Finally, Sunkern proves itself.
I think we can all agree that Sunkern's appeal lies not in its outright strength, but rather in its versatility. Its balanced stats let it act as a sort of mini-Arceus in that a single bad prediction can easily allow Sunkern to sweep one's entire team. Its most effective set is arguably an SD Chlorophyll set to be run in sun. Another extremely effective set is, of course, Sunkern's Solar Power set which, while considerably slower, packs quite a punch with STAB Giga Drain which can help heal off any damage lost as a result of Solar Power, with various possible Hidden Powers supplementing Sunkern's coverage. But, as evidenced by Ninetales' relegation to UU, along with Vulpix's placement in BL, Sun has waned considerably in popularity, and that's why a new Sunkern set has been more popular as of late, namely the Eviolite wall, which is taking OU by storm, stopping a number of popular sweepers in their tracks, while not always relying on sun. I think we can also attribute the incredible rise in Quilava usage to the popularity of this Sunkern set, as Quilava is undoubtedly the number one counter to Sunkern's non-sun sets which can be very difficult to deal with otherwise.
What are your favorite Sunkern sets to use? With such a versatile Pokémon, it can be hard for an unexperienced player to know where to start.
Especially since fucking elitist Smogon doesn't have a Sunkern analysis.
Alphatron posted a fairly accurate reason for Sunkern's ownage of the OU tier, and I stick to his theory over yours, no offense. I mean, Sunkern rapes, but it's not like it's Excadrill for Sun teams. Sunkern's ultimate versatility is also its downfall, much like Poliwrath previously being delegated to RU instead of UU (I suspect it jumped in response to Quilava, who in turn jumped to respond to Sunkern). It can do anything, but it's only exceptionally good at a few things. So while it certainly can sweep, I'd say that countering Squirtle and supporting Electivire are much bigger reasons for its usage than its sweeping prowess.
I'm sorry, but that's really unlikely. Squirtle is a good special wall, that's no lie. Unfortunately, it's still beaten by two of OU's top threats - namely, electivire, who can punch right through with Wild Charge as long as it is holding a Life Orb, and Sunkern, who can not only wall it to no end, but also demolish it with either of its sun sweeping sets.
also, Fizz, you should absolutely go off and write Sunkern's analysis! You seem to have a pretty solid grasp of its role in the OU meta, and since you seem to really want one, no better way than to do it yourself! QC can help you out if you think the EVs need tweaking or something.
Countering Squirtle is a big boon for Sunkern, because Squirtle's Rapid Spinning is pretty much the only thing keeping several sweepers from being broken. I already elaborated on the Curse Miltank/Omastar combo that stormed the ladder for a while. Dusknoir has also seen a significant rise in usage lately, and it makes sense. Spinblockers would naturally rise to the occasion.
Squirtle is also the only reason that some Pokemon have reached OU usage. Whereas Quilava counters Sunkern and can deal with its SR weakness, Pokemon like Masquerain cannot. But Squirtle single-handedly Rapid Spinned their way to victory. Masquerain can be a devastating sweeper/supporter, with Quiver Dance and Baton Pass at its disposal. But 4x weakness to SR holds it down. Squirtle fixes that, and is probably the only reason that Masquerain is even in OU now. Mothim is the same way, although its inability to pass QD boosts accounts for its lower usage than Masquerain.
So what I'm saying is, it doesn't matter the two of the top threats demolish it, Squirtle is so indredibly good at supporting its team that it really does take something as beastly as Electivire to beat it to #1. Besides, it counters Quilava, paving the way for the Sunkern sweeps that you and Fizz are such big fans of.
edit: If Fizz makes an analysis, Can I write the Overview, OO, and Checks/Counters sections? I'm not an expert on Sunkern's specific sets, but I feel like I could do a really good jobs with the sections I specified.
genius
What I'm suprised about though is that Electivire reached no.1 in usage. I always thought it was completely outclassed by Pachirisu for the role of a hardcore wall and solid Squirtle and Phione counter, which strangely lies at only No. 14.
Edit: Forgot to add that Pachirisu gets Growl, which Electivire doesn't.
Pachirisu is too slow. Motor Drive is what lets Electivire sweep its way past Zoroark, Scarf Shiftry (another Squirtle counter <3), and the like. Pachirisu lacks the Speed to avoid being revenged. It's better left spamming Growl as a wall, like you said, than sweeping like Electivire.