A Drought Team (Peaked 115th, then I got reset?)

[InSiiDiOuS]

Hey guys, this is my first RMT describing my most successful team on PO. I am kind of stuck about how to make my team better, as every team can improve, this is why I posted it here on the RMT Thread, so, any and all criticism is welcomed, thanks in advance.

At a glance:

In depth:

Ninetales @ Leftovers
Timid 92 SpD/164 Spe/252 HP
-Flamethrower
-Will-O-Wisp
-Protect
-Subsitute​

~Ninetales, no Drought team should leave home without one, this is, obviously, my weather starter for the team. I wanted to take a more defensive and 'annoyer' approach to Ninetales, one that was abled to weaken weather starters and others as well. The EVs are obvious for just that, giving me considerable bulk especially on the special side. WOW is for crippling physical threats and flamethrower is for STAB, sub protect just to rack up burn damage and maximize leftovers for me.~​

Heatran @ Air Balloon
Modest 252 Spe/252 SpA/4 HP
-Fire Blast
-Dragon Pulse
-Earth Power
-Stealth Rocks / Taunt​

~Absorbs incoming fire type attacks that threaten some of my team members, packs a decent punch too. Main purpose of this guy is to revenge kill opposing Heatrans which really put a damper on my plans. Fire Blast is for powerful STAB especially in the Sun, the rest of the moves are for coverage and utility, Taunt stops pokemon trying to set up while SR is there to damage pokes on the switch.~​

Venesaur @ Life Orb / Leftovers
Lonely 252 SpA/ 252 Spe/ 4 Atk
-Growth
-Energy Ball
-Earthquake / Return
-Hidden Power [Fire]​

~The premier sun sweeper of the fifth generation. This guy packs a pretty big punch after a growth boost in the sun, and can be a difficult pokemon to handle in the right situations. The EVs are to make Venesaur a speedy and powerful threat. I chose a lonely nature so that Venesaur can go mixed and take out certain pokemon that wall the other moves on this set, like Heatran. He also absorbs Toxic Spikes for my team which Volcarona greatly appreciates.~​

Infernape @ Life Orb
Jolly 252 Atk/ 252 Spe/ 4 HP
-Flare Blitz
-Close Combat
-U-Turn
-Mach Punch / Stone Edge / Rock Slide​

~Infernape, this guy was a complete monster in the DPP metagame and with good reason. The flaming monkey returns this generation to OU. This guys Flare Blitz and Close Combat can deal crazy amounts of damage if unresisted, and the sun boosts Flare Blitz even more. This guy helps me pound special walls that try to wall some of my other sweepers and with Tyranitar, an opposing weather starter.~​

Donphan @ Leftovers
Impish 252 Def/252 HP/4 Atk
-Stealth Rocks
-Rapid Spin
-Earthquake
-Roar​

~This guy is mainly for utility, while Donphan is normally outclassed by Forretress as a spinner and layer of traps, Forretress just does not fit on my team as the sun cripples Forretress even further. The set is pretty standard allowing Donphan to take physical hits like a champ and retaliate with a decently powerful earthquake. The EVs and nature is to provide the best possible survivability against opposing physical attacks. The reason I wanted a spinner is to alleviate Volcarona's 4x weakness to Stealth Rock and my other team members' lack of Levitate to stop the likes of Spikes and Toxic Spikes, although Venesaur gets rid of Toxic Spikes much better due to his ability to absorb them upon entering the battlefield.~​

Volcarona @ Leftovers
Bold 252 HP/252 Def/4 SpD
-Quiver Dance
-Fiery Dance
-Bug Buzz
-Morning Sun / HP [Ground] / Subsitute?​

~The MVP of my team for sure, I absoloutely love this guy in the sun, he's an complete monster if he gets a chance to set up. I've 6-0d numerous people with just Volcarona and sun support from Ninetales. It typically works out that I set up on bulky waters, they scald to do minimal damage, thinking they are wearing me down, I simply get 3-4 boosts then I recover off all the damage with Morning Sun, and procede to either sweep or get even more boosts. One thing I have noticed that I absoloutely hate on Volcarona is Toxic. Considering Subsitute to patch up that weakness, although I will lose my Morning Sun. . . Also considering HP Ground to surprise Heatran and Chandelures that try to wall me.~​

