Here's a team I made around the core around Rillaboom + Hawlucha + Raging Bolt, with the goal of having a bunch of bulky mons that benefit from grassy terrain's healing. I think I’ve peaked at around 1600 with this team and am hovering at 1500 right now but I’m posting here because I don’t know what to do with the final team slot.
Immovable Gonzales (Rillaboom) (M) @ Terrain Extender
Ability: Grassy Surge
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 96 HP / 252 Atk / 160 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Grassy Glide
- Wood Hammer
- U-turn
- Knock Off
Rillaboom has the advantage over every other terrain setter in gen 9 OU (and almost every weather setter as well) of actually being a good pokemon instead of just a bad pokemon you use to make your good pokemon better. The reason why I don't have another grass type on the team (and hence why I haven't called this a grass spam team) is because Rillaboom is the best pokemon at clicking grass type moves in OU. Terrain extender is useful not just to support the team better, but also to have an item that isn't choice band, since I think Rillaboom main flaw in the current meta is that there are so many things that can exploit a Rillaboom that is locked into grassy glide. Grassy Glide is basically essential on Rillaboom, and even without choice band wood hammer is excellent at wallbreaking against slow, bulky mons like Ting-Lu, Dondozo, Clefable, Hatterene, and Primarina. U-turn because it is the best move in the game. Knock off hits a bunch of common grass resists pretty hard (Glowking, Iron Crown, Gholdengo) and cripples a bunch of other grass resists (Zapdos, Moltres, Corviknight) No speed EVs because U-turn means being slower is as much of a positive as it is a drawback and the extra bulk is nice.
Chavo Guerrero (Hawlucha) (M) @ Grassy Seed
Ability: Unburden
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 192 HP / 252 Atk / 64 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Acrobatics
- Encore
Hawlucha is really good in a meta where there’s a bunch of mons that rely on outspeeding everything with the +1 boost from scarf or booster energy and can’t compete with the +2 boost from unburden. It is really good in a meta where the most threatening priority in the tier is kingambit’s sucker punch. It’s pretty bad though, when it’s best option for proccing grassy seed is Rillaboom, because there’s a bunch of overlap in the things that wall both of them. Gholdengo, Corviknight, Moltres, and Zapdos are all pretty annoying to deal with, and one of my main goals with the rest of the team was to make them easier to deal with. Hawlucha is this team’s revenge killer, anti-offense via encore, speed control, and cleaner. The EV spread lets you barely outspeed scarf darkrai and meowscarada while putting the rest in bulk. Tera ghost lets you safely encore dragonite into espeed, but it also makes you neutral against a bunch of other random attacks, like letting you live tera flying acrobatics from Roaring Moon so you can set up a swords dance and OHKO it next turn. I plan on experimenting with Tera steel specifically for that interaction with Moon.
King Catnine (Raging Bolt) @ Leftovers
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 196 HP / 252 SpA / 60 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 20 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Thunderclap
- Dragon Pulse
- Thunderbolt
Raging Bolt might be one of the best abusers of Grassy Terrain’s healing. With Grassy Terrain and Leftovers this thing is practically unkillable without a super effective move. Healing Wish further complements this defensive profile, letting you recover if it takes a big hit or gets toxic’d. Of course Grassy Terrain making Earthquake effectively a neutral hit is also amazing, especially with so many bulky ground types in the tier being physically defensive. You beat all the flying types that wall Hawlucha and Rillaboom, and you set up on Hex TWave Gholdengo if you can scout that set properly. Tera Dragon over Tera Fairy because I think this team handles other dragons pretty well and the only real time I ended up using my Tera on Bolt was to make it neutral to ground, which Dragon achieves while also boosting Dragon pulse’s damage. Speed EVs speed creep the default Primarina sets on the strategy dex, a little greedy but it hasn’t bit me in the ass yet.
