Hey yall, it's been a minute since I've touched SV OU because of school, and I'm now getting back into laddering. I threw together a quick boot-spam balance team to ladder with and it seems to have promise but I would love any feedback to improve the team!
Darkrai @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Bad Dreams
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Dark Pulse
- Psyshock
- Tera Blast
- Nasty Plot
I wanted to try and build around a different kind of Darkrai, a tera fairy NP set. Before Roaring Moon got banned, the tera fairy set was gaining some popularity, partly because dark/fairy coverage generally hits the meta pretty well. While Darkrai doesn't have the bulk of Roaring Moon, or the speed of Roaring Moon after a DD/booster, it has comparable power after a NP, and has better immediate speed. This allows Darkrai to come in and out multiple times in a game and still threaten targets, and makes it a little less reliant on surprise factor. It's probably not as good as Roaring Moon with the dark/fairy coverage, but it has its advantage and is very easy to build around. Psyshock was just added as a coverage move for stall-breaking Clod or Blissey. Boots helps Darkrai pivot throughout the game.
Samurott-Hisui @ Focus Sash
Ability: Sharpness
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Razor Shell
- Ceaseless Edge
- Knock Off
- Aqua Jet
H-rott is the dedicated lead in most games, and the spike setter. Its primary function is to get up a layer of spikes, which it does pretty much every game with ease. Secondarily, it applies some heavy immediate damage with max attack adamant Razor Shells or Ceaseless Edges. Knock Off is there for consistent damage and support, and Aqua Jet for some priority. Because of the defensive backbone of the team, H-rott can oftentimes be saved after getting its spike up to be used as a sack later, or pressure mons like Ghold, Glowking, etc. Tera Ghost is for spin blocking mostly, although H-rott is almost never the tera on this team.
Pecharunt @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Poison Puppeteer
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Malignant Chain
- Shadow Ball
- Recover
- Parting Shot
Pecharunt is part of the three mon defensive backbone of this team. Its role is to deal with most physical threats, especially those that break with immediate damage like Waterpon, Boots Zama, etc. Tera Dark helps against dark and ghost types. Pech is also a great pivot with Timid max speed + Parting Shot. It has enough bulk to live a hit and the speed to get out with Parting Shot. It's super useful for scouting things like Kyurem and Valiant to figure out what set it is. Recover is there for longevity, and Shadow Ball is the last move over Hex for consistency and for its potential to break mons it usually can't.
Moltres @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Flame Body
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Roar
- Roost
Moltres is mon two of the defensive core. Sp.def Moltres is the GOAT for consistently checking Darkrai, Valiant, Enam, mixed/protect Kyurem, etc. On Sp.def Moltres, I much prefer Brave Bird over Flamethrower for hitting things like Glowking, Sinistcha, etc. much harder. Added bonus is that U-Turn also hits harder because of the Careful > Calm nature. Moltres is also a great disruptor with Roar to mess with bulky set-up sets that just sit on my other defensive mons, like SD Gliscor for example. Flame Body is great for a last ditch effort to disrupt set-up physical attacker, and improves machups against physical mons that like to just spam attacks. Tera grass is for Waterpon, but I'm considering changing it as Waterpon hasn't been a major threat to this team.
Clefable @ Sticky Barb
Ability: Magic Guard
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Trick
- Moonlight
- Stealth Rock
Clefable is the last member of the defensive core, and mostly serves as a consistent rocker. It can disrupt defensive mons that would normally sit on it with Trick-Sticky Barb, and is an excellent pivot when I can't afford my other defensive mons to take damage. Moonblast provides solid damage and Moonlight provides solid longevity, that makes Clefable a great glue mon for this team. I have't had to tera Clefable yet, so Tera Dragon may be super suboptimal, but it's there over Tera Water to help with the Raging Bolt matchup.
Zamazenta @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Dauntless Shield
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Crunch
- Heavy Slam
- Stone Edge
Zama is the last mon on this team, and provides excellent offensive and defensive support. It helps fill the holes in coverage, and helps with the overall team speed. Close Combat is the STAB of choice, Crunch w/ Tera Dark is needed to deal with ghosts, Heavy Slam for mons like Hatterene, Clef, and Valiant, and Stone Edge for coverage to hit Moltres, Moth, etc. Overall, it almost always trades positively into a team and threatens good damage consistently with its speed and bulk.
I've played about 10 games with this team, and got me to about 1600. I'm aiming to reach about 1850 or so, and I think this team has the potential to get there. Some match-ups definitely need to be improved, like the match-up into Raging Bolt and the sun match-up. I'm open to any feedback!
Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2344196265-h777uofer9f3mf833afl9n23urhuawlpw?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2344206095-w0ilv05lwpkek35bb93bgfyn9k9umpopw?p2
Darkrai @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Bad Dreams
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Dark Pulse
- Psyshock
- Tera Blast
- Nasty Plot
I wanted to try and build around a different kind of Darkrai, a tera fairy NP set. Before Roaring Moon got banned, the tera fairy set was gaining some popularity, partly because dark/fairy coverage generally hits the meta pretty well. While Darkrai doesn't have the bulk of Roaring Moon, or the speed of Roaring Moon after a DD/booster, it has comparable power after a NP, and has better immediate speed. This allows Darkrai to come in and out multiple times in a game and still threaten targets, and makes it a little less reliant on surprise factor. It's probably not as good as Roaring Moon with the dark/fairy coverage, but it has its advantage and is very easy to build around. Psyshock was just added as a coverage move for stall-breaking Clod or Blissey. Boots helps Darkrai pivot throughout the game.
Samurott-Hisui @ Focus Sash
Ability: Sharpness
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Razor Shell
- Ceaseless Edge
- Knock Off
- Aqua Jet
H-rott is the dedicated lead in most games, and the spike setter. Its primary function is to get up a layer of spikes, which it does pretty much every game with ease. Secondarily, it applies some heavy immediate damage with max attack adamant Razor Shells or Ceaseless Edges. Knock Off is there for consistent damage and support, and Aqua Jet for some priority. Because of the defensive backbone of the team, H-rott can oftentimes be saved after getting its spike up to be used as a sack later, or pressure mons like Ghold, Glowking, etc. Tera Ghost is for spin blocking mostly, although H-rott is almost never the tera on this team.
Pecharunt @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Poison Puppeteer
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Malignant Chain
- Shadow Ball
- Recover
- Parting Shot
Pecharunt is part of the three mon defensive backbone of this team. Its role is to deal with most physical threats, especially those that break with immediate damage like Waterpon, Boots Zama, etc. Tera Dark helps against dark and ghost types. Pech is also a great pivot with Timid max speed + Parting Shot. It has enough bulk to live a hit and the speed to get out with Parting Shot. It's super useful for scouting things like Kyurem and Valiant to figure out what set it is. Recover is there for longevity, and Shadow Ball is the last move over Hex for consistency and for its potential to break mons it usually can't.
Moltres @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Flame Body
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Roar
- Roost
Moltres is mon two of the defensive core. Sp.def Moltres is the GOAT for consistently checking Darkrai, Valiant, Enam, mixed/protect Kyurem, etc. On Sp.def Moltres, I much prefer Brave Bird over Flamethrower for hitting things like Glowking, Sinistcha, etc. much harder. Added bonus is that U-Turn also hits harder because of the Careful > Calm nature. Moltres is also a great disruptor with Roar to mess with bulky set-up sets that just sit on my other defensive mons, like SD Gliscor for example. Flame Body is great for a last ditch effort to disrupt set-up physical attacker, and improves machups against physical mons that like to just spam attacks. Tera grass is for Waterpon, but I'm considering changing it as Waterpon hasn't been a major threat to this team.
Clefable @ Sticky Barb
Ability: Magic Guard
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Trick
- Moonlight
- Stealth Rock
Clefable is the last member of the defensive core, and mostly serves as a consistent rocker. It can disrupt defensive mons that would normally sit on it with Trick-Sticky Barb, and is an excellent pivot when I can't afford my other defensive mons to take damage. Moonblast provides solid damage and Moonlight provides solid longevity, that makes Clefable a great glue mon for this team. I have't had to tera Clefable yet, so Tera Dragon may be super suboptimal, but it's there over Tera Water to help with the Raging Bolt matchup.
Zamazenta @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Dauntless Shield
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Crunch
- Heavy Slam
- Stone Edge
Zama is the last mon on this team, and provides excellent offensive and defensive support. It helps fill the holes in coverage, and helps with the overall team speed. Close Combat is the STAB of choice, Crunch w/ Tera Dark is needed to deal with ghosts, Heavy Slam for mons like Hatterene, Clef, and Valiant, and Stone Edge for coverage to hit Moltres, Moth, etc. Overall, it almost always trades positively into a team and threatens good damage consistently with its speed and bulk.
I've played about 10 games with this team, and got me to about 1600. I'm aiming to reach about 1850 or so, and I think this team has the potential to get there. Some match-ups definitely need to be improved, like the match-up into Raging Bolt and the sun match-up. I'm open to any feedback!
Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2344196265-h777uofer9f3mf833afl9n23urhuawlpw?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2344206095-w0ilv05lwpkek35bb93bgfyn9k9umpopw?p2
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