So this team is pretty fun
I don't think it's a secret to anyone that sun is really fucking good this gen; and you might be tired of seeing it at this point, but I hope that this team has just enough Special Sauce to keep you interested. All of the Past Paradox mons getting a free boost from sun being active, combined with the fact that Fire is unironically a pretty decent defensive type right now, means that Torkoal doesn't end up being enough of a dead weight that I wouldn't want to use Sun at all, and I can cook up a team that actually sparks joy.
The recipe for this sun team, as with all good sun teams, begins with a baked tortoise. Pre-heat your oven to 180°C/360°F/Gas Mark 4 and let's begin.
This is a fairly standard Torkoal set that does basically exactly what you need it to do. It sets sun, maybe gets rocks if you can make turns, and spins hazards away if you can make even more turns. Tera Grass is for the usual, resist the ground moves that Torkoal hates taking if you think that burning your Tera will save you in a bad situation, though I personally find myself with very few reasons to ever click it. Tera Flying is an option too, becoming immune to the ground moves and the spikes that Torkoal can spin away for you, but leaving you slightly weaker to Ogrepon-Wellspring. Wellspring isn't really an issue for this team though and between the two secret sauces I have in store for you later I think it's pretty easily handled. You can absolutely lose to it if they make the craziest predicts of all time, but it's definitely in your favour.
Sunny Day is here because Galarian Slowking loves to come in on Torkoal just to immediately dip with Chilly Reception, and you're slower than it so if you click Sunny Day it basically gets no value. You can use that slot to option select for Dragonite and opposing Roaring Moon though, and run Will-O-Wisp or Burning Jealousy. I've also found use from Body Press, which synergises nicely with the Defense investment that you'd want anyway. Importantly, Will-O-Wisp and Burning Jealousy can both help you ensure that you don't lose to Iron-Press Zamazenta, which can become a problem for this team if you're not able to chip it early. Overall Torkoal is a pretty useful and versatile, albeit fairly standard, inclusion on this team.
Of course, no Sun team would be complete without Torkoal's partner in crime: Tall... Lady...?
I'm kinda in love with Hatterene this gen. Eject Button Hatterene is a classic partner for Torkoal on sun teams because of its ability to pivot in on attacks that her teammates hate to take, and punish it by either utilising the Eject Button momentum or reversing a U-Turn, or just annoyingly sitting in front of Ting-Lu Hazard Stack teams. The speed investment lets you reliably chip and Healing Wish against Ting-Lu and anything slower. Tera Steel is uhh... for... Fun? Yeah I think it's for fun. I sometimes click it to deny Mortal Coil from Glimmora if I think Rocks are key to winning the game, but since this team has no other spin denial, it's rarely worth it. I guess you can kinda use it to punish Great Tusk for trying to spin instead of just killing you, which can be a good way of making space for a Roaring Moon clean-up lategame. It also helps you not immediately lose to Iron-Press Zamazenta by taking them off guard for one turn to chip it, if you're like.... Fucking desperate, I guess. I've been flip-flopping between Mystical Fire and Psychic Noice, I don't think that either is necessarily better but I think overall Psychic Noise helps you more reliably beat the leftovers mons that like to pivot in to Hatt basically for free, because they usually heal off the damage next turn, and chipping them down slightly can make good headway for Great Tusk and Roaring Moon later on. All that to say, Torkoal's mom is pretty cool I guess.
Now we move on to the base of every good Secret Sauce: Olive Oil.
Arboliva is such a conceptually funny Pokémon to me, man. Like it's just a fucking olive tree. I think this set is helped immensely by the fact that nobody knows anything about this Pokémon. This is like one of those mons that got a little bit of play early gen because of some fun sounding abilities, and a stat spread that would have gone nuclear in gen 5, but in gen 9 it's comparatively just kinda a limp noodle. That special attack stat is nothing to scoff at though, and in sun with a Tera Fire boost, Arboliva's Weather Ball can snipe a genuinely surprising range of KOs, including Enamorus and Darkrai after rocks, Ogrepon-Wellspring, and uninvested Iron Valiant. People also always bring in their bulky steels thinking it's not gonna have Weather Ball and just get donked.