The Rachi (Jirachi) @ Air Balloon
Ability: Serene Grace
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 104 HP / 252 SpA / 152 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Healing Wish
- Stealth Rock
- Doom Desire
- Psychic
Probably the weirdest thing on this team but it compresses all the support roles on this team so that I can have 5 bulky attackers and 1 support instead of 3-4 bulky attackers and 2-3 supports. Just being a steel type is also inherently good even without any offensive threat to back it up and makes Toxic and Draco Meteor way less threatening. Stealth rock + healing wish is a very nice combo, since any stealth rocker’s contribution to the team is going to go down massively once rocks are up and the opponent is no longer able to easily remove them. I definitely knew I wanted a Healing Wish user when designing this team, since not only does Rillaboom appreciate Healing Wish, but any mon that appreciates the gradual heals of Grassy Terrain is also going to benefit from the burst Healing of Healing Wish. It’s a special attacker because I want it to counter-lead Glimmora without triggering Toxic Debris, but Psychic is also really good at killing Great Tusk which is an otherwise problematic mon for this team. Doom Desire is a good move to click if the opponent is giving you free turns and you already have rocks up. Air balloon helps even more with the Glimmora and Great Tusk matchups, while also letting you sit on Clodsire and Gliscors that don’t have Knock Off or Facade. Speed EVs + Nature just barely speed creep Great Tusk so you can 1v1 it even without Air Balloon.
Grusk (Great Tusk) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Headlong Rush
- Knock Off
- Rapid Spin
One of the best pokemon in OU, and also the easiest way to fit a ground type on the team without having your ground STAB nerfed by your own terrain. Like Bolt, Great Tusk benefits a lot from the residual healing and from Healing Wish. I’ve considered Ice Spinner over Close Combat to ensure I have Ice coverage on the team despite it removing terrain, but Close Combat is good enough despite overlapping coverage with Headlong Rush. Hitting Grass types and Corviknight with a 120 BP neutral STAB move is pretty good, you beat Air Balloon and Tera Dark Kingambit, and you can lure physical Ice types (and honorary Ice type Meowscarada) by living an unboosted hit from full HP and hitting them back with CC. The healing from Grassy Terrain + nothing on this team being weak to SR means you don’t need to Rapid Spin super often but it’s nice to deal with Webs, TSpikes, and Hazard Stack. Knock Off is mainly there to break Gholdengo’s Balloon, but it also cripples the birds the same way it does for Rillaboom. Also having a second fighting type to deal with Kingambit is really nice especially with Healing Wish, since it makes it nearly impossible for opponents to bring this team to the point where Kingambit can actually sweep through it, and Tusk is a less committal switch in if they bring it in early.
Amabie (Primarina) @ Grassy Seed
Ability: Torrent
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Surf
- Moonblast
- Substitute
The most recent addition and the pokemon I am least confident on this team. I wanted a special attacker that can handle the physically bulky ground types that wall Bolt, so that my opponents can’t just pivot between a bulky flying type and a ground type to handle Rillaboom/Bolt forever. Primarina is also an Ice resist that actually deals damage (unlike Jirachi) and is neutral to ground so you have an easier time against Ice Spinner Great Tusk, gives you a Dragon/Fairy/Steel backbone, and is a way more consistent way to hit opposing Dragon types and Zamazenta for super effective damage. Grassy Seed is necessary because you are incredibly slow and need the mixed bulk to 1v1 any physical attacker consistently. I have also experimented with Nasty Plot Darkrai in this slot, but as a monotype pokemon (especially a U turn weak one) it just felt really difficult to switch it in. No speed EVs since the main thing you outspeed with investment is Kingambit, and this team already handles that matchup pretty well.
Great Tusk, Iron Treads: Ice Spinner removes Grassy Terrain while also hitting 4 members of this team for super effective damage. Defensively not too much of an issue but disrupts the gameplan enough that I usually have to give up a lot of momentum recovering. Also being immune to electric while still having a way to hit Bolt for super effective damage in Grassy Terrain is really annoying.
Meowscarada: Basically requires committing Hawlucha’s unburden to deal with its speed + coverage, which is a problem when it can just U-turn out to bring in something that walls my bird.
Moltres/Zapdos: Not too difficult for the team as a whole to deal with, but usually forces a switch from Hawlucha or Rillaboom, and an unlucky Flame Body/Static proc often requires a healing wish down the line to recover from.
Unaware mons: Always wall Hawlucha no matter what, and their recovery makes it easy to switch them in multiple times a game.
Raging Bolt: Great Tusk checks it incredibly consistently but you don’t want to switch Great Tusk in if they have any boost or Draco Meteor since that and Protosynthesis/Calm Mind Dragon Pulse has a chance to OHKO you on the switch. If they bring it in on Hawlucha they always live an unboosted close combat from full HP so you get forced out, but if you’re already +2 encore makes it a coinflip. Thunderbolt is still optimal for them even then since +2 CC is a damage roll while thunderbolt is guaranteed, but some people on mid ladder get greedy and try to thunderclap you even when you’re at +0 which is always very funny whenever you punish it.
