Introduction:
Hi y'all, first RMT here, which I heavily procrastinated on. I've been playing this tier for a good while now and out of all the teams I made, this one is easily the most satisfying and fun to play. To be frank, I wouldn't say it's a very good team, as it's extremely prediction reliant, has a lot of defensive holes and fairly inconsistent. It's a lot better with more practice, but I wouldn't recommend it to a new player.
Not too sure what type of team this is. On paper, this is a bulky offense team, but it has no recovery and little passive damage, so it's technically more like pure offense? The gameplay is hit and run, using the two special wallbreakers to rack ohko’s, then switch back to the two tanks, and leave whatever’s left to, in my opinon, the two best cleaners in the tier. I think its main advantage of the team is taking advantage of the very physically defensively oriented tier(Tusk, Gambit, Zamazenta), so they're easily ohko'd by special attacks. There are special walls, but they have their own flaws with Ting-Lu having little recovery, Slowking and Clodsire unable to tank as well, and the complete lack of Blissey. Another surprisingly big advantage is surprise, as some players are completely unprepared to face it, and the team unintentionally disguises itself as a hazard stack team. Overall, despite being very defensively flawed and having severe type overlap, I think this team is alright with good play, and it’s really fun to use.
The Team:
Dragonite @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Multiscale
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 100 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 152 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Extreme Speed
- Outrage
- Earthquake
My GOAT. The first of the two auto includes for almost every team I make. It is, imo, the best sweeper/cleaner in the tier. By extension, this thing is also the most terrifying thing to face, since one wrong move and it can sweep a team. But its more than a sweeper, since it can also be a revenge killer, pinch killer, defensive mon and wallbreaker(with this set). I use a standard set with ddance, eq, espeed and the last move is outrage instead of the usual ice spinner or roost. I use outrage because Dragonite is pretty bad into defensive mons, so in case my wallbreakers leave some defensive mons alive, it won't be completely helpless agains them. The downsides of outrage(mainly confusion) are annoying, but I find it more useful than the alternatives. EVs are max attack, enough speed to outrun 110's after dance, and the rest going to hp. It’s usually the most important mon in a game and as long as it's alive, a game is not lost yet.
Ting-Lu @ Leftovers
Ability: Vessel of Ruin
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 36 Atk / 212 SpD / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Ruination
- Stealth Rock
- Whirlwind
My close second GOAT and the second auto include. With all the offense and sheer power running around this gen, this is the one thing holding them back. Without this mon, the team feels completely naked on the defensive end. I use it more as a disruptor/pure tank than a hazard setter, letting it soak damage every time I have to switch out a specs mon, then doing something back. The set is fairly standard, to deal damage, set rocks, or phase something if they get out of control. For EVs, a little attack goes a long way from my experience. A lot of offensive mons can be 2hko'd with a bit of extra attack(Darkrai, Valiant, Moon). It also has an impish nature because while it is a special wall, I find it gets hit way more with physical attacks, so the extra defense helps.
Great Neck (Raging Bolt) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 20 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Thunderclap
- Draco Meteor
- Thunderbolt
Here's where things get fun, with Specs Raging bolt, the main progress maker of the team. When I say this team is prediction reliant, 80% goes to this monster. It is an extremely high risk mon since both STABs have immunities and its coverage is terrible. But can also bring high rewards, since getting a prediction right usually means something is taken out. This is also where the tier's special walls flaws are really apparent because none of them can take on repeated dracos. Specs draco is also an incredible middle ground option for almost every play, since even if the prediction is wrong, it can do massive damage. Since it has no coverage, its entire moveset is STABs, including thunderclap for priority. EVs make use of its decent defensive typing and great bulk by fully investing into bulk and power. This mon definitely needs practice and analysis of the opponents behavior to use properly, but nothing is more satisfying than one-shotting a Lando or Tusk with a good predict.
Gholdengo @ Choice Specs
Ability: Good as Gold
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Make It Rain
- Shadow Ball
- Trick
- Thunderbolt
While specs Raging Bolt the funny mon, I think specs Gholdengo is genuinly underrated. Gholdengo has a weird typing where along with its ability, it completely blanks some mons, but is also weak to common attacking types(ground, dark, fire). This gives it a super easy entry but then chased out just as easily. It's why I don't like his set up offensive sets and prefer raw damage to make the most of its turn. Since its STABs and ability are a lot better, its usually more reliable than Raging Bolt, although not as strong or tanky. For its moveset, its STABS, trick for the endgame, and tbolt for coverage. Its EVs are geared for power and speed, but it has a modest nature because I don't like speed tying and the only relevant pokemon in Gholdengo's speed tier is other Gholdengo. From what I've seen, the extra power definitely helps more than speed.
