What's up everyone, it's D Gym Teacher. Been a long time that I've posted something and even a longer time that I play Showdown. Players and especially veterans probably remember me (Lef Deppard, Jon Bovi, D Gym Teacher) grinding the gen6, 7 and gen8 natdex OU ladder with the OG elephant pokemon Donphan. I was ready to get back into action with my boy in gen9 but Donphan got lucky with one of the greatest OU mon of all time: Great Tusk. I've built a few teams with the popular proboscidean and I am proud to present to you the best one so far, one that reached an ELO peak of 2123 with 88.4 GXE. This is a balanced team revolving around 2 breakers / sweepers and 4 support mons. Without further ado, let's dive into it! (Pokepaste at the end).
Proof of peak:
And here are some replays :)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2484597827-jo7k0i4u4m1w2snm58dvnrjy1br1al3pw?p2
Vs Coldsnow screens team.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2472694265-64d45okjbfhedlsmq6lhs4gdeetjf23pw?p2
VS Heileone CB Mamoswine team.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2489187125-abxpbwqo9rt9upg79vdc6nhjidw3mvvpw?p2
VS Grassy terrain balance.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2487552767-1ivwqbk9ncgkbt7fidkxrljkc97wya5pw?p2
VS Hoenn_Confirmed Skeledirge bulky offense.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2488831183-hsk903ngumwt3go9o82fo3stgco0slwpw
VS a Magnezone + Mismagius team... on 1964 ladder rating, the fight that I peaked! Shoutout to the player reaching top 30 with those 2 original picks!
Loxodonta (Great Tusk) @ Leftovers / Heavyduty boots
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Headlong Rush
- Close Combat
- Ice Spinner
- Rapid Spin
My new favorite Pokemon, Great Tusk compresses a lot of roles on the team: spinner, gambit & raging bolt check and a potential win-con once everything is worn down. Max attack and speed for maximum power and the ability to outspeed Glimmora, Ghold, Rillaboom, Samurott, etc. I prefer leftovers for extra longetivity but HDB are also good for more reliable hazard removal (especially webs). Tera Steel sheds off a lot of its weaknesses to help it get a crucial spin off or an important kill. Close Combat is the secret ingredient: most players don't expect CC on Leftovers Tusk so they often leave their dark type (Ting lu, samurott, air balloon gambit, etc.) in front of it. Once the dark types are KOed or heavily damaged, it gives an opportunity for Pult to punch holes / clean the game with shadow ball. CC also baits Ogerpon-W: if Tusk spins on the switch-in, it has a good chance to KO with the following CC.
Alchemist (Slowking-Galar) (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Def / 140 SpA / 96 SpD / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Bomb
- Psyshock
- Flamethrower
- Ice Beam
Second we have Slowking-Galar with the AV. With it, Slowking can come in and deal with with many fairy type pokemon as well as different special attackers in the tier, especially the ones that are trying to boost like Iron Moth, Raging Bolt, CM Iron Valiant, Primarina, Hatterene, etc. In a pinch, it can trade with Gholdengo, Walking Wake and Darkrai thanks to tera water. 16 defense EVs let it survive HDB / Scarf Meowscarada's Knock Off as well as Ceaseless Edge from Jolly Samurott-Hisui at full HP. 96 Spdef EVs help it survive 2 Earth Powers from Specs Kyurem. 4 speed Evs are for the mirror matchup: 2 psyshocks on Spdef Glowking does between 70.2% to 83.6%. The rest is dumped into Special attack, with the Modest nature boosting its damage even further. Sludge Bomb for STAB, super effective damage vs fairies and 30% poison chance. Psyshock helps it vs Iron Moth, CM Iron Valiant, Keldeo, Glimmora, etc. Flamethrower and Ice Beam are excellent coverage options to damage the common Ground and Steel types in the tier if they switch in directly.
Voyageur (Corviknight) (F) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Pressure
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
IVs: 30 Spe
- Brave Bird
- Iron Defense
- U-turn
- Roost
The main physically defensive wall on the team thanks to it's excellent typing. Rocky helmet helps it chip down common U-turn pivots so that they get in range of Great Tusk's and Dragapult's attacks. Tera Dragon is good vs the rain matchup but imo it's mostly about 1 (broken) mon in this tier: Ogerpon Wellspring. 30 Speed IVs is to outslow opposing corviknight so that you get the slow pivot. The EVs max out it's physical bulk: you could go with 124 Speed EVs to outspeed Adamant Kingambito and Iron Defense before it attacks: however, the matchup vs Wellspring gets even more dangerous. Also, with Tusk and H-Samurott on the team, we have 2 decent checks to the chess piece. The moves are pretty straightforward: Brave Bird is great STAB and hits Iron Valiant, Wellspring and Great Tusk for super effective damage and prevents Corv from being too passive. ID helps it beat physical threats 1 vs 1 like SD Gliscor, HDB and ID Zamazenta (without roar), H-Samurott, Ogerpon Wellspring and Dragonite: watch out for Encore for the latter two mons. U-turn let's Corviknight pivot around and Roost keeps it healthy.
