Fasten Your Seatbelt - Sun Offense

[Allethosea]

Welcome to my RMT! I built this team around a hyper offensive sun playstyle, drawing from many sources of inspiration to combine into one team. This is a team that I've had a large amount of success with but feel it needs something more to push it over the edge. Having evolved from many different team constructions put into one it is difficult to lay out the exact teambuilding process. The biggest inspiration to build the team, however, was Raikou; an extremely underrated threat in OU. The title comes from the Pendulum track "Fasten Your Seatbelt" from their album Hold Your Colour. You can click the picture above to listen to it while you read. On to the team!

At a glance:

Ninetales (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drought
EVs: 252 SAtk / 112 Spd / 144 HP
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- SolarBeam
- Will-O-Wisp
- Sunny Day

I honestly can't remember the person that I got this set from (sorry!) but it has worked absolute wonders. Ninetales is obviously the obligatory sun setter for sun teams, but I chose not to use it as a wall. With max special attack this thing will be denting anything not resisting its moves in the sun. Toxic is there to check pink blobs or other walls that think they're cute and sit in on Ninetales. Sunny Day is one of the more interesting moves of the set, actually allowing Ninetales to beat opposing Politoed if used on the predicted switch. Solarbeam is a clean 2hko on max HP 'Toed while I can easily tank weakened water moves.
Will-O-Wisp, suggested by Dr Ciel, greatly eases my pain of Tyranitar and physical sweepers.

Raikou @ Life Orb
Trait: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Rash Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Aura Sphere
- Calm Mind
- Weather Ball

This thing rips holes in teams. Serving as one of my primary checks to opposing weather, Raikou is very important to the team. It can 2hko (if not 1hko) any opposing weather starter but Hippowdown. It's also the Pokemon that I built the team around. Weather Ball in sun becomes a 150 BP fire move to throw around at whatever it hits, but also isn't ruined in rain like HP Fire. The goal is simply to bring Raikou in on something it outspeeds, kill it or force a switch, and continue attacking until holes are sufficiently created for Sawsbuck to abuse. Extremespeed is used over Volt Switch because there are very few situations where I actually want to switch this out. In addition, with stealth rocks up, Extremespeed + Coverage move can KO most of the meta.
Calm Mind, again suggested by Dr Ciel, has excellent merit in free setups on the many switches Raikou forces. It works spectacularly, KOing most Pokemon with boosted moves. It also remedies the lowered special defence from the Rash nature.

Starmie @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Psyshock
- Ice Beam
- Rapid Spin
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Starmie could very likely be the MVP of the team, covering so many threats just by outspeeding them. This serves as my main check to Gengar and Keldeo who would otherwise shred my team. The lack of water move is different, but it has worked very well. There are innumerable amounts of Scizor, Forretress, and Ferrothorn that switch in thinking they'll either KO or do... something. HP Fire is a clean 2hko on Forre and Ferro while 1hko'ing any Scizor. Ice beam is there to revenge non-boosted dragons and Psyshock for Gengar/Keldeo.

Rapid Spin has been highly debatable in my experience. I've considered Recover, Hydro Pump, Thunderbolt, or anything else over it. My team doesn't particularly mind rocks being up and Starmie generally doesn't have many opportunities to spin without losing a lot of offensive pressure.

With Gengar no longer being as large of a threat to my team I'm strongly considering Life Orb Latias in this spot. It will check the same things that need to be checked but excel more in every other role and help minimize my ground weakness.

Sawsbuck (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 108 HP / 252 Atk / 148 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Horn Leech
- Double-Edge
- Swords Dance
- Nature Power

Sawsbuck is the chosen Chlorophyll sweeper for this team. The rest of the team is designed to clear out a nice path for him to clean up. Its primary checks, Gengar, Chandelure, and Skarmory, are all handled by the rest of the team. This gives it plenty of chances to either set up a Swords Dance and sweep through teams with no hard counter or simply plow through a weakened team with checks removed. Nature Power was chosen over Jump Kick for the ability to handle Chandelure and opposing fire types. This also serves as one of my checks to pink blobs, setting up on them and healing back to full with a Horn Leech.
EV Spread (Dr Ciel again) outspeeds scarfed Latios and shell smashed Cloyster with the rest of the points put into bulk.

Scizor @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Pursuit
- Superpower

Scizor, replacing a banded Dragonite before him, helps to alleviate my problems with predictions though U-turn as well as giving me the same priority I had with Dragonite and a more solid check to all of the big threats to my team. Gengar and Lati twins (lacking HP Fire) are KO'd by Pursuit while Tyranitar doesn't like taking anything from the rest of Scizor's set. Bullet Punch is a solid panic button when Landorus gets in a rock polish. Thanks to undisputed for this suggestion. 16 Speed because I creep like that and still hit an HP number not divisible by 4.