Iron Valiant @ Booster Energy
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Moonblast
- Close Combat
- Shadow Ball
- Encore
As the team's other late game cleaner, Valiant is not as strong or game-breaking as Dragonite, but is more reliable. Valiant is a lot easier to use than Dragonite since it requires no set up and very few ways to stop its sweep. The set is fairly standard with STABs, shadow ball for mainly Gholdengo and Pecharunt, and encore for set up sweepers and to be annoying. EVs are geared to power and speed. It always surprises me how strong it naturally is, since its great STABs can ohko almost every offensive mon in the tier.
Great Tusk @ Assault Vest
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Ice
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Headlong Rush
- Close Combat
- Ice Spinner
- Rapid Spin
Not my GOAT, but my son. I've used AV Tusk since the beginning of SV, since I never liked how it crumples on the special side. Tusk has a weird role in the team, where it's supposed to be a physical tank, but used more as a priority target eliminator/pinch killer. Against any overly problematic mon, it can tank almost any hit and swing back. It uses its strongest STABs, ice spinner for coverage, rapid spin for support. EVs are max hp and attack, with a bit of speed to outspeed other defensive Tusks’. Surprise factor definitely helps, since AV is almost never used and most Tusk’s are not purely offensive like this one. There’s probably a better way to use it, but he’s my boy, I can’t give him up.
Alternatives:
Cinderace: On paper, Cinderace sounds like a perfect addition to the team by replacing Tusk. It adds a resistance against ice and fairy, provides a much better matchup against hazards/field effects, adds another pivot, and still hits pretty hard. However, the team is a lot squishier and especially weak to ground. One of Tusks main jobs is defeating ground types, which Cinderace does not do nearly as well. I had mixed results with Cinderace and it does do better in certain matchups, but I still prefer Tusk.
Iron Boulder: Don’t use Iron Boulder. But it gets an honorable mention for getting rank #2 on this exact same team, except with Boulder replacing Valiant. I remember at the time, Gliscor and Lando were super popular, so I ran a set with SD, substitute, close combat, mighty cleave, and tera flying to setup on those two. Don’t think it works at all now, but if you’re crazy, it can work…Barely. Just use Valiant.
EV/Nature spreads: I don’t calc anything, so I just went with what I was comfortable with. There are probably better optimized spreads.
Threats:
(Too many annoying mons to list, so here are some general issues)
Hazards/Field effects: The team’s only hazard control is Tusk, who’s pretty unreliable at this, but hazards matchups go both ways and it really depends on the player. The team isn’t that weak to hazards, especially the two sweepers, but they can still be annoying. Webs are a lot harder to deal with since it completely shuts down Valiant. I have to save a full hp Tusk, let it tank a hit and spin. Field effects like Aurora Veil are even more annoying, since the team is highly reliant on getting ohko’s, but at least they waste a mon on ninetales. Webs and veil are definitely rough to play against, but with good play, the two styles can definitely be beaten.
Fairy/Ice types: You may have noticed a certain defensive flaw in the team. Almost every mon is weak to ice or fairy, especially the two tanks, and the only one with a resistance is gholdengo, who can’t heal. On the plus side, most ice and fairy types this gen are really frail and fairly exploitable, so they’re usually picked off by the sweepers. Not a great matchup, but there usually aren’t too many in a single team, so its not that bad.
Stall: I usually concede against stall immediately because I find it boring to play against, so I never actually tested this team against it, and I can’t imagine its good. The team has no stallbreaker tactics, is walled by Blissey, and can be easily pp stalled. Maybe if Gholdgeno tricks its specs on Blissey and gets rid of it, it has a chance, but I think stall would destroy this team.
Bad play/tilt: This sounds really egotistical, but I think the biggest downfall to this team is bad play. While there are a lot of mons that can be problematic, I don’t think there’s any mon or matchup that absolutely dunks on this team. But even on matchups it should do well on, a single bad predict on Raging Bolt, or a single bad switch can completely swing the game.
Closing Thoughts:
Can this team be better optimized? Yeah, probably, but I found decent results with this version and had a ton of fun playing it. The core gimmick of this team are specs Bolt and Gholdengo, so there probably are better teammates and EV spreads. Overall, fun team, not incredible for laddering, but serviceable, and gets really fast paced games. Thanks for reading!