P!nk (Clefable) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
- Moonblast
- Knock Off / Thunderwave
- Stealth Rock
- Moonlight
The second physical wall as well as the ''Glue'' on the team, Clefable helps counter specific threats like Cinderace lacking Gunk Shot and Garganacl. Leftovers for longetivity, Tera water to help it vs different matchups (Sun, offensive Cinderace, SD Iron Valiant and DD Kyurem for example). The EVs maximize the tanking abilities of the Fairy pokemon on the physical side. Moonblast is great STAB, Knock Off to get rid of annoying items like Rocky helmet on Corviknight and leftovers are Garganacl, which helps in longer games. Thunderwave is another option to slowdown dangerous threats like Iron Moth and Ogerpon Wellspring that might use you as setup fodder, but the utility of Knock Off is hard to pass up imo. Clefable is the SR user on the squad for 2 reasons: Our Great Tusk can now use CC instead of SR on it's moveset while opposing Tusks (the most popular hazard removal option) do not want to spin in front of Clef. Moonlight keeps it healthy, just be careful with potential snow / sand that might half your healing (RIP Softboiled, you are truly missed).
Jack (Samurott-Hisui) (M) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Sharpness
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 200 HP / 116 Atk / 192 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Cutter / Razor Shell
- Ceaseless Edge
- Knock Off / Encore / Sacred Sword
- Aqua Jet / Sucker Punch / Encore
Alright, now to the good stuff. I looove this starter pokemon, it can do a lot of things but not all at once (depending on the matchup, it's role is going to change). Samurott is our main ghost resist and a secondary Kingambit check, especially if we force tera ghost on it with Great Tusk. HDB is the preferred item since it prevents the otter from being worn down to quickly. I tried AV for a bit, but even with the boosted SpDef, hazard damage was kinda cancelling the added bulk. Tera fire protects it from burns from pokemon like Moltres, Dragapult and G-Weezing. It also flips a few of its weaknesses like fairy, bug and grass. 192 speed EVs reaches a 254 speed stat, which lets it outspeed Modest Heatran, Modest Raging Bolt and bulky Gholdengo (which usually runs between 60 and 196 speed EVs and a neutral nature). 200 HP lets it survive Freeze Dry from SubTect Kyurem on 15 out of 16 rolls. Adamant nature as well as the rest of the EVs help it boost its attacks: you also get a bonus point in attack, with 108 EVs hitting 306 attack and 112 EVs hitting 308 attack.
On to the moves: Aqua Cutter has a high crit chance and does no contact, while Razor Shell has a 50% defense drop and slightly more power. I prefer Aqua Cutter because it doesn't make contact and I hate missing at a crucial moment, but Razor Shell can be good to win vs defensive mons that try and stall you out. Ceasless Edge is awesome 90% of the time and helps support the team. Knock Off has great synergy with Spikes and gives you a 100% accurate dark STAB. Aqua Jet is nice priority (which my teams lacks): it is kinda weak vs neutral targets, so don't overestimate the move. Other options include Encore to lock in passive mons like Dondozo, Corviknight and Alomomola, Sacred Sword is a niche option to KO Kingambit and opposing H-Samurott, paving the way for Shadow ball bombing from Pult, and Sucker Punch is an alternative priority move: stronger but doesn't always work.
Bull's-eye (Dragapult) (F) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Clear Body / Infiltrator
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid / Modest Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt / Flamethrower / Will-o-Wisp
- U-turn
Lastly, the wallbreaker / cleaner of the team, Dragapult. Specs Pult is incredibly fast and brings firepower, which the team lacks. Clear Body is my preferred ability because it's a big F-you to web teams that do not have booster speed mons. Infiltrator is good vs screens and Substitute mons, however. IMO, if you choose Infiltrator as your ability, I suggest you put HDB on Tusk so that you have a better chance to spin the webs vs foes like Raging Bolt. Tera ghost makes Shadow Ball hit so hard, which can be crucial to net certain KOs during the match. Max Speed and Max special attack with a Timid nature makes it fast and furious. Modest nature can be considered for extra power, but losing the ability to speed tie the mirror matchup as well as Zamazenta is not worth it: the team really needs all the speed it can get. For the moveset, Draco Meteor let's it deal big damage early game, Shadow Ball is super spammable with it's 20% chance to lower Spdef being game changer at time. U-turn is for pivoting and gets nice chip damage on slower pokemons like Darkrai and Ogerpon Wellspring. Thunderbolt might seem odd, but deals good damage to specific threats like tera water Garganacl (a big counter to my team, especially with Curse) and Gliscor while still hitting Corviknight for super effective damage. If you want something for consistent, Flamethrower is for steel types that switch in to you like Kingambit and Iron Treads, while Will-o-Wisp cripples physical threats.
