Powerful Sun (1st RMT)
This will be my first post on Smogon since I made this account mainly because the time at home during quarantine has gotten me back into mons. I decided to start playing again after I stopped mid Gen 7 out of boredom and just doing other things, but now that we're all locked up inside of our houses there isn't much to do other than make middling attempts to climb ladder using stolen teams or making your own. For the most part I've been doing the first choice of scouring the RMT teams for something that looks good. With this team I tried to make a sun team centered around two mons I thought would be good in this meta.
turtl (Torkoal) @ Heat Rock
Ability: Drought
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Lava Plume
- Yawn/Toxic
- Rapid Spin
For obvious reasons one of the most important factors of a sun team is the pokemon that sets up the sun. I decided that Torkoal, being one of the premier sun setters in this current meta would be an excellent choice. It also fills my teams slot for a hazard setter and remover due to having Stealth Rock and Rapid Spin. Sun boosted Lava Plume is strong enough to do valuable chip and potentially burn threatening switch-ins. For the last moveslot I personally prefer Yawn in order to get momentum against your opponent, something that is very important with a fast paced sun team, but Toxic is also a possible option to put a timer on mons. It is very important in my opinion to keep the mon relatively healthy due to the fact it is the only way of getting sun up on this sun oriented team
flowr (Venusaur) @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Growth
- Sludge Bomb
- Weather Ball
- Giga Drain
The current meta is so vulnerable to this mon to the point where if you don't have a weather mon to get rid of the sun before I can get a Growth off you're going to most likely lose a mon or two. This goes without saying the sweeping and cleaning potential late game granted Torkoal is still healthy. It can utilize Giga Drain in order to regain health and with a sun boosted Growth it does at the very least some modest chip. Sludge Bomb does a ton of damage to most mons and it kills the pesky fairy types running around OU. Weather Ball absolutely destroys all of the Steel types that would otherwise wall Venusaur as well as punishes frail mons that switch in and don't resist it.
monky (Darmanitan) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sheer Force
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Trick
Darmanitan's Flare Blitz hits like a truck on it's own, but with the sun up it's just a straight up nuke. Adamant Scarf puts it in a fair speed tier while maintaining the sheer power of Darm. U-turn is used to keep up momentum on potential switch-ins that can take a Flare Blitz. Earthquake is convenient coverage and Trick is able to cripple potential fatmons that could prevent a later sweep.
drago (Kommo-o) @ Leftovers
Ability: Bulletproof
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 Spe
Impish Nature
- Body Press
- Taunt
- Earthquake
- Iron Defense
Defensive Kommo-o is just an excellent glue mon in this meta and I'm happy to see it shine more in Gen 8 than it did in Gen 7. The combination of Body Press and Iron Defense makes it so it can pose an offensive threat to mons like Corviknight and Mandibuzz. Taunt is very valuable in this metagame in my opinion due to the commonality of heavy hazards and status balance teams that rely on pivoting and recovering using the broken Clef set. Earthquake just like on Darm is just for coverage.
goku (Zeraora) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Plasma Fists
- Close Combat
- Play Rough
- Grass Knot
In Gen 8 Zeraora no longer has to live in Tapu Kokos shadow (for now) which means it can really shine as a good offensive swiss army knife in OU with access to enough coverage moves and different sets that your opponent will be weary of it. For this set it is the all out attacker set rather than the Bulk Up set because I wanted it to carry the extra coverage move in order for it to better fill the previously mentioned "swiss army knife" role. Plasma Fist is a no-brainer due being Zeraoras signature move doing at least good chip against a good chunk of viable pokemon. Close Combat is good for doing good chip to most pokemon and great damage to steel types. Play Rough keeps those Dragon and Fighting type switch ins in check while doing decent chip to neutral switch ins. Grass Knot is to uproot those annoying pesky Seismetoads, Gastrodons, and a lot of damage to Hippodown, a very important pokemon for this team to try and get rid of ASAP.
birb (Mandibuzz) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 252 HP / 160 SpD / 96 Spe
Careful Nature
- Knock Off
- Roost
- U-turn
- Defog
This last slot on my team was the hardest to fill and it was originally filled by Xatu in order to be less vanilla Gen 8 OU but it wasn't fat enough. Mandibuzz is fat enough, but honestly I'm not sure how much it fits with what this team is trying to do. It provides hazard removal so this team doesn't get overwhelmed by spikes or webs with Defog. Knock Off can be annoying for fatmons because they could lose their passive recovery item or a wallbreaker can lose their choice item or whatever. U-turn once again is to keep up the momentum and stay one step ahead during matches.