Immovable Gonzales (Rillaboom) (M) @ Terrain Extender
Ability: Grassy Surge
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 96 HP / 252 Atk / 160 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Grassy Glide
- Wood Hammer
- U-turn
- Knock Off
Rillaboom has the advantage over every other terrain setter in gen 9 OU (and almost every weather setter as well) of actually being a good pokemon instead of just a bad pokemon you use to make your good pokemon better. The reason why I don't have another grass type on the team (and hence why I haven't called this a grass spam team) is because Rillaboom is the best pokemon at clicking grass type moves in OU. Terrain extender is useful not just to support the team better, but also to have an item that isn't choice band, since I think Rillaboom main flaw in the current meta is that there are so many things that can exploit a Rillaboom that is locked into grassy glide. Grassy Glide is basically essential on Rillaboom, and even without choice band wood hammer is excellent at wallbreaking against slow, bulky mons like Ting-Lu, Dondozo, Clefable, Hatterene, and Primarina. U-turn because it is the best move in the game. Knock off hits a bunch of common grass resists pretty hard (Glowking, Iron Crown, Gholdengo) and cripples a bunch of other grass resists (Zapdos, Moltres, Corviknight) No speed EVs because U-turn means being slower is as much of a positive as it is a drawback and the extra bulk is nice.
Chavo Guerrero (Hawlucha) (M) @ Grassy Seed
Ability: Unburden
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 192 HP / 252 Atk / 64 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Acrobatics
- Encore
Hawlucha is really good in a meta where there’s a bunch of mons that rely on outspeeding everything with the +1 boost from scarf or booster energy and can’t compete with the +2 boost from unburden. It is really good in a meta where the most threatening priority in the tier is kingambit’s sucker punch. It’s pretty bad though, when it’s best option for proccing grassy seed is Rillaboom, because there’s a bunch of overlap in the things that wall both of them. Gholdengo, Corviknight, Moltres, and Zapdos are all pretty annoying to deal with, and one of my main goals with the rest of the team was to make them easier to deal with. Hawlucha is this team’s revenge killer, anti-offense via encore, speed control, and cleaner. The EV spread lets you barely outspeed scarf darkrai and meowscarada while putting the rest in bulk. Tera ghost lets you safely encore dragonite into espeed, but it also makes you neutral against a bunch of other random attacks, like letting you live tera flying acrobatics from Roaring Moon so you can set up a swords dance and OHKO it next turn. I plan on experimenting with Tera steel specifically for that interaction with Moon.
King Catnine (Raging Bolt) @ Leftovers
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 196 HP / 252 SpA / 60 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 20 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Thunderclap
- Dragon Pulse
- Thunderbolt
Raging Bolt might be one of the best abusers of Grassy Terrain’s healing. With Grassy Terrain and Leftovers this thing is practically unkillable without a super effective move. Healing Wish further complements this defensive profile, letting you recover if it takes a big hit or gets toxic’d. Of course Grassy Terrain making Earthquake effectively a neutral hit is also amazing, especially with so many bulky ground types in the tier being physically defensive. You beat all the flying types that wall Hawlucha and Rillaboom, and you set up on Hex TWave Gholdengo if you can scout that set properly. Tera Dragon over Tera Fairy because I think this team handles other dragons pretty well and the only real time I ended up using my Tera on Bolt was to make it neutral to ground, which Dragon achieves while also boosting Dragon pulse’s damage. Speed EVs speed creep the default Primarina sets on the strategy dex, a little greedy but it hasn’t bit me in the ass yet.
The Rachi (Jirachi) @ Air Balloon
Ability: Serene Grace
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 104 HP / 252 SpA / 152 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Healing Wish
- Stealth Rock
- Doom Desire
- Psychic
Probably the weirdest thing on this team but it compresses all the support roles on this team so that I can have 5 bulky attackers and 1 support instead of 3-4 bulky attackers and 2-3 supports. Just being a steel type is also inherently good even without any offensive threat to back it up and makes Toxic and Draco Meteor way less threatening. Stealth rock + healing wish is a very nice combo, since any stealth rocker’s contribution to the team is going to go down massively once rocks are up and the opponent is no longer able to easily remove them. I definitely knew I wanted a Healing Wish user when designing this team, since not only does Rillaboom appreciate Healing Wish, but any mon that appreciates the gradual heals of Grassy Terrain is also going to benefit from the burst Healing of Healing Wish. It’s a special attacker because I want it to counter-lead Glimmora without triggering Toxic Debris, but Psychic is also really good at killing Great Tusk which is an otherwise problematic mon for this team. Doom Desire is a good move to click if the opponent is giving you free turns and you already have rocks up. Air balloon helps even more with the Glimmora and Great Tusk matchups, while also letting you sit on Clodsire and Gliscors that don’t have Knock Off or Facade. Speed EVs + Nature just barely speed creep Great Tusk so you can 1v1 it even without Air Balloon.
