Hello!
I am back to playing some showdown after a long hiatus! Last time I tried to push up the ladder was back in mid-SwSh OU era, and I've been jumping back into showdown on the SV OU ladder over the past month or so. After some time lurking these forums, Youtube, and casually on the ladder, I got a feel for what OU in late 2024 is like and built this team off of my first instincts. The only thing I knew for sure was I wanted to use life orb 4 attacks Darkrai, because I've used to use that set in past gen Ubers, and I cannot believe that its allowed in OU right now. I have climbed up to 1400 on ladder with this team so far, and would love some feedback for potential improvements to make it more versatile and solid in the meta right now, so hopefully I can make it more competitive as I push for high ladder. Near the bottom of this post, I will go over a few general things I think could use some improvement based on the 300 or so games I've played so far. Finally,
Thank you for checking out my team <3
In order of how I built the team:
Darkrai @ Life Orb
Ability: Bad Dreams
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dark Pulse
- Sludge Bomb
- Focus Blast
- Ice Beam
Role and Set: Darkrai is an incredibly potent wallbreaker and end game cleaner, as its deep movepool allows it to hit the majority of the tier for STAB neutral, or non-stab super effective damage. Life orb grants Darkrai impressive damage output while maintaining the flexibility of free move selection. This set carves out win conditions by leveraging high power and wide move choice to punch holes in common cores. Dark is a solid neutral STAB type right now, with sludge bomb to hit that fairy type. Tera poison turns fighting and fairy weakness to resistance, allowing Darkrai to benefit from its high natural bulk and revenge kill would-be checks. Focus blast and ice beam cover common mons like Ting-Lu, Roaring Moon, Enamorous, Landorus-T, Gliscor, etc.
Raging Bolt @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderclap
- Volt Switch
- Draco Meteor
- Taunt
Role and Set: Raging Bolt felt like a natural partner for Darkrai, with volt switch to bring it in for free. Heavy duty boots are huge for lategame in order to have thunderclap for clutch scenerios. Thunderclap seems extremely strong, 70BP STAB coming off this high of spAtk?? Crazy. Draco meteor over dragon pulse because I like the more immediate power. Paired with taunt to force foes to take thunderclap in clutch situations, and great for shutting down setup or stall mons making way for Darkrai to go in. Notably, tera fairy has allowed me on multiple occasions to stay in on opposing Roaring Moons and Dragonites to eat their attacks and KO back with draco.
Ogerpon-Wellspring @ Wellspring Mask
Ability: Water Absorb
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Ivy Cudgel
- Horn Leech
- U-turn
- Encore
Role and Set: This felt like the obvious next addition to build a classic volt-turn core. Oger pairs with Raging Bolt so well, threatening all the ground types in the tier with both of its stab options. Combined with its high speed and high damage output, Ogerpon wellspring is an amazing pivot. Encore is great for further disruption of the opponent's plans, pairing excellently with Raging Bolt's taunt. I have used this strategy to create checkmate endgame situations, forcing the opponent to struggle. I chose horn leech over power whip to improve longevity, which is especially helpful against balance and stall teams. The core of Ogerpon-W and Raging Bolt feels incredibly potent as they compliment beautifully, both creating opportunity for Darkrai to come in and blow open the opposing team. It is also nice that Ogerpon threatens common special walls to Darkrai and Ragaing Bolt like Ting-Lu, Blissey, AV Prim, AV Iron Treads, and etc.
Landorus-Therian (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 220 HP / 252 Atk / 36 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bulk Up
- Earthquake
- Smack Down
- Taunt
Role and Set: I felt like Landorus-T' s intimidate would be handy to bolster this team's natural bulk, but mostly need him as a check for Zamazenta (and other physical threats). I knew I wanted to run taunt to prevent Zama from using Iron D, stop slow Gliscor toxic, and recover from many mons, etc. I remembered this classic banger of a set I used to use back in the day and thought I should dust it off. It foregoes the common rocks + u-turn build, instead with the surprise bulk up + smack down. Paired with EQ and taunt, this set will tear through unsuspecting teams after Darkrai or Raging bolt eliminate threats like Kyurem, Ogerpon-W, Dragonite, etc. This set has EVs to outspeed slow bulky Gliscor for the fast taunt. This set beats corviknight, bulky gliscor, kingambit, zapdos, and after setup, threats like rillaboom, zamazenta, and cinderace all too. The team especially appreciates the help against kingambit, as well as the electric and ground immunity.
Iron Moth @ Booster Energy
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 124 Def / 132 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fiery Dance
- Sludge Wave
- Dazzling Gleam
- Substitute
Role and Set: Booster energy Iron Moth is one of the scariest revenge killers and sweepers in the tier at the moment. I could not think of a better partner for Landorus-T especially, as Lando deals with the likes of Heatran and Blissey, while Iron Moth resists Ice type and threatens back with boosted speed (EVs are set to boost speed). Ogerpon clears out Ting-Lu too which is nice. Iron Moth + Darkrai + Raging Bolt create an onslaught of strong special attackers that wear down on the opponent's checks over time, especially with the help of taunt and encore.