But we all know why you're here, you've seen the item+ability combo; Harvest in the sun with a Custap Berry will make you move first in your priority bracket every turn as long as you are below 25% HP. This is pretty good because, like I said, nobody knows snakes from dildos about this mon - they just see its bad speed and naively think they can KO it before it does anything meaningful. With near max HP investment you live a ton of stuff, too, not least of which is +Attack Protoboost Greak Tusk Headlong Rush into the following Ice Spinner if you click Tera Fire, and you recover most of your HP from the ensuing Giga Drain. You'd think that wouldn't be great because you need to have low HP to use your gimmick, but with Endure you can reliably set up the conditions for Custap Berry to trigger and catch unsuspecting players off guard. This mon does get hard walled by Glowking though, or at least needs to get crazy lucky with Earth Power Sp.Def drops to make progress against it - but this team has 3 more mons that all apply immense amounts of pressure to Glowking, as well as forcing it to come in to reset sun so they don't lose to your sun breakers. With Walking Wake you can force it to Tera-Water pretty consistently if they have it and then you reliably beat it with Giga Drain, and you don't even need to proc Custap. If they don't Tera Water or have already committed Tera to something else, Walking Wake can just nuke it in the sun by threatening a 2hko on most variants. If they're AV then good luck.
As mentioned, Weather Ball in the sun is Nuclear with Tera Fire, but even without you can still clip most fast and frail mons if you get rocks up or chip them with spin on the switch. If you play too aggressively with it you will lose to DDance Dragonite and Roaring Moon though so be warned. One of the benefits of sun teams with regards to opposing Roaring Moon is that, if sun is up, they will not consume their booster energy, and since we all know that Pokémon players don't fucking read, they won't realise this until it's too late and they don't actually kill your Great Tusk from full HP at +1 because they're rocking a base 55 power move. Earth Power is basically just for Heatran and fishing for drops against Glowking switch-ins. It can kinda help you beat Raging Bolt, but they can Tera Fairy and become immortal. If you're the greatest gamer of our generation though and you still have full HP, but have also somehow revealed Earth Power, you can call the Tera Fairy and just double nuke it with Weather Ball. The main things to look out for when fishing for a win condition with this set are priority moves. Once you've revealed Custap Berry, you will move first every turn, but only in your priority bracket. It's basically like +0.1 priority, you'll still die to Sucker Punch and Thunderclap, and all the mons who randomly got Vacuum Wave this gen for some godforsaken reason. Assuming your opponent is playing well, of course. I have won a few games where my opp just didn't realise they could click a priority move and win.
Okay, Arboliva has a big wall of text so let's follow up with a shorter analysis. Dinosaurs are fuckin rad dude look at this thing wh-
Specs Hydro Steam go brrrrrrr
I was torn between Timid and Modest for a while. As much as Modest does let you just blow past a bunch of shit without thinking, I was tired of getting outsped by Kyurem and Enamorus. I wanted to keep the Special Attack Protosynthesis Boost though because Hydro Steam in the sun still has some outright demonic calcs. Unfortunately you don't 2HKO Blissey since you're not Modest Gaming, but if they have a Blissey then Flip-Turn is usually a safe play anyway. Clodsire, Dondozo, and Alomomola all just fucking love to sit on you and eat Hydro Steams for breakfast, but none of them appreciate the Draco Meteor. Alomomola and Glowking can regen pivot you indefinitely though, and with Protect, Alo can scout you pretty reliably. You basically need to keep both Roaring Moon and Great Tusk healthy to make any progress against that core. You can swap Flamethrower for Weather Ball but I am yet to find a good reason to. You're never clicking Flamethrower outside of sun though so maybe it's worth, idk.
What would a gen 9 OU team be without Great Tusk? Probably not good.
Pretty standard Eject Pack Tusk set, except I've taken the liberty of replacing the standard Knock Off with Temper Flare. This is a great lure for Air Balloon Gholdengo that likes to come in on your STAB and spin, and also for the occasional Skarmory and Corviknight. In the sun you OHKO Corv and Skarm after rocks and without it you still OHKO Gholdengo, though it'll likely switch out fearing Knock Off the first time. I have forgotten what 240 speed investment was for but if anyone can figure it out I'd love it if you'd tell me. I know it was important though. Something to do with speed tiers after a spin? Idk. Ice Spinner is funny because once they see Temper Flare they never expect it, especially if their Landorus already forced you out with intimidate into your Eject Pack. It's a good set and a consistent mon idk what you want from me.
Oh Tera Steel is for uhh not losing to Iron Valiant in a desperation play. Happened more than once I am not proud.
