To begin with, I would like to apologize if my English is not perfect, as it is not my native language. Nevertheless, I hope you will be understanding and that I won’t butcher Shakespeare’s language too much.
I would like your help to improve and optimize a sun team built around Raging Bolt for SV OU that I tried to construct using Srn’s method, who created the sun sample to guide me in building the team. Of course, if necessary, I have no problem deviating from this guide.
Here is the link to SRN's RMT for reference : https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/the-sss-srns-sun-squad.3749857/
What I call Srn’s method consists of :
Here is the link to the paste of my team : https://pokepast.es/0f40ec7c45467257
Raging Bolt @ Leftovers
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 20 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Thunderbolt
- Thunderclap
- Dragon Pulse
Raging Bolt is the star of the team. I chose a standard set maximizing special attack and speed, with Calm Mind for boosting, Thunderclap as priority benefiting from the electric STAB, Thunderbolt as a more consistent electric STAB than Thunderclap, and Dragon Pulse as the dragon STAB. As for the item, I opted for Leftovers to have some recovery, since Protosynthesis boosts the special attack thanks to the Sun, so obviously no Booster Energy as you would often see. As for the tera type, I chose Fairy to have a dragon immunity and a dark resistance, which will be very useful against Kingambit.
Walking Wake @ Choice Specs
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 8 HP / 4 Def / 244 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Steam
- Flip Turn
- Draco Meteor
- Weather Ball
Walking Wake is the mandatory Pokémon in any sun team, as I mentioned earlier. Here, it’s also a fairly standard set with 244 EVs in special attack to get the Protosynthesis speed boost, Hydro Steam as the water STAB that benefits from the Sun, Flip Turn to pivot, Draco Meteor for a powerful dragon STAB, and Weather Ball as a fire attack under the Sun to maximize its effects, which will be slightly stronger than Flamethrower. For the item, I chose Choice Specs to boost its special attack, and for the tera type, I went with Water to further increase the power of Hydro Steam.
Torkoal @ Heat Rock
Ability: Drought
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 248 HP / 248 Def / 12 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Lava Plume
- Clear Smog
As the Sun setter, I chose Torkoal, which I preferred over Ninetales to have a second form of Hazard Control with Rapid Spin in case of extreme emergencies, and it will also serve as my Stealth Rock setter. For the other two moves, I picked Lava Plume for the 30% chance to burn the opposing Pokémon and Clear Smog to reset the stats of an opponent trying to set up. For the tera type, I went with Flying to provide a ground immunity if needed.
Iron Treads @ Booster Energy
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Volt Switch
- Ice Spinner
For the first form of hazard control, we would obviously expect Great Tusk, who also benefits from the Sun thanks to Protosynthesis. But if I choose him, then for the Pokémon to absorb toxic spikes, I would likely have to choose between Iron Moth and Venusaur, neither of which has a ground resist, or dragon resist. For the last Pokemon, I would need to pick something that compresses all two resistances if I continue building my team around Srn’s method. To my knowledge, only Corviknight and Skarmory can compress these resistances among the viable Pokemon in the tier. But I wasnt too keen on including any of those two. That’s why I went with Iron Treads. I opted for a physical set, mainly to maximize damage against Slowking-Galar. It’s also very good against Raging Bolt lacking Weather Ball, which seems to be the most common scenario. For the moves, we obviously have Rapid Spin to remove hazards, Earthquake as the Ground STAB, Ice Spinner for dragons, and Volt Switch for pivoting. As for the item, I chose Energy Booster, which could be useful to outspeed Iron Moth if it comes onto the field a second time and no longer has the speed boost from Quark Drive. For the tera type, I went with Ghost, which seems to be the most common for it.
Venusaur @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Growth
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Earth Power
For the Pokemon to absorb toxic spikes, I went with Venusaur, which I preferred over Iron Moth due to its ability to outspeed both Iron Valiant and Iron Moth boosted by Quark Drive under the Sun. For the moves, we have Growth for boosting, Giga Drain as the grass STAB to heal and hit Garganacl whether Tera Water or not, Sludge Bomb as the poison STAB to hit Garganacl Tera Fairy, and Earth Power to effectively deal with Iron Moth and Raging Bolt. For the item, I chose Life Orb to maximize damage, and for the Tera type, I went with Ground to get STAB on Earth Power and be immune to Raging Bolt’s Thunderclap.
