Gen 5 OU Sunny Day RMT - SUN IS FUN!

[buttchinforthewin]

SUN IS FUN!

This is a Gen 5 RMT for an OU Sunny Day team. This team has been tested a couple of times, and has been doing well in unranked matches so far. I'm looking for ways to improve this, so any help/tips/advice would be greatly appreciated.

The team is centered around a Charizard late game sweep, and he is the MVP of this team. Here is the full team in it's glory:

And now, an in-depth look:

Ninetales (M) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Drought
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- SolarBeam
- Quick Attack
- Hypnosis

Standard Ninetales lead. Gets permanent sun up quickly, and puts the opposing lead to sleep before proceeding to do as much damage as possible using Fire Blast and Solar Beam for coverage and Quick Attack for Priority. This baby really comes in handy late-game too, and with decent power, it can counter other weather-shifters, like Abomasnow.

Tangrowth (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Sleep Powder
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Substitute


Physically defensive Tangrowth. Doesn't take advantage of sun, however. The standard process goes by putting the opponent to sleep, and proceeding to SubSeed. This is the pokemon I want to change, but I need a filler who can counter bulky waters and Tyranitar.

Hitmontop (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Close Combat
- Rapid Spin
- Stone Edge
- Toxic

Defensive rapid spin Hitmontop. It's main purpose is to clear entry hazards to set up either a Charizard or Darmanitan sweep (more on that later). It cripples opponents who decide to set up on it with Toxic, but can still dish out the damage with Close Combat and Stone Edge for a combination of coverage and power.

Salamence (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 48 Atk / 252 SAtk / 208 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Fire Blast
- Draco Meteor
- Roost
- Outrage

Another filler Pokemon that takes advantage of the sun. Standard MixMence set, but on this, Fire Blast sees a lot more use with the sun up. Roost for staying power and prolonging the pain this baby brings. Draco Meteor and Outrage are your standard MixMence STAB attacks.

Charizard (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Solar Power
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- SolarBeam
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]

The hard hitter. The pain bringer. This baby right here is the MVP and crux of the squad, and is what this team was built around. Charizard has a decent special attack, but in the sun with Solar Power, Fire Blast gets essentially what is a 3x STAB boost. With that kind of power, Charizard uses the speed boost from the Choice Scarf and makes a great hard hitter along with a decent revenge killer. The Fire Blast is so powerful, it 3HKO's Blissey and Chansey. It OHKO's most of the metagame that doesn't resist Fire Blast, and many standard walls used as counters, like Jellicent and Vaporeon are 2HKO'ed. The other moves are mainly for coverage.

Darmanitan (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake

Darmanitan is basically a physical Charizard. With Choice Band, Sheer Force, and Fire and Sun STAB, Flare Blitz becomes a physical Charizard's Fire Blast, also OHKO'ing and 2HKO'ing a big part of the metagame. As with Charizard, the other moves are for coverage, and U-Turn can be used to scout.

So this is my team! I am especially looking for a Tangrowth, Hitmontop, or Salamence replacement. Any help/advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[jynx KB]

Ok, this doesn't really seem like my style of team, so I'm giving hints that completely destroy your setup I apologize, but I'll do the best I can. That being said, I can see where this team would have trouble simply from the lead.

I may be one of the few who doesn't mind Solarbeam on a Sun team, but as I've said many times before, Ninetails is the LAST Pokemon who should carry it due to the problem of switching in. Speaking of switching, Focus Sash? Why would you want to put Tails in position to use it, Ninetails needs to LAST the battle for repeated switch ins in order to keep the sun up.

Now that that's out of the way, I'm actually going to give practical advice here. Ninetails as far as I know right now is most popular with ChestoRest. That being said, I personally think that Ninetail's most powerful role (other then Drought) is more of a disabler, and a Pokemon to catch switch ins.

One of the best and most creative options I've seen so far is a combination of Overheat, Will o Wisp, and Power Swap, essentially placing a Burn on either kind of attacker, especially those looking to set up as you switch out. The last move can be for coverage, Hypnosis, or whatever your team might need, but keep the set in mind. I personally think that this would help your sweepers immensely, as Flare Blitz and Solar Power give you limited time to strike, so the less damage they take from retaliating attackers the better.

Hitmontop I think is your best bet for a Spinner on this particular team, as it handles super effective coverage on Tyranitar (a popular Rocker, and rival to Sun in any case) Considering Charizard is your MVP, you need them down. Not sure about the moveset though, but I might suggest Persuit not only to handle Spinblockers, but to trap.

However, if you're looking to go a different route, you could always use Foretress as a Spinner, baiting Fire attacks for a Heatran switch in.

The other thing I can see that this team desperately needs is some kind of Wish Passer, as your Sweepers will be taking recoil every turn. I guess if Charizard only comes out once for the endgame that point is moot, but it still is worth looking into.

If I can think up anything else, I'll let you know.

 

[Cicada]

Okay, so It's pretty much the prevalent type of a Sun-based team, with some underused pomons like Charizard or Tangrowth. You're quite weak to Outrages and other stuff, Heatran could give you some troubles with all your super effective attacks on Choice pomons. I would advance that Fire types are a certain nuisance to your team, and Salamence will not be forever on the field with SR and sun. Plus, Politoed is pretty much a big threat to your team with his abitily to abuse Hpump in rain, and add one turn of recoil to Solar Beam, and divide his power by 2 if i remember well. Rock attacks spam can give you headache if you lose Hitmontop, which isn't so hard with some offensive pressure or bad anticipation. I see you want to replace Tangrowth Salamence and Hitmontop, I have some ideas you can try out.

To fix your lack of Dragon resist, you can try Forrey in place of your Hitmontop. It allow you to use Entry Hasards as well if you want to put some pressure against Weather Inducers. Also, Volt Change can be useful if you want to send out a certain sweeper in a good position, Gyroball is also usable if you want to catch a Terrakion or other threats, it's up to you.

Also, I prefer to avoid to use Solar Beam on Ninetales, 'cause of other weather which can add another turn to your attack. Personnally, I think the better way to play it is to use the common set which is the Specially Defensive on his analysis.

Ninetales

Ninetales @ Leftovers
252 HP / 92 SpD / 164 Spe - Timid
- Flamethrower / Overheat
- Will-O-Wisp / Toxic
- Substitute
- Hidden Power Fighting

Power Swap set can work if you encounter some problems with Volcarona, you can try to put a Scarf on Darmanitan if you have some troubles, which can punish the moth with his double Stabbed Flareblitz or even Stone Edge if you're not sick with miss. About Darmanitan, I prefer use Superpower to hit Air Ballon users like Heatran, Ferrothorn without the recoil of Flare Blitz and stuff.

I never used Charizard but if he works with you, It's okay.

Why not use Venusaur and Sawsbuck in place of Tangrowth and Salamence? Yeah, they're the most common chrolophyllers on this meta, but they're so good. Also, Venusaur allows you to absorb Toxic Spikes which can be a pain if they're set up and you havn't time to use your spinner. Also, you have two good pokes to put a quite good pressure against SS and rain based teams. Using Double Edge on Sawsbuck can reduce your weakness to Lati-twins and btw Chomp if Tangrowth is out, and recover this recoil with Horn Leech. My apologies if my rate isn't optimal, it's late here so I'm a bit tired, overall gl with your team !