Dangerous threats and difficult matchups:
1-Ogerpon Wellspring
I hate this thing. Well, balance hates this thing. Corviknight kinda checks it, but a +2 tera water Ivy Cudgel nukes it + Brave Bird now deals neutral damage. Do not let it get into position to SD easily.
2-Screens
VS screen teams, you won't really be able to stop them from setting up their precious protection. What I usually do is lead with Clefable and Knock Off the screen setter (A-Ninetails, Deoxys-S, Dragapult, etc.). You really have to identify which party members have to check which treat on the opposing team, and then you trade one-for-one.
3-Iron Crown
With my team being kinda slow, Specs Crown can really punch holes into the team: using tera water on Glowking is usually the play, but if the opponent stacked multiple special attackers, things can get dicey. However, that's not the worst variant to face: booster speed Crown with CM is super dangerous, especially behind screens.
4-Specially oriented sun teams
Sun teams that stack Specs Walking Wake, Life Orb Raging Bolt and Growth Venusaur put a lot of pressure on Glowking. Play aggressive and trade intelligently. Dragapult can freely spam Shadow Balls on those structures, so try and abuse it before you get steamrolled.
5-Ghost Spam
H-Samurott being the only ghost resist on the team, be careful when facing a lot of ghost types: the water type starter can switch-in once or twice on shadow balls and poltergeists, so don't hesitate to attack often with Pult when given a chance or tera Glowking to ease the pressure on Samurott. Speaking of ghosts...
6-Ceruledge
That mon is very tricky to handle. You want to set hazards ASAP so that you break its potential Focus Sash. H-Samurott can deal with it, unless it reveals Close Combat. If things get out of hand, tera dragon Corviknight can flip its weakness to fire off huge damage to a -1 Ceruledge.
That's it for now, hope you guys have fun with the team! Nothing too fancy but I feel that these 6 can really work wonders in the OU metagame.
https://pokepast.es/676504574cc4f04f
Proof of peak:
And here are some replays :)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2484597827-jo7k0i4u4m1w2snm58dvnrjy1br1al3pw?p2
Vs Coldsnow screens team.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2472694265-64d45okjbfhedlsmq6lhs4gdeetjf23pw?p2
VS Heileone CB Mamoswine team.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2489187125-abxpbwqo9rt9upg79vdc6nhjidw3mvvpw?p2
VS Grassy terrain balance.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2487552767-1ivwqbk9ncgkbt7fidkxrljkc97wya5pw?p2
VS Hoenn_Confirmed Skeledirge bulky offense.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2488831183-hsk903ngumwt3go9o82fo3stgco0slwpw
VS a Magnezone + Mismagius team... on 1964 ladder rating, the fight that I peaked! Shoutout to the player reaching top 30 with those 2 original picks!
Loxodonta (Great Tusk) @ Leftovers / Heavyduty boots
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Headlong Rush
- Close Combat
- Ice Spinner
- Rapid Spin
My new favorite Pokemon, Great Tusk compresses a lot of roles on the team: spinner, gambit & raging bolt check and a potential win-con once everything is worn down. Max attack and speed for maximum power and the ability to outspeed Glimmora, Ghold, Rillaboom, Samurott, etc. I prefer leftovers for extra longetivity but HDB are also good for more reliable hazard removal (especially webs). Tera Steel sheds off a lot of its weaknesses to help it get a crucial spin off or an important kill. Close Combat is the secret ingredient: most players don't expect CC on Leftovers Tusk so they often leave their dark type (Ting lu, samurott, air balloon gambit, etc.) in front of it. Once the dark types are KOed or heavily damaged, it gives an opportunity for Pult to punch holes / clean the game with shadow ball. CC also baits Ogerpon-W: if Tusk spins on the switch-in, it has a good chance to KO with the following CC.