Slither Wing @ Assault Vest
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Bug
EVs: 168 HP / 252 Atk / 88 Spe
Adamant Nature
- First Impression
- U-turn
- Low Kick
- Earthquake
For the last Pokemon, I needed a ground resist if I continued to base the team on Srn's method. That's why I chose Slither Wing, which I preferred over options like Lilligant-Hisui, as it not only overlaps a bit with Venusaur as a Chlorophyll sweeper, but also isn't particularly impressive against Slowking-Galar. For Slither Wing, I went with the classic Assault Vest set, with U-Turn as the bug STAB to pivot, First Impression as a strong priority bug STAB, and Earthquake to OHKO Slowking-Galar under the Sun. For the fighting STAB, I initially wanted to go with Close Combat. However, after reading Srn's RMT, I was convinced that Low Kick is a better option because it has the same power as Close Combat against most threats, is more spammable due to higher PP, and doesn't cause defensive stat drops. For the tera type, I chose Bug to increase the damage of U-Turn and First Impression, though it's not impossible that there's a more relevant choice to be made.
I'd like to hear your opinions on this team—what changes should be made to improve and optimize it? I'm open to almost any modifications, as long as Raging Bolt remains on the team, it stays a sun team, and it enhances my team's viability. I'm even willing to include Corviknight or Skarmory if necessary, despite saying earlier that I wasn't particularly inclined to use them. That said, it seems highly unlikely that you'd suggest playing Skarmory on a sun team. The only Pokemon regularly used in sun that I don't want is Heatran. Well, it's more Magma Storm that I don't want to play, due to its terrible accuracy that might make me want to throw my computer out the window from the fourth floor, lol. And since Heatran is almost always played with Magma Storm...
Thank you in advance for your feedback and suggestions!
I would like your help to improve and optimize a sun team built around Raging Bolt for SV OU that I tried to construct using Srn’s method, who created the sun sample to guide me in building the team. Of course, if necessary, I have no problem deviating from this guide.
Here is the link to SRN's RMT for reference : https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/the-sss-srns-sun-squad.3749857/
What I call Srn’s method consists of :
- Not stacking dragon types. Here, I would consider this condition met if we only have Raging Bolt as the star of the team and Walking Wake, which is mandatory in any sun team as a dragon type, and we don’t add any other dragon types like Roaring Moon.
- Having a ground resist and a dragon resist.
- Not using Hatterene.
- Having a Pokémon that can absorb toxic spikes.
- Having something to deal with Garganacl, Iron Moth, Raging Bolt, and especially Slowking-Galar.
Here is the link to the paste of my team : https://pokepast.es/0f40ec7c45467257
Raging Bolt @ Leftovers
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 20 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Thunderbolt
- Thunderclap
- Dragon Pulse
Raging Bolt is the star of the team. I chose a standard set maximizing special attack and speed, with Calm Mind for boosting, Thunderclap as priority benefiting from the electric STAB, Thunderbolt as a more consistent electric STAB than Thunderclap, and Dragon Pulse as the dragon STAB. As for the item, I opted for Leftovers to have some recovery, since Protosynthesis boosts the special attack thanks to the Sun, so obviously no Booster Energy as you would often see. As for the tera type, I chose Fairy to have a dragon immunity and a dark resistance, which will be very useful against Kingambit.
Walking Wake @ Choice Specs
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 8 HP / 4 Def / 244 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Steam
- Flip Turn
- Draco Meteor
- Weather Ball
Walking Wake is the mandatory Pokémon in any sun team, as I mentioned earlier. Here, it’s also a fairly standard set with 244 EVs in special attack to get the Protosynthesis speed boost, Hydro Steam as the water STAB that benefits from the Sun, Flip Turn to pivot, Draco Meteor for a powerful dragon STAB, and Weather Ball as a fire attack under the Sun to maximize its effects, which will be slightly stronger than Flamethrower. For the item, I chose Choice Specs to boost its special attack, and for the tera type, I went with Water to further increase the power of Hydro Steam.