I'm aware of the fact that this team may have some faults and one of the reasons I'm posting this here is I desire to improve this team. Any criticism is good criticism. Thank you and I hope that there are more posts than just this one for me here :)
Importable: https://pokepast.es/c1ee50a2db6ba89b
This will be my first post on Smogon since I made this account mainly because the time at home during quarantine has gotten me back into mons. I decided to start playing again after I stopped mid Gen 7 out of boredom and just doing other things, but now that we're all locked up inside of our houses there isn't much to do other than make middling attempts to climb ladder using stolen teams or making your own. For the most part I've been doing the first choice of scouring the RMT teams for something that looks good. With this team I tried to make a sun team centered around two mons I thought would be good in this meta.
turtl (Torkoal) @ Heat Rock
Ability: Drought
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Lava Plume
- Yawn/Toxic
- Rapid Spin
For obvious reasons one of the most important factors of a sun team is the pokemon that sets up the sun. I decided that Torkoal, being one of the premier sun setters in this current meta would be an excellent choice. It also fills my teams slot for a hazard setter and remover due to having Stealth Rock and Rapid Spin. Sun boosted Lava Plume is strong enough to do valuable chip and potentially burn threatening switch-ins. For the last moveslot I personally prefer Yawn in order to get momentum against your opponent, something that is very important with a fast paced sun team, but Toxic is also a possible option to put a timer on mons. It is very important in my opinion to keep the mon relatively healthy due to the fact it is the only way of getting sun up on this sun oriented team
flowr (Venusaur) @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Growth
- Sludge Bomb
- Weather Ball
- Giga Drain
The current meta is so vulnerable to this mon to the point where if you don't have a weather mon to get rid of the sun before I can get a Growth off you're going to most likely lose a mon or two. This goes without saying the sweeping and cleaning potential late game granted Torkoal is still healthy. It can utilize Giga Drain in order to regain health and with a sun boosted Growth it does at the very least some modest chip. Sludge Bomb does a ton of damage to most mons and it kills the pesky fairy types running around OU. Weather Ball absolutely destroys all of the Steel types that would otherwise wall Venusaur as well as punishes frail mons that switch in and don't resist it.
monky (Darmanitan) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sheer Force
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Trick
Darmanitan's Flare Blitz hits like a truck on it's own, but with the sun up it's just a straight up nuke. Adamant Scarf puts it in a fair speed tier while maintaining the sheer power of Darm. U-turn is used to keep up momentum on potential switch-ins that can take a Flare Blitz. Earthquake is convenient coverage and Trick is able to cripple potential fatmons that could prevent a later sweep.
drago (Kommo-o) @ Leftovers
Ability: Bulletproof
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 Spe
Impish Nature
- Body Press
- Taunt
- Earthquake
- Iron Defense
Defensive Kommo-o is just an excellent glue mon in this meta and I'm happy to see it shine more in Gen 8 than it did in Gen 7. The combination of Body Press and Iron Defense makes it so it can pose an offensive threat to mons like Corviknight and Mandibuzz. Taunt is very valuable in this metagame in my opinion due to the commonality of heavy hazards and status balance teams that rely on pivoting and recovering using the broken Clef set. Earthquake just like on Darm is just for coverage.
goku (Zeraora) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Plasma Fists
- Close Combat
- Play Rough
- Grass Knot
In Gen 8 Zeraora no longer has to live in Tapu Kokos shadow (for now) which means it can really shine as a good offensive swiss army knife in OU with access to enough coverage moves and different sets that your opponent will be weary of it. For this set it is the all out attacker set rather than the Bulk Up set because I wanted it to carry the extra coverage move in order for it to better fill the previously mentioned "swiss army knife" role. Plasma Fist is a no-brainer due being Zeraoras signature move doing at least good chip against a good chunk of viable pokemon. Close Combat is good for doing good chip to most pokemon and great damage to steel types. Play Rough keeps those Dragon and Fighting type switch ins in check while doing decent chip to neutral switch ins. Grass Knot is to uproot those annoying pesky Seismetoads, Gastrodons, and a lot of damage to Hippodown, a very important pokemon for this team to try and get rid of ASAP.
birb (Mandibuzz) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 252 HP / 160 SpD / 96 Spe
Careful Nature
- Knock Off
- Roost
- U-turn
- Defog
This last slot on my team was the hardest to fill and it was originally filled by Xatu in order to be less vanilla Gen 8 OU but it wasn't fat enough. Mandibuzz is fat enough, but honestly I'm not sure how much it fits with what this team is trying to do. It provides hazard removal so this team doesn't get overwhelmed by spikes or webs with Defog. Knock Off can be annoying for fatmons because they could lose their passive recovery item or a wallbreaker can lose their choice item or whatever. U-turn once again is to keep up the momentum and stay one step ahead during matches.
I'm aware of the fact that this team may have some faults and one of the reasons I'm posting this here is I desire to improve this team. Any criticism is good criticism. Thank you and I hope that there are more posts than just this one for me here :)
Importable: https://pokepast.es/c1ee50a2db6ba89b
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