SV OU I'll Get Reqs Someday: A Cyclinite Team

[Bice]

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So I wanted to hold off on making this RMT until I got reqs on the current OU suspect test ladder. However, I'm having a lot of trouble doing so, so I decided to seek out the RMT forum early for advice. This team has been doing fairly well for me, but it has some glaring weaknesses I wish to address. I haven't played competitive Pokemon since the XY era, so bear with me.

Teambuilding Process

I knew I wanted to build around a Cyclizar + Dragon Dance sweeper core. I picked Gyarados because Tera Flying + Tera Blast seemed really appealing at the time. Glimmora was there to set up hazards before dying, Gholdengo was scarfed, and Magnezone attempted to trap Steels such as Corviknight and Scizor (but usually failed due to Tera and/or pivoting).

I realized that Gyarados and especially Magnezone kinda sucked, so I changed up my sets a bit, used Dragonite (then Tera Flying) as my DD sweeper, and Palafin as my strong water.

Unsurprisingly Palafin got banned, so I experimented with using Quaquaval as my Water-type instead. This was also around the time when I used Tera Normal Espeed Dragonite over Tera Flying.

Since Glimmora didn't do much other than set hazards and die, I swapped it out with Iron Treads as a Rocks setter that had a bit more utility outside of suicide. Quaquaval just wasn't cutting it either, so I used Scarf Washtom instead.

With those ramblings out of the way, I present:
The Team Proper

Tetrahedon (Iron Treads) @ Booster Energy / Leftovers
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Knock Off

The Stealth Rocker of the team, Iron Treads' main job is to get up hazards, remove items with Knock Off, and chip at faster threats. Booster Energy might seem odd, but it enables Iron Treads to outspeed a number of threats such as Scarf Chi-Yu and Dragapult. If longevity is desired, Leftovers can be used instead. The other two moves (Earthquake and Iron Head) are fairly self-explanatory STABs, though it's worth noting that I've gotten some funny flinches with Iron Head. Iron Treads is used over other rockers like grandaddy Great Tusk for its solid Speed tier, which is amplified further by Booster Energy.

Gougar (Chien-Pao) @ Life Orb / Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Sword of Ruin
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Ice Spinner
- Crunch
- Sacred Sword
- Sucker Punch / Ice Shard
Pao's job is incredibly simple: Break things in two. Sword of Ruin plus its STAB combination is insane, and its power is further boosted by Life Orb. Heavy-Duty boots can be used to increase Pao's lifespan, though it comes at the cost of a fair bit of power. Ice Spinner is used over Icicle Crash due to its reliability, as the latter's misses can cost games. Crunch is another reliable STAB move with a nice chance to drop Defense. Sacred Sword is simple-yet-effective coverage, while the last slot is reserved for priority. Sucker Punch provides power, while Ice Shard is weaker but more reliable, with a lot more PP to boot.

Unchained (Gholdengo) @ Air Balloon
Ability: Good as Gold
Tera Type: Flying / Fighting
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunder Wave / Recover
- Nasty Plot
- Make It Rain
- Shadow Ball / Focus Blast
I wanna know what Game Freak was smoking when they made Gholdengo and who their dealer is, because Gholdengo is one of the most stupid Pokemon ever created since Landorus-T. Immunity to status moves and hazard removal, an insane movepool, and an incredibly strong typing makes for a powerful team member. Thunder Wave might seem odd on this set, but it helps surprise switch-ins and cripple fast attackers. Nasty Plot is for setup and helps offset Make It Rain's recoil. Speaking of which, Make it Rain is also a stupidly strong signature, since it has perfect accuracy and only lowers your Sp. Atk by one stage. Shadow Ball is recommended for the last slot due to Ghost being a powerful offensive type, though Focus Blast is also a decent option for nailing Dark types.
It's only recommended to Terastalize Gholdengo in an emergency, with Flying being recommended to grant it a Ground immunity. Fighting can also be used to get the jump on Dark types.

In Your Walls (Rotom-Wash) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt / Will-O-Wisp / Thunder Wave
- Hydro Pump
- Trick
- Volt Switch
Tried-and-true for several generations straight, ol' Rotom Wash acts as a sort of glue for the team thanks to its incredible typing. Choice Scarf helps it outspeed much of the unboosted metagame, with Trick being used to cripple walls by locking them into one move. The rest of the moves are fairly standard; Thunderbolt and Hydro Pump for STAB, and Volt Switch for pivoting. Thunderbolt could definitely be replaced with a status move, though you lose the ability to really nail Water-types like Quaquaval.

Auto Zone (Cyclizar) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly / Hasty Nature
- Shed Tail
- Ice Spinner / Draco Meteor
- Rapid Spin
- Knock Off
The funny Substitute Lizard, Cyclizar's main job is to enable other sweepers with Shed Tail while offering support with Rapid Spin and Knock Off. Heavy-Duty Boots lets it accomplish its hazard removal job much better, especially when multiple hazards are on the field. Shed Tail is essential to Cyclizar's success, and is absolutely busted when combined with Regenerator. Ice Spinner is a strong overall coverage move, though Draco Meteor can be used for raw power at the cost of bulk. Rapid Spin is for hazard removal, with the nice bonus of letting it outspeed most of the metagame thanks to its Speed boosting effect. Knock Off is for a bit of extra utility while also nailing the likes of Gholdengo.