Grusk (Great Tusk) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Headlong Rush
- Knock Off
- Rapid Spin
One of the best pokemon in OU, and also the easiest way to fit a ground type on the team without having your ground STAB nerfed by your own terrain. Like Bolt, Great Tusk benefits a lot from the residual healing and from Healing Wish. I’ve considered Ice Spinner over Close Combat to ensure I have Ice coverage on the team despite it removing terrain, but Close Combat is good enough despite overlapping coverage with Headlong Rush. Hitting Grass types and Corviknight with a 120 BP neutral STAB move is pretty good, you beat Air Balloon and Tera Dark Kingambit, and you can lure physical Ice types (and honorary Ice type Meowscarada) by living an unboosted hit from full HP and hitting them back with CC. The healing from Grassy Terrain + nothing on this team being weak to SR means you don’t need to Rapid Spin super often but it’s nice to deal with Webs, TSpikes, and Hazard Stack. Knock Off is mainly there to break Gholdengo’s Balloon, but it also cripples the birds the same way it does for Rillaboom. Also having a second fighting type to deal with Kingambit is really nice especially with Healing Wish, since it makes it nearly impossible for opponents to bring this team to the point where Kingambit can actually sweep through it, and Tusk is a less committal switch in if they bring it in early.
Amabie (Primarina) @ Grassy Seed
Ability: Torrent
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Surf
- Moonblast
- Substitute
The most recent addition and the pokemon I am least confident on this team. I wanted a special attacker that can handle the physically bulky ground types that wall Bolt, so that my opponents can’t just pivot between a bulky flying type and a ground type to handle Rillaboom/Bolt forever. Primarina is also an Ice resist that actually deals damage (unlike Jirachi) and is neutral to ground so you have an easier time against Ice Spinner Great Tusk, gives you a Dragon/Fairy/Steel backbone, and is a way more consistent way to hit opposing Dragon types and Zamazenta for super effective damage. Grassy Seed is necessary because you are incredibly slow and need the mixed bulk to 1v1 any physical attacker consistently. I have also experimented with Nasty Plot Darkrai in this slot, but as a monotype pokemon (especially a U turn weak one) it just felt really difficult to switch it in. No speed EVs since the main thing you outspeed with investment is Kingambit, and this team already handles that matchup pretty well.
Great Tusk, Iron Treads: Ice Spinner removes Grassy Terrain while also hitting 4 members of this team for super effective damage. Defensively not too much of an issue but disrupts the gameplan enough that I usually have to give up a lot of momentum recovering. Also being immune to electric while still having a way to hit Bolt for super effective damage in Grassy Terrain is really annoying.
Meowscarada: Basically requires committing Hawlucha’s unburden to deal with its speed + coverage, which is a problem when it can just U-turn out to bring in something that walls my bird.
Moltres/Zapdos: Not too difficult for the team as a whole to deal with, but usually forces a switch from Hawlucha or Rillaboom, and an unlucky Flame Body/Static proc often requires a healing wish down the line to recover from.
Unaware mons: Always wall Hawlucha no matter what, and their recovery makes it easy to switch them in multiple times a game.
Raging Bolt: Great Tusk checks it incredibly consistently but you don’t want to switch Great Tusk in if they have any boost or Draco Meteor since that and Protosynthesis/Calm Mind Dragon Pulse has a chance to OHKO you on the switch. If they bring it in on Hawlucha they always live an unboosted close combat from full HP so you get forced out, but if you’re already +2 encore makes it a coinflip. Thunderbolt is still optimal for them even then since +2 CC is a damage roll while thunderbolt is guaranteed, but some people on mid ladder get greedy and try to thunderclap you even when you’re at +0 which is always very funny whenever you punish it.