So thats the team, again, I appreciate all criticism to help make this team better.​

Thanks again.​

Importable:​

Hide

Ninetales (M) @ Leftovers​

Trait: Drought
EVs: 252 HP / 92 Def / 164 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Flamethrower
- Will-O-Wisp
- Protect

Volcarona (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Flame Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Quiver Dance
- Fiery Dance
- Bug Buzz
- Morning Sun

Donphan (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
- Roar

Venusaur (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Lonely Nature (+Atk, -Def)
- Growth
- Energy Ball
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Infernape (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Blaze
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Flare Blitz
- Close Combat
- U-turn
- Mach Punch

Heatran (M) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Stealth Rock
- Earth Power
- Dragon Pulse

 

[Vemane]

Oooh I just faced you on the PO ladder :o

Anywaysss the main flaw with this team was lack of focus and synergy.

There are farrr too many set-up sweepers, so I would replace tran with scarf darmanitan (adamant, flare blitz+u-turn+fillers) as it is a powerhouse and flare blitz can destroy the metagame (ie, flare blitz everything)

I'd try a more specially defensive ninetales with a more annoying moveset:Will-o-wisp, c-ray, sub, and flamethrower. If that doesn't appeal to you, a sub, cm, solarbeam, flamethrower set is fantastic with max speed and max hp. It is capable of dealing with many threats. Leafeon should be switched with clorophyll venasaur with Growth, EQ, Solarbeam, HP-Fire as it can hold its own even without the set-up and they can play the same roles.

Blissey can be switched out for something else if using sp def ninetales, otherwise putting rocks over wish and replacing protect with softboiled will help a ton as rocks are perfect for an offensive sun team as they provide that bit of extra damage. You definitely need a spinner though and cloyster doesn't work all that well. Maybe forry can do better with rocks (if replacing blissey)or spikes, volt switch, counter, and rapid spin

 

[what123]

attacking ninetails suck. Go defensive, as you keep him around longer for more weather domancy. Get rid of cloyster, as water types on a sun team are not a good idea, you lose a STAB. Change blissey to chansey with evolite. Yuo can keep the same moves on it, the job stays the same, but you might want to keep wish on chansey.

 

[Jmaculas]

The lack of stealth rocks is disturbing, you only have blissey as a dedicated wall which isn't good. Change Heatran to a defensive one with stealth rocks.


Leafeon's coverage kind of sucks, try return or even natural gift for things that resist bug/grass because aerial ace is too weak.

 

[InSiiDiOuS]

How about switching to a troll Spec defense Ninetales, and dropping Blissey for Starmie? Starmie to spin allowing Volcarona to switch in easier as that was mainly the purpose for for wish. Dropping Tran for Darmanitan. This seems feesable, but I still lack rocks, maybe leafeon out for something with rocks?

 

[Crona]

Water types in sun=bad idea, like already stated.
I like the forry suggestion, as it's easy to bait fire and tran comes in.

 

[InSiiDiOuS]

After some thinking, I came up with Physical LO Infernape, he provides scouting, priority, and a way to dispose of blissey and ttar easily in the form of close combat, plus STAB Sun boosted Flare Blitz can put a dent in many things.

I then decided on mixed Venesaur. He absorbs toxic spikes thus aiding Volcarona, and can deal with some threats like heatran.

Next I added a standard Donphan. He provides me with a physical wall, rapid spinner, and can KO some pokes with EQ.

Finally, I changed my Heatran to modest balloon set that will also carry rocks or maybe taunt.

I will update the team tomorrow, Blissey, Cloyster, and Leafeon will be removed. Changes will be made to Heatran and Ninetales.

Thanks for the input guys, keep it coming!

 

[Dark Pulse]

(unfinished rate)
might I suggest swapping Leafeon over for Sawsbuck? Sawsbuck may have less speed and attack than Leafeon, and with No Leaf Blade, but Sawsbuck has access to STAB Return, as well as Nature Power (EQ) Jump Kick and Wild Charge. These moves make Sawsbuck a much better option than Leafeon...

as for swapping Blissey, Might I suggest a Spiker? While you have a spinner in Foretress, Sun needs Spikes to fight other weathers. Tyranitar and Hippowdon both take more damage from spikes than they would from Rocks, and Nobody puts a Balloon on Politoed. I'm not sure what to use, but I know that if you are going to have a hazard on a sun team, you need spikes in 1st priority...