Alchemist (Slowking-Galar) (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Def / 140 SpA / 96 SpD / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Bomb
- Psyshock
- Flamethrower
- Ice Beam
Second we have Slowking-Galar with the AV. With it, Slowking can come in and deal with with many fairy type pokemon as well as different special attackers in the tier, especially the ones that are trying to boost like Iron Moth, Raging Bolt, CM Iron Valiant, Primarina, Hatterene, etc. In a pinch, it can trade with Gholdengo, Walking Wake and Darkrai thanks to tera water. 16 defense EVs let it survive HDB / Scarf Meowscarada's Knock Off as well as Ceaseless Edge from Jolly Samurott-Hisui at full HP. 96 Spdef EVs help it survive 2 Earth Powers from Specs Kyurem. 4 speed Evs are for the mirror matchup: 2 psyshocks on Spdef Glowking does between 70.2% to 83.6%. The rest is dumped into Special attack, with the Modest nature boosting its damage even further. Sludge Bomb for STAB, super effective damage vs fairies and 30% poison chance. Psyshock helps it vs Iron Moth, CM Iron Valiant, Keldeo, Glimmora, etc. Flamethrower and Ice Beam are excellent coverage options to damage the common Ground and Steel types in the tier if they switch in directly.
Voyageur (Corviknight) (F) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Pressure
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
IVs: 30 Spe
- Brave Bird
- Iron Defense
- U-turn
- Roost
The main physically defensive wall on the team thanks to it's excellent typing. Rocky helmet helps it chip down common U-turn pivots so that they get in range of Great Tusk's and Dragapult's attacks. Tera Dragon is good vs the rain matchup but imo it's mostly about 1 (broken) mon in this tier: Ogerpon Wellspring. 30 Speed IVs is to outslow opposing corviknight so that you get the slow pivot. The EVs max out it's physical bulk: you could go with 124 Speed EVs to outspeed Adamant Kingambito and Iron Defense before it attacks: however, the matchup vs Wellspring gets even more dangerous. Also, with Tusk and H-Samurott on the team, we have 2 decent checks to the chess piece. The moves are pretty straightforward: Brave Bird is great STAB and hits Iron Valiant, Wellspring and Great Tusk for super effective damage and prevents Corv from being too passive. ID helps it beat physical threats 1 vs 1 like SD Gliscor, HDB and ID Zamazenta (without roar), H-Samurott, Ogerpon Wellspring and Dragonite: watch out for Encore for the latter two mons. U-turn let's Corviknight pivot around and Roost keeps it healthy.
P!nk (Clefable) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
- Moonblast
- Knock Off / Thunderwave
- Stealth Rock
- Moonlight
The second physical wall as well as the ''Glue'' on the team, Clefable helps counter specific threats like Cinderace lacking Gunk Shot and Garganacl. Leftovers for longetivity, Tera water to help it vs different matchups (Sun, offensive Cinderace, SD Iron Valiant and DD Kyurem for example). The EVs maximize the tanking abilities of the Fairy pokemon on the physical side. Moonblast is great STAB, Knock Off to get rid of annoying items like Rocky helmet on Corviknight and leftovers are Garganacl, which helps in longer games. Thunderwave is another option to slowdown dangerous threats like Iron Moth and Ogerpon Wellspring that might use you as setup fodder, but the utility of Knock Off is hard to pass up imo. Clefable is the SR user on the squad for 2 reasons: Our Great Tusk can now use CC instead of SR on it's moveset while opposing Tusks (the most popular hazard removal option) do not want to spin in front of Clef. Moonlight keeps it healthy, just be careful with potential snow / sand that might half your healing (RIP Softboiled, you are truly missed).
Jack (Samurott-Hisui) (M) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Sharpness
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 200 HP / 116 Atk / 192 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Cutter / Razor Shell
- Ceaseless Edge
- Knock Off / Encore / Sacred Sword
- Aqua Jet / Sucker Punch / Encore
Alright, now to the good stuff. I looove this starter pokemon, it can do a lot of things but not all at once (depending on the matchup, it's role is going to change). Samurott is our main ghost resist and a secondary Kingambit check, especially if we force tera ghost on it with Great Tusk. HDB is the preferred item since it prevents the otter from being worn down to quickly. I tried AV for a bit, but even with the boosted SpDef, hazard damage was kinda cancelling the added bulk. Tera fire protects it from burns from pokemon like Moltres, Dragapult and G-Weezing. It also flips a few of its weaknesses like fairy, bug and grass. 192 speed EVs reaches a 254 speed stat, which lets it outspeed Modest Heatran, Modest Raging Bolt and bulky Gholdengo (which usually runs between 60 and 196 speed EVs and a neutral nature). 200 HP lets it survive Freeze Dry from SubTect Kyurem on 15 out of 16 rolls. Adamant nature as well as the rest of the EVs help it boost its attacks: you also get a bonus point in attack, with 108 EVs hitting 306 attack and 112 EVs hitting 308 attack.