Paste: https://pokepast.es/0db2b8435254557d
Replays:https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2318933207?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2329396498
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2318781134?p2
Hi y'all, first RMT here, which I heavily procrastinated on. I've been playing this tier for a good while now and out of all the teams I made, this one is easily the most satisfying and fun to play. To be frank, I wouldn't say it's a very good team, as it's extremely prediction reliant, has a lot of defensive holes and fairly inconsistent. It's a lot better with more practice, but I wouldn't recommend it to a new player.
Not too sure what type of team this is. On paper, this is a bulky offense team, but it has no recovery and little passive damage, so it's technically more like pure offense? The gameplay is hit and run, using the two special wallbreakers to rack ohko’s, then switch back to the two tanks, and leave whatever’s left to, in my opinon, the two best cleaners in the tier. I think its main advantage of the team is taking advantage of the very physically defensively oriented tier(Tusk, Gambit, Zamazenta), so they're easily ohko'd by special attacks. There are special walls, but they have their own flaws with Ting-Lu having little recovery, Slowking and Clodsire unable to tank as well, and the complete lack of Blissey. Another surprisingly big advantage is surprise, as some players are completely unprepared to face it, and the team unintentionally disguises itself as a hazard stack team. Overall, despite being very defensively flawed and having severe type overlap, I think this team is alright with good play, and it’s really fun to use.
(Technically, I reached around 2080 Elo, but I forgot to screenshot)
The Team:
Dragonite @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Multiscale
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 100 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 152 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Extreme Speed
- Outrage
- Earthquake
My GOAT. The first of the two auto includes for almost every team I make. It is, imo, the best sweeper/cleaner in the tier. By extension, this thing is also the most terrifying thing to face, since one wrong move and it can sweep a team. But its more than a sweeper, since it can also be a revenge killer, pinch killer, defensive mon and wallbreaker(with this set). I use a standard set with ddance, eq, espeed and the last move is outrage instead of the usual ice spinner or roost. I use outrage because Dragonite is pretty bad into defensive mons, so in case my wallbreakers leave some defensive mons alive, it won't be completely helpless agains them. The downsides of outrage(mainly confusion) are annoying, but I find it more useful than the alternatives. EVs are max attack, enough speed to outrun 110's after dance, and the rest going to hp. It’s usually the most important mon in a game and as long as it's alive, a game is not lost yet.
Ting-Lu @ Leftovers
Ability: Vessel of Ruin
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 36 Atk / 212 SpD / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Ruination
- Stealth Rock
- Whirlwind
My close second GOAT and the second auto include. With all the offense and sheer power running around this gen, this is the one thing holding them back. Without this mon, the team feels completely naked on the defensive end. I use it more as a disruptor/pure tank than a hazard setter, letting it soak damage every time I have to switch out a specs mon, then doing something back. The set is fairly standard, to deal damage, set rocks, or phase something if they get out of control. For EVs, a little attack goes a long way from my experience. A lot of offensive mons can be 2hko'd with a bit of extra attack(Darkrai, Valiant, Moon). It also has an impish nature because while it is a special wall, I find it gets hit way more with physical attacks, so the extra defense helps.
Great Neck (Raging Bolt) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 20 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Thunderclap
- Draco Meteor
- Thunderbolt
Here's where things get fun, with Specs Raging bolt, the main progress maker of the team. When I say this team is prediction reliant, 80% goes to this monster. It is an extremely high risk mon since both STABs have immunities and its coverage is terrible. But can also bring high rewards, since getting a prediction right usually means something is taken out. This is also where the tier's special walls flaws are really apparent because none of them can take on repeated dracos. Specs draco is also an incredible middle ground option for almost every play, since even if the prediction is wrong, it can do massive damage. Since it has no coverage, its entire moveset is STABs, including thunderclap for priority. EVs make use of its decent defensive typing and great bulk by fully investing into bulk and power. This mon definitely needs practice and analysis of the opponents behavior to use properly, but nothing is more satisfying than one-shotting a Lando or Tusk with a good predict.
Gholdengo @ Choice Specs
Ability: Good as Gold
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Make It Rain
- Shadow Ball
- Trick
- Thunderbolt
While specs Raging Bolt the funny mon, I think specs Gholdengo is genuinly underrated. Gholdengo has a weird typing where along with its ability, it completely blanks some mons, but is also weak to common attacking types(ground, dark, fire). This gives it a super easy entry but then chased out just as easily. It's why I don't like his set up offensive sets and prefer raw damage to make the most of its turn. Since its STABs and ability are a lot better, its usually more reliable than Raging Bolt, although not as strong or tanky. For its moveset, its STABS, trick for the endgame, and tbolt for coverage. Its EVs are geared for power and speed, but it has a modest nature because I don't like speed tying and the only relevant pokemon in Gholdengo's speed tier is other Gholdengo. From what I've seen, the extra power definitely helps more than speed.