 

[InSiiDiOuS]

Well, I agree that spikes are always useful, there aren't any spikes user that are extremely viable in the sun. Pokemon that carry have their fire weaknesses magnified quite a bit, and because of that, it may not be possible to find a spot of my team for one. If you have any suggestions other than forry, ferro, or skarm I'd be happy to check them out.

 

[Dark Pulse]

^That's actually a good thing their fire weakness is magnified, Slap a Pokemon who can abuse Flash fire on, and you have the Gen 5. Version of Gyarados + Electivire

 

[Smith]

Don't quite have time for a rate per se but as a quick note- you say Forry is bad on sun teams. Forretress is AWESOME on sun teams precisely BECAUSE of his 4x sun weakness. If he was, for example, pure Steel, then the sun would definitely hinder him and prevent him from taking fire attacks as well as he could previously; in fact, with any typing not 4x fire weak you are hindered by the sun. This doesn't apply to Forretress. Fire attacks do the exact same amount to Forretress in the sun as they do out of the sun- 100% (with Sturdy but bleh). If anything the sun helps him set up on water types that would otherwise be too strong for him. Just some clarification!

EDIT: Oh and slow Volt Switch whenever a Heatran or Tyranitar switches in, only to go to a Dugtrio, is Priceless.

 

[BTzz]

Hey, cool team. I'll just be making the nitpicks I make with most sun teams. Excadrill is banned so your Ninetales spread is pretty pointless. I recommend a Calm nature with a spread of 252 HP / 148 SDef / 108 Spd. This spread allows Tales to outspeed max speed Politoed and Breloom. I think your team need some extra bulk on Ninetales with all your sun abusers. Also swap Flamethrower for Overheat .Ninetales rarely gets the chance to attack twice and the extra power is nice sometimes when you need to revenge kill something. Also run Leftovers over Air Balloon on Heatran. Air Balloons main purpose on Heatran was to switch into Excadrill, but he's dead now. Leftovers is much more useful since Heatran will have to switch into so many attacks for your team (being your only steel type). Speaking of Heatan, like I said he has to switch into so many attacks so Max HP over max speed would bennifit your team. Once your opponent catches a glimse of the sets power, they'll just assume your running max speed and you'll force the same switches.

good luck!

 

[InSiiDiOuS]

Hmm interesting comments, I see why Forry could be good then with tran, but leftovers on heatran would eliminate my ability to take out opposing trans, but I guess Infernape could revenge with close combat. Thoughts?
Thanks a lot for the EVs for Ninetales! And the rate I appreciate it, will try the tran EVs too.

 

[AB2]

Hey, this looks like a pretty cool team. A pretty huge weakness that I notice off the bat is that opposing Volcarona may pose a huge problem to this team. Volcarona, particularly variants that pack hidden power rock, actually have a pretty good chance at easily sweeping this team clean. Although you pack roar on Donphan, Volcarona can easily set up on most of the team members on this team with little to no worry. For a simple fix, I would run roar on Heatran in the fourth slot, while swapping roar for ice shard on Donphan. This allows you to pretty much patch up any weakness that this team has to opposing Volcarona while giving you a decent way to handle other threats such as Landorus which can actually be pretty annoying to this team. As for a small change on your Volcarona, I would run 52 speed evs. This allows you to outrun most Gliscor that you will come across meaning that Volcarona will be able to easily decimate common cores found on sandstream teams such as Gliscor / Jirachi / Rotom-W provided that you have the weather advantage.

Speaking of threats such as Landorus, I think that this team could really benefit from a ground immunity. It is pretty vital, especially for teams such as this to have a crucial ground immunity especially when pivoting around 'mons such as Gliscor and the like. This is why bulky dragon dance Dragonite would work pretty well on this team. It gives you a pretty excellent ground immunity, while still allowing you to maintain a great offensive presence with multiscale and dragon dance. Dragonite is especially useful for being able to set up on a majority of the metagame, including some important threats such as other auto weather inducers which can be very crucial to the success of this team. If you decide to opt for Dragonite, I would run a set of dragon dance / roost / outrage / fire punch with maximum attack and speed and a lum berry. This will allow you to muscle your way through more defensive cores with fire punch and outrage which can open up a sweep for your team later on. Although Infernape works great on this team, I feel that it is pretty obviously the weakest link. A ground immunity is necessary for almost any team, and especially for sun based teams so I think that Dragonite would work much better. gl.