Espeon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Magic Bounce
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Ice
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Alluring Voice
- Tera Blast
- Trick
Role and Set: I wanted to try something fun with this last slot. Hear me out. I felt like the team could use some more speed control, and some of the sets on this team are pretty techy, so a niche pick in scarf Espeon just felt right. I have tried a few sets, but scarf seemed to be the best way to allow this NU legend to shine in the big leagues. Espeon has a great speed tier for modest scarf, outspeeding things like Pult, Roaring Moon, and Iron Valiant; it feels less favorable to use jolly scarf since I don't think it adds any noteworthy outspeeds and I want to hit as hard as possible. Psychic for strong stab against threats like Pex, Pecharunt, Great Tusk, and being decent for neutral STAB damage output. Alluring voice was a natural second pick, as the scarf allows it to get jump OHKOs on unsuspecting roaring moons, as well as huge damage to other darks and dragons. Tera blast ice is hilarious for sniping a landorus or gliscor, which almost invariably results in a forfeit on the ladder. While this is all great, I haven't even began discussing the true tech of scarf Espeon, which lies in the combination of Trick and Magic Bounce. As the only hazard prevention on the team, Espeon appreciates its volt-turning teammates bringing it in on hazard setters and status moves. With Espeon in the mix, sticky webs teams almost never get to set them against me with correct play; just the threat of magic bounce seems to be enough sometimes. Trick is excellent for crippling stall teams and mons that rely on recovery, status, or setup moves. Overall Espeon may not be an objectively great choice, this mon is a swiss army knife and usually catches my opponents off guard with its many tricks! (sorry about the dad joke)
Things I think could use some tweaking:
1. Obviously, this team has no hazard setting and no removal. With magic bounce as the only means of hazard control at all, as well as some taunts, maybe the team could use some hazard setting and better denial.
2. Naturally, Espeon can probably be swapped for something else
3. This team kind of lacks setup potential, but is also not amazing with longevity. Swinging deeper into setup sweeping or deeper into bulky sets could be an idea.
4. Kingambit, Samurott-H, Deoxys-S, and even opposing Darkrai give me problems a lot. I'm not sure if this is skill issue, team building issue, or if these are just strong mons and there isn't much I can do.
I'd love to hear any ideas, solutions, or any other weaknesses I'm probably missing
Replays:
1. https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2249783067?p2 - Darkrai destroys balance
Life orb darkrai showing off his wallbreaking versatility. Taking out clefable, garganacle, and great tusk.
Most stylish wallbreaker in the meta rn in my opinion.
Ogerpon cleans up.
Most stylish wallbreaker in the meta rn in my opinion.
Ogerpon cleans up.
2. https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2245876979?p2 - Hard fought win vs. Stall team
57 turn game!! Use fast forward lol.
Espeon shows their stallbreaking utility. Bouncing rocks, getting big damage on quag setting up the KO, and most importantly,
tricking its scarf onto toxapex turn one which neutered its threat potential. Landorus and Raging Bolt double taunt combo
keeps the opponent from being able to handle the onslaught of offense effectively without status moves. Iron moth importantly
absorbs toxic spikes keeping toxic off ogerpon and darkrai. Darkrai then finished off the crippled blissey, toxapex, and gliscor.
Encore ogerpon locks sinistcha into strength sap, then taunt bolt forces it to struggle winning the game after a long battle.
Espeon shows their stallbreaking utility. Bouncing rocks, getting big damage on quag setting up the KO, and most importantly,
tricking its scarf onto toxapex turn one which neutered its threat potential. Landorus and Raging Bolt double taunt combo
keeps the opponent from being able to handle the onslaught of offense effectively without status moves. Iron moth importantly
absorbs toxic spikes keeping toxic off ogerpon and darkrai. Darkrai then finished off the crippled blissey, toxapex, and gliscor.
Encore ogerpon locks sinistcha into strength sap, then taunt bolt forces it to struggle winning the game after a long battle.
3. https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2249927575?p2 - Espeon clutch up
Trick Espeon cripples their slowking galar with a scarf and tera ice wins the game. Darkrai did a lot of wallbreaking otherwise.
4. https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2249327514 - Bulk up Lando Clutch up
The team clears the way for Lando to bulk up and sweep for the win!
Thanks again for checking out my team! I'd love to hear your thoughts and suggestions to improve. If you like my team feel free to give it a try too! :)
- Spenny0107
Sprite credits:
RetroNC on DeviantArt:
Raging Bolt sprite
Iron Moth sprite
mangalos810 on DeviantArt:
Ogerpon-Wellspring sprite
Last edited:
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should be packing the standard booster energy set
changing Focus Blast for Nasty Plot and Life Orb for Focus Sash means that, combined with your double hazard removal, you can always live a hit, which then you can use to revenge kill and stop a treat
I have noticed you're not running tera blast, so there's very little reason to run tera ground with it, instead, try other tera types, tera fairy lets you have a stronger hit on ting lu, as well as other fairy weak mons, and you resist kingambit's sucker punch. If fairy doesnt work, ghost can let you fully block dragonite's extreme speed, and you can still potentially block gambit's sucker with substitute
I fully recommend changing the nature to jolly, and giving it tera fighting tera blast, this helps you speed tie speed booster iron moth, and potentially revenge kill it with psychic, while also luring kingambit
swap out U-turn for Swords dance, to fully neuter balance teams