Iron Valiant @ Booster Energy
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Moonblast
- Close Combat
- Shadow Ball
- Encore
As the team's other late game cleaner, Valiant is not as strong or game-breaking as Dragonite, but is more reliable. Valiant is a lot easier to use than Dragonite since it requires no set up and very few ways to stop its sweep. The set is fairly standard with STABs, shadow ball for mainly Gholdengo and Pecharunt, and encore for set up sweepers and to be annoying. EVs are geared to power and speed. It always surprises me how strong it naturally is, since its great STABs can ohko almost every offensive mon in the tier.
Great Tusk @ Assault Vest
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Ice
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Headlong Rush
- Close Combat
- Ice Spinner
- Rapid Spin
Not my GOAT, but my son. I've used AV Tusk since the beginning of SV, since I never liked how it crumples on the special side. Tusk has a weird role in the team, where it's supposed to be a physical tank, but used more as a priority target eliminator/pinch killer. Against any overly problematic mon, it can tank almost any hit and swing back. It uses its strongest STABs, ice spinner for coverage, rapid spin for support. EVs are max hp and attack, with a bit of speed to outspeed other defensive Tusks’. Surprise factor definitely helps, since AV is almost never used and most Tusk’s are not purely offensive like this one. There’s probably a better way to use it, but he’s my boy, I can’t give him up.
Alternatives:
Cinderace: On paper, Cinderace sounds like a perfect addition to the team by replacing Tusk. It adds a resistance against ice and fairy, provides a much better matchup against hazards/field effects, adds another pivot, and still hits pretty hard. However, the team is a lot squishier and especially weak to ground. One of Tusks main jobs is defeating ground types, which Cinderace does not do nearly as well. I had mixed results with Cinderace and it does do better in certain matchups, but I still prefer Tusk.
Iron Boulder: Don’t use Iron Boulder. But it gets an honorable mention for getting rank #2 on this exact same team, except with Boulder replacing Valiant. I remember at the time, Gliscor and Lando were super popular, so I ran a set with SD, substitute, close combat, mighty cleave, and tera flying to setup on those two. Don’t think it works at all now, but if you’re crazy, it can work…Barely. Just use Valiant.
EV/Nature spreads: I don’t calc anything, so I just went with what I was comfortable with. There are probably better optimized spreads.
Threats:
(Too many annoying mons to list, so here are some general issues)
Hazards/Field effects: The team’s only hazard control is Tusk, who’s pretty unreliable at this, but hazards matchups go both ways and it really depends on the player. The team isn’t that weak to hazards, especially the two sweepers, but they can still be annoying. Webs are a lot harder to deal with since it completely shuts down Valiant. I have to save a full hp Tusk, let it tank a hit and spin. Field effects like Aurora Veil are even more annoying, since the team is highly reliant on getting ohko’s, but at least they waste a mon on ninetales. Webs and veil are definitely rough to play against, but with good play, the two styles can definitely be beaten.
Fairy/Ice types: You may have noticed a certain defensive flaw in the team. Almost every mon is weak to ice or fairy, especially the two tanks, and the only one with a resistance is gholdengo, who can’t heal. On the plus side, most ice and fairy types this gen are really frail and fairly exploitable, so they’re usually picked off by the sweepers. Not a great matchup, but there usually aren’t too many in a single team, so its not that bad.
Stall: I usually concede against stall immediately because I find it boring to play against, so I never actually tested this team against it, and I can’t imagine its good. The team has no stallbreaker tactics, is walled by Blissey, and can be easily pp stalled. Maybe if Gholdgeno tricks its specs on Blissey and gets rid of it, it has a chance, but I think stall would destroy this team.
Bad play/tilt: This sounds really egotistical, but I think the biggest downfall to this team is bad play. While there are a lot of mons that can be problematic, I don’t think there’s any mon or matchup that absolutely dunks on this team. But even on matchups it should do well on, a single bad predict on Raging Bolt, or a single bad switch can completely swing the game.
Closing Thoughts:
Can this team be better optimized? Yeah, probably, but I found decent results with this version and had a ton of fun playing it. The core gimmick of this team are specs Bolt and Gholdengo, so there probably are better teammates and EV spreads. Overall, fun team, not incredible for laddering, but serviceable, and gets really fast paced games. Thanks for reading!
Paste: https://pokepast.es/0db2b8435254557d
Replays:https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2318933207?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2329396498
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2318781134?p2
