemy Kingambits I will change it to either Tera blast fairy or low kick. Maybe jolly nature as well to outspeed them? Suggestions appreciated.

Right now my team's main struggle is Zamazenta. When he gets even one ID off all my physical attackers are completely walled, Dengo can often chip if he's >60% HP but otherwise gets crunched out of existence. Ancient raikou is my only reliable check but if I already popped Tera or if he's even a little chipped it's usually wraps. I would appreciate any and all advice, and good luck laddering to all of you (unless you face me)

 

[Praise The Salt]

So I think where you need to start is you need to pick a goal/direction. Usually lead sash Sam is paired with lando to create a hazard based offense. As it stands this is sort of a hazards offense with no rocks and too many physical attackers. If you're having fun/success with that idea, maybe we could rewind to starting with the sam lando gholdengo core and going from there?

 

[toshimelonhead]

It's not too dystopian building teams with AI, and it's honestly not too far off from a functional laddering team at the level you play Randbats. AI gave you a good start here and the six mons you picked do form a cohesive team. Set wise I would definitely switch Knock Off for Stealth Rock on Great Tusk like Praise the Salt hinted at because Stealth Rock is not negotiable for building an SV OU team. Samurott-Hisui could run a bulkier set with Flip Turn over Taunt or Encore, but I wouldn't make any adjustments other than that. Your biggest ladder gains are going to be from improving your distress tolerance. Garg, Hatterene, and Alomomola are annoyers as much as they are threats. You have options to handle all three, but my read is each of these wear you down and cause maybe even some tilt. A lot of Dragonites now run Dragon Dance plus Encore to take advantage of Zamazenta (OST finals were won based on this interaction).

Speaking as someone who has also delved into Randbats recently, the adjustment to SV OU play isn't that steep but does require better knowledge of incomplete information. Randbats sets often get restricted by a handful of moves and Tera types, while SV OU sets can run Tera types that change almost by the month. It's too fast for AI to keep up with (imagine even typing that but it's true). ChatGPT is normally about a year behind by design so that it has enough training data to handle nuances like this so it wouldn't suggest that shift, but it's a good one to make if you want to try it. I added the Smogdex set for reference and slapped on Extreme Speed a few Tera types to try for it. I slashed in Covert Cloak as an option depending how much you want to deal with Garganacl.

Outside of that, I really wouldn't touch much. Anything more is overdoing it at this point. Good luck with the team!


Dragonite @ Heavy-Duty Boots / Covert Cloak
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Tera Type: Flying / Ghost / Fairy / Normal
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Tera Blast
- Earthquake / Extreme Speed
- Encore

Knock Off -> Stealth Rock