Okay this is my favourite dumb mon on this team, I love this guy.
Scarf Roaring Moon will catch so many players off guard on low ladder and it's basically your own anti-sun mon. If you can successfully dispatch their Great Tusk you can reliably outrage through most sun teams lategame. Punch enough holes with this thing and you'll be sweeping with Arboliva all day. U-Turn is really nice as additional insurance for bringing in Torkoal once or twice more in longer games, you'd be surprised how much it helps you maintain momentum against veil teams and bulky balance even when you have a bad matchup. Tera Ghost is my own personal preference, Steel is probably better but I was sick of losing to low ladder players who think Keldeo is good now because it got Vacuum Wave.
Some majorly problematic mons for this team are Alomomola, Glowking, and Clodsire. Dondozo too but Walking Wake can bust through with Draco usually. Between Alo and Glowking just sitting on you and pivoting for free you get worn down fast and there's not much you can do about it, you need to keep Roaring Moon healthy as long as possible so you can knock them off. Clodsire is just God's favourite child and lives every hit in the universe though so honestly just click X. Got this team to 1700 briefly but I think a better player could definitely pilot it higher, I'm super out of practise and haven't played seriously since like USUM.
Anyway so yeah this team is sauce, I love arboliva, if you use it please show me replays of you sweeping with the olive tree, thanks
I don't think it's a secret to anyone that sun is really fucking good this gen; and you might be tired of seeing it at this point, but I hope that this team has just enough Special Sauce to keep you interested. All of the Past Paradox mons getting a free boost from sun being active, combined with the fact that Fire is unironically a pretty decent defensive type right now, means that Torkoal doesn't end up being enough of a dead weight that I wouldn't want to use Sun at all, and I can cook up a team that actually sparks joy.
The recipe for this sun team, as with all good sun teams, begins with a baked tortoise. Pre-heat your oven to 180°C/360°F/Gas Mark 4 and let's begin.
Stovetop (Torkoal) (M) @ Heat Rock
Ability: Drought
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Sunny Day
- Rapid Spin
- Lava Plume
Ability: Drought
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Sunny Day
- Rapid Spin
- Lava Plume
Sunny Day is here because Galarian Slowking loves to come in on Torkoal just to immediately dip with Chilly Reception, and you're slower than it so if you click Sunny Day it basically gets no value. You can use that slot to option select for Dragonite and opposing Roaring Moon though, and run Will-O-Wisp or Burning Jealousy. I've also found use from Body Press, which synergises nicely with the Defense investment that you'd want anyway. Importantly, Will-O-Wisp and Burning Jealousy can both help you ensure that you don't lose to Iron-Press Zamazenta, which can become a problem for this team if you're not able to chip it early. Overall Torkoal is a pretty useful and versatile, albeit fairly standard, inclusion on this team.
Of course, no Sun team would be complete without Torkoal's partner in crime: Tall... Lady...?
Hairball (Hatterene) @ Eject Button
Ability: Magic Bounce
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 124 Def / 132 Spe
Bold Nature
- Healing Wish
- Nuzzle
- Dazzling Gleam
- Psychic Noise
Ability: Magic Bounce
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 124 Def / 132 Spe
Bold Nature
- Healing Wish
- Nuzzle
- Dazzling Gleam
- Psychic Noise
Now we move on to the base of every good Secret Sauce: Olive Oil.
Extra Virgin (Arboliva) (F) @ Custap Berry
Ability: Harvest
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Endure
- Giga Drain
- Weather Ball
- Earth Power
Ability: Harvest
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Endure
- Giga Drain
- Weather Ball
- Earth Power
But we all know why you're here, you've seen the item+ability combo; Harvest in the sun with a Custap Berry will make you move first in your priority bracket every turn as long as you are below 25% HP. This is pretty good because, like I said, nobody knows snakes from dildos about this mon - they just see its bad speed and naively think they can KO it before it does anything meaningful. With near max HP investment you live a ton of stuff, too, not least of which is +Attack Protoboost Greak Tusk Headlong Rush into the following Ice Spinner if you click Tera Fire, and you recover most of your HP from the ensuing Giga Drain. You'd think that wouldn't be great because you need to have low HP to use your gimmick, but with Endure you can reliably set up the conditions for Custap Berry to trigger and catch unsuspecting players off guard. This mon does get hard walled by Glowking though, or at least needs to get crazy lucky with Earth Power Sp.Def drops to make progress against it - but this team has 3 more mons that all apply immense amounts of pressure to Glowking, as well as forcing it to come in to reset sun so they don't lose to your sun breakers. With Walking Wake you can force it to Tera-Water pretty consistently if they have it and then you reliably beat it with Giga Drain, and you don't even need to proc Custap. If they don't Tera Water or have already committed Tera to something else, Walking Wake can just nuke it in the sun by threatening a 2hko on most variants. If they're AV then good luck.