Heatran @ Air Balloon
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Stealth Rock
- Hidden Power [Ice]

My primary check to choiced dragons, Lati twins, and opposing sun teams as well as my hazard setter. This thing forces such a crazy amount of switches because nothing wants to stay in to take a hit from it. There's not a lot to say about it other than the obvious. I feel like it's a member that this team can't afford to lose, so I'll be reluctant to switch this out.
​

Big Threats:

: This thing is a pain if Raikou and Starmie are down. It's checked, but it can get out of hand easily. Handled by Scizor.

: These guys can give me problems, particularly when scarfed. Sawsbuck always can KO them with Double-Edge after Stealth Rocks but nothing can reliably KO them without Chlorophyll. Heatran walls most of their sets, but without recovery it can be worn down quickly. Variants with no HP Fire handled by Scizor, variants with are walled by Heatran.

: If Heatran's balloon is popped I'm screwed, for both Therian and Incarnate. Checked to an extent by Scizor or an ice move on the predicted switch.

Retired Members:

: Choice band Outrage you will be forever missed. <3

Changes in RED.

Importable:

Hide

Ninetales (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drought
EVs: 252 SAtk / 112 Spd / 144 HP
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- SolarBeam
- Will-O-Wisp
- Sunny Day

Raikou @ Life Orb
Trait: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 Sdef / 252 Spd
Rash Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Aura Sphere
- Calm Mind
- Weather Ball

Starmie @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Psyshock
- Ice Beam
- Rapid Spin
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Sawsbuck (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 108 HP / 252 Atk / 148 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Horn Leech
- Double-Edge
- Swords Dance
- Nature Power

Scizor @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Pursuit
- Superpower

Heatran @ Air Balloon
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Stealth Rock
- Hidden Power [Ice]

And that's it! Thanks for taking the time to read this RMT and please feel free to make suggestions or ask questions if I didn't clarify something fully. Cheers and remember to leave a Luvdisc if you liked it.​

 

[Dr Ciel]

Hey there, cool team.

I really love sun teams, so it's the obvious reason why I felt compelled to rate this team. I really like the use of underrated threats such as Raikou and Sawsbuck, so props to you on that. However, I see some flaws that this teams has, so hopefully my rate will help iron out those flaws and help improve this team. With that said, let's get to the rate. Alright, first up, I would like to suggest running an EV spread of 252 HP / 120 Def / 136 Spe and a Timid Nature on Ninetales over your current EV spread and Nature on Ninetales. With the aftermentioned EV spread and nature, Ninetales is able to outspeed opposing Haxorus, that may threaten it. Staying on Ninetales, I would like to suggest running Will-O-Wisp over your current choice of Toxic. Will-O-Wisp helps you burn the aftermentioned Haxorus and many other physical attackers in the tier. Up next, I would like to suggest running Calm Mind on your Raikou over your current choice of Extremespeed. With the many switches Raikou forces, it has several set-up opportunities. Finally, I would like to suggest running a spread of 112 HP / 248 Atk / 148 Spe on your Sawsbuck over your current one. With the aftermentioned EV spread, Sawsbuck is able to outspeed +1 108 Speed Pokemon, as well as Choice Scarf Terrakion and +2 Naive Cloyster under Sun. Staying on Sawsbuck, I would like to recommend running Return over your current choice of Double Edge. With Return, Sawsbuck won't wear itself down with recoil from Life Orb and Double-Edge. Well, that's all I have to say for now. I hope my advice helped. Have fun and good luck in your future endeavours!

​

TL;DR

• Ninetales

  

  : 144 HP / 252 SpA / 112 Spd -> 252 HP / 120 Def / 136 Spe​
• Modest -> Timid​
• Toxic -> Will-O-Wisp​

• Raikou

  

  : Extremespeed -> Calm Mind​

• Sawsbuck

  

  :​
• 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd -> 112 HP / 248 Atk / 148 Spe​
• Double Edge -> Return​

~Dr Ciel~​

 

[undisputed]

Hey!

Solid looking team, and good job deviating from the common Sun team. Raikou is an interesting idea, and it's definitely a threat when played correctly. Aura Sphere has always been Raikou's downfall since it requires a Rash nature though. I really want to see you use Timid Nature, so I'll at least offer you some suggestions to try. Regardless, I think Dragonite is the odd man out on this team, since it doesn't really serve a definitive purpose. Heatran could also play a bigger role against weather teams as a psuedo-trapper, so I will recommend that too.