 

[InSiiDiOuS]

I like your suggestion of roar on tran a lot actually, but donphan is probably gone for forretress anyway to lure pokes to carelessly use fire attacks to help heatran, so rocks can go in favor of roar, thanjs for that.

And about Infernape, on paper he may seem weak but he is actually a great cleanup sweeper for late game. Another VERY important role for Infernape is to take out Heatran. Balloon variants are especially hard to deal with, but maybe I can try Dragonite over him.

Thanks for the rate :D

 

[New World Order]

Hi, this is overall a pretty good sun team, most of what needs to be fixed has already been said. I would like to second the idea of Forretress over Donphan. Donphan is actually a horrendous rapid spinner because it does not resist Toxic Spikes. Its lack of reliable recovery further augments this problem. If your opponent gets Toxic Spikes up, Donphan's longetivety will be drastically cut down and since Toxic Spikes is usually paired with a spinblocker. Donphan will be down for the count before it accomplishes anything. As Smith already stated, Forretress was never going to survive a fire move anyways except maybe an unboosted unSTABed Fire Punch. Another reason to use Forretress over Donphan is access to Spikes. For a sun team, Spikes are arguably a more important entry hazard than Stealth Rocks simply because it helps with weather wars. After just one layer, Spikes deals the same damage to Politoed and more damage to Tyranitar. Once you get 3 layers up, those two lose a quarter of their health upon switching in. Since Ninetails honestly has no business taking on Politoed and Tyranitar, so you want to limit their number of switchins. Volt Switch ensures Forretress is not setup bait and lets you get away from the likes of Heatran and Magnezone (on the switchin).

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Forretress @ Leftovers
Sturdy
Bold
252 Hp/ 176 Def/ 80 SpD
- Spikes
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Volt Switch

With Forretress' Spikes support, I'd also like to suggest a different Ninetails set: Sunny Day Ninetails. I stole this set from Grimm70, made a couple adjustments, added Spikes support, and damn this thing was good. With Sunny Day, Ninetails can change the weather as Politoed and Tyranitar come in, nullifying the opponent's efforts to change the weather and forcing the opposing summoner to switch out. With Spikes support, Politoed and Tyranitar will be worn down very quickly throughout the course of a match, having to take anywhere from 12.5%-37.5% just to come in only to have to come out immediately after due to Sunny Day. Repeat this strategy until Tyranitar and Politoed have been weakened to ~50%, and then BAM! Use Solarbeam to finish them off, this strategy wins you so many weather wars its not even funny. EVs ensure Ninetails outspeeds all non Scarf Ttar/ Politoed. 128 Hp EVs give you 319 Hp, which ensure you take minimum damage from entry hazards (not divisible by 16). Max Special Attack so Solarbeam can pack some oomph behind it. The rest are dumped into Special Defense. Fire Blast for STAB, Protect for HP whoring.

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Ninetails @ Leftovers
Drought
Modest
128 Hp/ 252 SpA/ 20 SpD/ 108 Spe
- Sunny Day
- Fire Blast
- Solarbeam
- Protect

Change Volcorona's EVs to 224 Hp/ 252 Def/ 8 SpD/ 24 Spe. 24 Speed ensures that at +1, Volcorona outspeeds base 115s, most notably Starmie. This is especially important in the rain, as you can now OHKO Starmie with Bug Buzz, whereas normally, you would have to eat a Hydro Pump which even in the sun is not fun. 224 Hp EVs give you 357 Hp, which allows Volcorona to take minimum damage from entry hazards while still maintaining solid physical bulk. Physical defense is maximized for obvious reasons and the rest is dumped into Special Defense.