As mentioned, Weather Ball in the sun is Nuclear with Tera Fire, but even without you can still clip most fast and frail mons if you get rocks up or chip them with spin on the switch. If you play too aggressively with it you will lose to DDance Dragonite and Roaring Moon though so be warned. One of the benefits of sun teams with regards to opposing Roaring Moon is that, if sun is up, they will not consume their booster energy, and since we all know that Pokémon players don't fucking read, they won't realise this until it's too late and they don't actually kill your Great Tusk from full HP at +1 because they're rocking a base 55 power move. Earth Power is basically just for Heatran and fishing for drops against Glowking switch-ins. It can kinda help you beat Raging Bolt, but they can Tera Fairy and become immortal. If you're the greatest gamer of our generation though and you still have full HP, but have also somehow revealed Earth Power, you can call the Tera Fairy and just double nuke it with Weather Ball. The main things to look out for when fishing for a win condition with this set are priority moves. Once you've revealed Custap Berry, you will move first every turn, but only in your priority bracket. It's basically like +0.1 priority, you'll still die to Sucker Punch and Thunderclap, and all the mons who randomly got Vacuum Wave this gen for some godforsaken reason. Assuming your opponent is playing well, of course. I have won a few games where my opp just didn't realise they could click a priority move and win.
Okay, Arboliva has a big wall of text so let's follow up with a shorter analysis. Dinosaurs are fuckin rad dude look at this thing wh-
Velosuiraptor (Walking Wake) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 24 Def / 252 SpA / 232 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Steam
- Flamethrower
- Draco Meteor
- Flip Turn
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 24 Def / 252 SpA / 232 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Steam
- Flamethrower
- Draco Meteor
- Flip Turn
I was torn between Timid and Modest for a while. As much as Modest does let you just blow past a bunch of shit without thinking, I was tired of getting outsped by Kyurem and Enamorus. I wanted to keep the Special Attack Protosynthesis Boost though because Hydro Steam in the sun still has some outright demonic calcs. Unfortunately you don't 2HKO Blissey since you're not Modest Gaming, but if they have a Blissey then Flip-Turn is usually a safe play anyway. Clodsire, Dondozo, and Alomomola all just fucking love to sit on you and eat Hydro Steams for breakfast, but none of them appreciate the Draco Meteor. Alomomola and Glowking can regen pivot you indefinitely though, and with Protect, Alo can scout you pretty reliably. You basically need to keep both Roaring Moon and Great Tusk healthy to make any progress against that core. You can swap Flamethrower for Weather Ball but I am yet to find a good reason to. You're never clicking Flamethrower outside of sun though so maybe it's worth, idk.
What would a gen 9 OU team be without Great Tusk? Probably not good.
Fastodon (Great Tusk) @ Eject Pack
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 12 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 240 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Temper Flare
- Ice Spinner
- Rapid Spin
- Headlong Rush
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 12 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 240 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Temper Flare
- Ice Spinner
- Rapid Spin
- Headlong Rush
Oh Tera Steel is for uhh not losing to Iron Valiant in a desperation play. Happened more than once I am not proud.
Okay this is my favourite dumb mon on this team, I love this guy.
Rawing Goon (Roaring Moon) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Outrage
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- U-turn
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Outrage
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- U-turn
Some majorly problematic mons for this team are Alomomola, Glowking, and Clodsire. Dondozo too but Walking Wake can bust through with Draco usually. Between Alo and Glowking just sitting on you and pivoting for free you get worn down fast and there's not much you can do about it, you need to keep Roaring Moon healthy as long as possible so you can knock them off. Clodsire is just God's favourite child and lives every hit in the universe though so honestly just click X. Got this team to 1700 briefly but I think a better player could definitely pilot it higher, I'm super out of practise and haven't played seriously since like USUM.
Anyway so yeah this team is sauce, I love arboliva, if you use it please show me replays of you sweeping with the olive tree, thanks
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