First, instead of Dragonite, you can try CB Scizor. The change isn't actually as big as it might seem either. Both Pokemon are CB users, so you'll obviously be wall breaking and revenging like normal. However, CB Scizor is much more useful for a wider array of jobs. Bullet Punch will help ease your weakness to Landorus, and since Scizor isn't weak to Stealth Rock, you can switch it in for more revenging options. U-turn is your obvious momentum retaining move, which should ease predictions Dragonite would otherwise have to make. Scizor will also help you beat Pokemon like Lati@s and Gengar, assuming the former doesn't have HP Fire. At the very least, you'll have a threat to deter Draco Meteors.

Next, Heatran would serve you much better as a Magma Storm Trapper. The moves are Magma Storm / Sunny Day / Solar Beam / Stealth Rock. You use Magma Storm on the probable Politoed / Tyranitar switch-ins, then Sunny Day and Solar Beam until they die. If you can trap and kill the other weather inducer, Sawsbuck is going to go to work. You still have that crucial Stealth Rock slot, so no worries there. Your EVs are fine too, in my opinion. If you find that you don't need Heatran in a certain match anymore, you should relegate it to Stealth Rock duty and sacrifice/pivot roles.

Finally, for your consideration, you can try Timid Raikou with Thunderbolt / Weatherball / Hidden Power Fighting / Shadow Ball. A little different than your Raikou, but this one offers two big advantages. Obviously Timid is not to be understated, allowing you to outspeed the Lati@s tier and tie with Starmie. That will also ease your prediction against Lati@s and Gengar, two threats you mentioned in the OP. Shadow Ball and Hidden Power Fighting, although your two lesser-used moves, provide perfect coverage. HP Fighting is pretty weak, but it will still hit Tyranitar for decent damage. Truth be told, when someone sees Raikou, most of them automatically assume Aura Sphere. That means they usually won't be fooled by Aura Sphere, but they may make some mistakes assuming you're Timid. The only situation I think you'd miss Aura Sphere is when your opponent is cornered with seemingly nowhere left to hide, but you can't capitalize with Aura Sphere. Kind of a toss up, but try it out.

Good luck!

 

[Alter]

Finally, for your consideration, you can try Timid Raikou with Thunderbolt / Weatherball / Hidden Power Fighting / Shadow Ball.

I'm fairly sure Raikou may only use Weather Ball with a Rash nature (due to it being an event only move), which would explain his use of ExtremeSpeed being used as not to waste the -SDef nature.

 

[Allethosea]

Thanks for the replies, everyone. I've definitely appreciated some of the suggestions so far.

@Dr Ciel: I'd rather not change the EV spread on Ninetales or it becomes setup fodder without a strong special attack investment. Will-O-Wisp was definitely appreciated and eased the pain of Tyranitar a good bit.

Calm Mind is working well on Raikou so far, so we'll see how much Espeed is missed. I modified the EV spread on Sawsbuck to outspeed Scarf Latios, which is KO'd 100% of the time by Double-Edge after Stealth Rocks, which is why I prefer it to Return.

@undisputed: The Scizor suggestion is working out nicely. U-Turn has eased the burden of prediction a ton, which was a big problem before. One bad move and I'd have needed to hard switch, which led to quite a few setups.

Unfortunately Raikou is required to run Rash with Weather Ball as well as Aura Sphere, so Timid is not possible to use. It still outspeeds positive base 100 mons, though.

As for Heatran, my weaknesses to Politoed and Tyranitar have been alleviated by other members so the security in the HP ice set and the ability to beat other Heatran (which give me problems otherwise) is preferred. Thanks for the suggestion, though.

@ShellShocker: Yes, that's correct.

 

[inanimate blob]

So, I like Sawsbuck. I like him a lot. But have you considered Venusaur?

Venusaur @ Black Sludge
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 4 HP/252 SpAtk/252 Spd
Nature: Hasty (+Spd, -Def)
-Growth
-Giga Drain
-Hidden Power Fire
-Earthquake

This Pokémon is able to keep a powerful Attack and Special Attack using Growth, and has impressive coverage with Grass/Ground/Fire. Additionally, Black Sludge and Goga Drain help to keep Venusaur alive for long periods of time, and is actually a bit bulkier than Sawsbuck.

 

[Allethosea]

See, I had used Venusaur previously and wasn't pleased with it. It was just too slow and I wanted to try and deviate from the standards of most sun teams. That, and it's very reliant on Growth. Sawsbuck can KO things straight out with Double-Edge if need be. In addition, the team is somewhat built around clearing Sawsbuck's counters for a sweep.

Sidenote, if anyone has opinions on Starmie vs. Latias I'd love to hear them. The speed loss is no longer a huge deal.