Torkoal @ Heat Rock
Ability: Drought
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 248 HP / 248 Def / 12 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Lava Plume
- Clear Smog
As the Sun setter, I chose Torkoal, which I preferred over Ninetales to have a second form of Hazard Control with Rapid Spin in case of extreme emergencies, and it will also serve as my Stealth Rock setter. For the other two moves, I picked Lava Plume for the 30% chance to burn the opposing Pokémon and Clear Smog to reset the stats of an opponent trying to set up. For the tera type, I went with Flying to provide a ground immunity if needed.
Iron Treads @ Booster Energy
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Volt Switch
- Ice Spinner
For the first form of hazard control, we would obviously expect Great Tusk, who also benefits from the Sun thanks to Protosynthesis. But if I choose him, then for the Pokémon to absorb toxic spikes, I would likely have to choose between Iron Moth and Venusaur, neither of which has a ground resist, or dragon resist. For the last Pokemon, I would need to pick something that compresses all two resistances if I continue building my team around Srn’s method. To my knowledge, only Corviknight and Skarmory can compress these resistances among the viable Pokemon in the tier. But I wasnt too keen on including any of those two. That’s why I went with Iron Treads. I opted for a physical set, mainly to maximize damage against Slowking-Galar. It’s also very good against Raging Bolt lacking Weather Ball, which seems to be the most common scenario. For the moves, we obviously have Rapid Spin to remove hazards, Earthquake as the Ground STAB, Ice Spinner for dragons, and Volt Switch for pivoting. As for the item, I chose Energy Booster, which could be useful to outspeed Iron Moth if it comes onto the field a second time and no longer has the speed boost from Quark Drive. For the tera type, I went with Ghost, which seems to be the most common for it.
Venusaur @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Growth
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Earth Power
For the Pokemon to absorb toxic spikes, I went with Venusaur, which I preferred over Iron Moth due to its ability to outspeed both Iron Valiant and Iron Moth boosted by Quark Drive under the Sun. For the moves, we have Growth for boosting, Giga Drain as the grass STAB to heal and hit Garganacl whether Tera Water or not, Sludge Bomb as the poison STAB to hit Garganacl Tera Fairy, and Earth Power to effectively deal with Iron Moth and Raging Bolt. For the item, I chose Life Orb to maximize damage, and for the Tera type, I went with Ground to get STAB on Earth Power and be immune to Raging Bolt’s Thunderclap.
Slither Wing @ Assault Vest
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Bug
EVs: 168 HP / 252 Atk / 88 Spe
Adamant Nature
- First Impression
- U-turn
- Low Kick
- Earthquake
For the last Pokemon, I needed a ground resist if I continued to base the team on Srn's method. That's why I chose Slither Wing, which I preferred over options like Lilligant-Hisui, as it not only overlaps a bit with Venusaur as a Chlorophyll sweeper, but also isn't particularly impressive against Slowking-Galar. For Slither Wing, I went with the classic Assault Vest set, with U-Turn as the bug STAB to pivot, First Impression as a strong priority bug STAB, and Earthquake to OHKO Slowking-Galar under the Sun. For the fighting STAB, I initially wanted to go with Close Combat. However, after reading Srn's RMT, I was convinced that Low Kick is a better option because it has the same power as Close Combat against most threats, is more spammable due to higher PP, and doesn't cause defensive stat drops. For the tera type, I chose Bug to increase the damage of U-Turn and First Impression, though it's not impossible that there's a more relevant choice to be made.
I'd like to hear your opinions on this team—what changes should be made to improve and optimize it? I'm open to almost any modifications, as long as Raging Bolt remains on the team, it stays a sun team, and it enhances my team's viability. I'm even willing to include Corviknight or Skarmory if necessary, despite saying earlier that I wasn't particularly inclined to use them. That said, it seems highly unlikely that you'd suggest playing Skarmory on a sun team. The only Pokemon regularly used in sun that I don't want is Heatran. Well, it's more Magma Storm that I don't want to play, due to its terrible accuracy that might make me want to throw my computer out the window from the fourth floor, lol. And since Heatran is almost always played with Magma Storm...
Thank you in advance for your feedback and suggestions!
more directly. 
> 
more consistent gets stronger in sun and gives you a bit more insurance vs stuff I would recommend running bulk up.