Finally, your team gets absolutely torn apart by Terrakion. Everybody gets rocked hard by CB Terrakion's Close Combat/ Stone Edge. Double Dance variants can run straight through your team bar Donphan/ Forretress (use Forretress, trust me) who can both still be beaten down due to their lack of recovery. To help with this, I suggest swapping Venusaur for a Tangrowth. With its incredible physical bulk, Tangrowth can take an unboosted move and retaliate with Power Whip. If Terrakion opts to use SD instead of RP, it and CB versions are outsped and KOed. Hidden Power Fire as obligatory pseudo STAB. Rock Slide to take down dragons that resist the combination of Power Whip and HP Fire. Sleep Powder lets you cripple something for pretty much the rest of the match, making life much easier, whereas Growth lets it act as a stronger but slower Venusaur. Pick one of the two.

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Tangrowth @ Life Orb
Chlorophyll
Naughty
252 Atk/ 252 Spe/ 4 SpA
- Power Whip
- Hidden Power Fire
- Rock Slide
- Sleep Powder/ Growth

GL.

 

[Reiko]

I like how your team just fucking abuses sun! But here's what I think
Obviously Your very specially based being a sun team so Blissey, Chansey, Jellicent and Others will be a problem so instead of running Volcarona you could run Sawsbuck Ik ik weak ass Sawsfuck but really if you don't have him Special Walls will fuck you up. If you do use that then you really don't need Donphan so maybe run Dragon Dance Dragonite Idc what you are +1 sun boosted Fire Punch will Do Damage
Just throwing this out there!
Hope I Helped :]

 

[InSiiDiOuS]

@New World Order
Thanks for the rate, EXACTLY the set I was trying out on Forry earlier today, and it seemed to be carrying quite a bit more weight than Donphan ever did. I'll look into replacing Venesaur for your Tangrowth and I'll see if I like Growth or Sleep Powder more, honestly I'm guessing I'll go for Growth just to make him that much more dangerous and I dislike Powder's accuracy because I seem to miss everything not at 100 accuracy (I'm looking at you Stone Edge). I also have tried out Sunny Day awhile back with decent success, but now that I'll be running more hazards, it might help with residual damage on other weather starters, I'll look into it again. As for Volcarona, I'll change the EVs next time I get the chance because in the rain, that is a fairly important benchmark, thanks a lot for the advice :)

@kobra Infernape deals with this and Chansey/Blissey won't enjoy residual damage very much. EQ on Venesaur also helps with physical walls abd Jellicent hates to take +2 dragon balls to the face. Thanks for the rate and I lol'd at your first comment

 

[Pocket]

NWO made some great suggestions. However, I wouldn't say Donphan is inferior to Forretress. I would say it's actually superior in terms of Rapid Spinning, since it has access to Odor Sleuth, meaning it can Rapid Spin even if the opponent has a spinblocker. If your Volcarona is your main sweeper, then getting hazards off > getting Spikes. If you ever find Rapid Spinning a problem with Forretress, I suggest using a Donphan set I'm using in my Sun Team. Another plus is that it actually has offensive presence, letting it take on Terrakion with EQ and Dragonite with Stone Edge, etc. Since Stealth Rocks is replaced over Odor Sleuth, I'd recommend putting Stealth Rocks on Heatran.

Donphan

Goodyear (Donphan) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Rapid Spin
- Odor Sleuth

If you want to stick with Forretress, however, at least give it Gyro Ball, so it can actually dish out damage to things like Terrakion. Since you have Heatran, let Heatran set up SR. You need to give it Relaxed Nature, 0 Spe IVs and dump those SDef EVs into Atk (~88 Atk EVs) so it has a good chance at scoring an OHKO on Terrakion and 2HKO on Landorus.

For Volcarona, I'd actually consider pumping its Speed up to 249 (52 Spe EVs). This will not only ensure you that you outrun defensive Gliscor, Jirachi, Celebi, which can try doing funky things to your Volcarona, but also makes Volcarona faster than CBTar, Alakazam, and Dugtrio after a DD, which may come in handy. If you decide to do this go with 240 HP / 216 Def.

If you dont mind being slower than Dugtrio, at the very least give it 8 more Spe EVs to reach 244 Speed, enough to outrun Scarftar. Give it 248 HP / 228 Def in that case.

For Tangrowth, I'd probably stick with Lefties. That way it can even take on ScarfTerrakion, which would be a bane to Volcarona. Scarf Terrakion does 46~55% with Clocse Combat, so that Lefties recovery would minimize the chance of Tangrowth being OHKOed.