On to the moves: Aqua Cutter has a high crit chance and does no contact, while Razor Shell has a 50% defense drop and slightly more power. I prefer Aqua Cutter because it doesn't make contact and I hate missing at a crucial moment, but Razor Shell can be good to win vs defensive mons that try and stall you out. Ceasless Edge is awesome 90% of the time and helps support the team. Knock Off has great synergy with Spikes and gives you a 100% accurate dark STAB. Aqua Jet is nice priority (which my teams lacks): it is kinda weak vs neutral targets, so don't overestimate the move. Other options include Encore to lock in passive mons like Dondozo, Corviknight and Alomomola, Sacred Sword is a niche option to KO Kingambit and opposing H-Samurott, paving the way for Shadow ball bombing from Pult, and Sucker Punch is an alternative priority move: stronger but doesn't always work.
Bull's-eye (Dragapult) (F) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Clear Body / Infiltrator
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid / Modest Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt / Flamethrower / Will-o-Wisp
- U-turn
Lastly, the wallbreaker / cleaner of the team, Dragapult. Specs Pult is incredibly fast and brings firepower, which the team lacks. Clear Body is my preferred ability because it's a big F-you to web teams that do not have booster speed mons. Infiltrator is good vs screens and Substitute mons, however. IMO, if you choose Infiltrator as your ability, I suggest you put HDB on Tusk so that you have a better chance to spin the webs vs foes like Raging Bolt. Tera ghost makes Shadow Ball hit so hard, which can be crucial to net certain KOs during the match. Max Speed and Max special attack with a Timid nature makes it fast and furious. Modest nature can be considered for extra power, but losing the ability to speed tie the mirror matchup as well as Zamazenta is not worth it: the team really needs all the speed it can get. For the moveset, Draco Meteor let's it deal big damage early game, Shadow Ball is super spammable with it's 20% chance to lower Spdef being game changer at time. U-turn is for pivoting and gets nice chip damage on slower pokemons like Darkrai and Ogerpon Wellspring. Thunderbolt might seem odd, but deals good damage to specific threats like tera water Garganacl (a big counter to my team, especially with Curse) and Gliscor while still hitting Corviknight for super effective damage. If you want something for consistent, Flamethrower is for steel types that switch in to you like Kingambit and Iron Treads, while Will-o-Wisp cripples physical threats.
Dangerous threats and difficult matchups:
1-Ogerpon Wellspring
I hate this thing. Well, balance hates this thing. Corviknight kinda checks it, but a +2 tera water Ivy Cudgel nukes it + Brave Bird now deals neutral damage. Do not let it get into position to SD easily.
2-Screens
VS screen teams, you won't really be able to stop them from setting up their precious protection. What I usually do is lead with Clefable and Knock Off the screen setter (A-Ninetails, Deoxys-S, Dragapult, etc.). You really have to identify which party members have to check which treat on the opposing team, and then you trade one-for-one.
3-Iron Crown
With my team being kinda slow, Specs Crown can really punch holes into the team: using tera water on Glowking is usually the play, but if the opponent stacked multiple special attackers, things can get dicey. However, that's not the worst variant to face: booster speed Crown with CM is super dangerous, especially behind screens.
4-Specially oriented sun teams
Sun teams that stack Specs Walking Wake, Life Orb Raging Bolt and Growth Venusaur put a lot of pressure on Glowking. Play aggressive and trade intelligently. Dragapult can freely spam Shadow Balls on those structures, so try and abuse it before you get steamrolled.
5-Ghost Spam
H-Samurott being the only ghost resist on the team, be careful when facing a lot of ghost types: the water type starter can switch-in once or twice on shadow balls and poltergeists, so don't hesitate to attack often with Pult when given a chance or tera Glowking to ease the pressure on Samurott. Speaking of ghosts...
6-Ceruledge
That mon is very tricky to handle. You want to set hazards ASAP so that you break its potential Focus Sash. H-Samurott can deal with it, unless it reveals Close Combat. If things get out of hand, tera dragon Corviknight can flip its weakness to fire off huge damage to a -1 Ceruledge.
That's it for now, hope you guys have fun with the team! Nothing too fancy but I feel that these 6 can really work wonders in the OU metagame.
https://pokepast.es/676504574cc4f04f
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