Concord (Dragonite) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Multiscale
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Extreme Speed
- Earthquake
- Ice Spinner / Fire Punch
The Big Boy of the team, Terastalization has breathed new life into the OG Pseudo. Shed Tail pairs stupidly well with Dragonite thanks to Multiscale, letting it tank a hit or two while keeping its sub up while it sets up Dragon Dance. Extreme Speed, when combined with Normal Terastalization, is the crux of this set, nailing anything that doesn't resist it and going before other priority moves. Earthquake is the standard "hit Steels" coverage, while the last slot depends on who you want to nail. Ice Spinner is some nice neutral coverage that also hits other Dragon-types, while Fire Punch lets it nail Air Balloon Gholdengo and Corviknight.

Threats

If Iron Valianht boosts its Speed with Quark Drive, your only options are to try and cripple it with Thunder Wave, set up a Dragon Dance into Extreme Speed with Dragonite, and pray to God. Otherwise, it eats this team alive thanks to its near-unresisted STABs and Knock Off.
(+)
Annihilape is pretty nasty on its own thanks to its solid bulk, as the only thing that can really hurt it (Gholdengo) is often outsped by it. However, when paired with Screens Grimmsnarl it becomes especially dangerous, as it can set up freely before annihilating my team.

Pretty much the sole reason why I run Booster Energy Iron Treads lol, as Scarfed variants rip a massive hole in this team. If it gets a Substitute up, be it by itself or with the assistance of Cyclizar, you're really screwed. Specs variants are marginally easier to handle.

Fighting against other Chien-Paos are like walking on thin ice, as Rotom can't usually OHKO it (and can get dented by Crunch in return), Iron Treads only outspeeds it if it still has its Booster Energy (and can't switch in), and it just narrowly survives a +1 ESpeed from Dragonite, who can only handle it if it's at full health. Not as threatening as the above three, but still not fun to play against.

A pretty big problem due to the fact that the only Pokemon that can semi-reliably outspeed it (Rotom-W) can't do jack shit to it without a status move. Iron Treads needs to hold a Booster Energy to outspeed it, and Dragonite is still outrun by it even at +1. Additionally, the fact that it can hit through Substitute is painful as hell. Sucker Punch Chien Pao can definitely knock it down, but many Pults can see it coming a mile away.
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Clefable... 2!
In all seriousness, Tera Fairy Skeledirge can be really annoying thanks to Unaware and Torch Song. Gholdengo and Iron Treads can definitely dent it, but neither of them like getting hit with a Torch Song, especially after boosts.
My Lack Of Skill
why do i keep setting up rocks against great tusk and letting it set up a rapid spin. why am i like this. make it stop
Conclusion and Considerations
A few things I'm considering for this team are swapping out Rotom-Wash for Azumarill, using Scarf Gholdengo again, and swapping Iron Treads for a different Rocks setter. Aside from that, I don't have much to say except thanks for reading this.
Importable​

 

[SetsuSetsuna]

Hey. There are a few odd points with the team that I wanted to bring up so you can ask yourself what direction you want to take with it.

1. The team has next to no breaking power. The real immediate power is Life Orb Chien-Pao which gets chipped extremely quickly. Thus, stuff like Dondozo and Garganacl will be pretty much impossible to break, let alone if they are Curse/Iron Defense.
2. When you got rid of Glimmora, your Balloon Gholdengo turned into a bit of an odd choice. You don't exactly NEED a spin/defog blocker in a team with only rocks and no spikes. Specially not when said pokemon doesn't offer immediate power nor speed control since you are balloon.
3. The first thing that sticks out has to be Cyclizar. It just looks so out of place here. Dragonite + Cyclizar is fine enough and will make your mu vs offense way better but you are wasting yet 2 more slots that would only have to be 1. The good thing about Cyclizar + Ape/Espathra is that the can sweep through teams regardless of archetype just because of their nature (Taunt/Rage first and Stored Power) but Dragonite just cannot.
4. Tauntless Cyclizar as your Spinner here looks rather odd too. Ting-Lu seems rather annoying already, and Cyclizar just lets it comes in, put hazards, click Whirlwind vs your Shed Tail, or just click Ruination/Eq if you try to stay in.

Some changes I would try without changing the structure of the team too much are:

1. Rapid Spin > Iron Head on Treads.
2. Change the Chien-Pao to Specs Chi-Yu (helps a bit vs opposing Chi-Yu and gives you extra power).
3. Make the Gholdengo Scarf to preserve speed control and cripple something with Trick if need be. You can actually do Trick + Nasty Plot and stabs.
4. Make the Rotom defensive SpDef (or mixed defenses) Thunder Wave to help vs Chi-Yu and Iron Valiant.
5. I would prolly put a physical attacker over Cyclizar, one that's decently bulky and that isn't a complete deadweight vs fat cause Chi-Yu alone can't do all the job. An idea I am having is Choice Band Azumarril with Tera Blast Electric, but something more conventional like Kingambit could work. Though Azu also helps vs Chien-Pao.

Just throwing out ideas since I am not sure if you are willing to take out Cyclizar, but hope some of the observations at the start can help.

 

[Bice]

Hey. There are a few odd points with the team that I wanted to bring up so you can ask yourself what direction you want to take with it.

1. The team has next to no breaking power. The real immediate power is Life Orb Chien-Pao which gets chipped extremely quickly. Thus, stuff like Dondozo and Garganacl will be pretty much impossible to break, let alone if they are Curse/Iron Defense.
2. When you got rid of Glimmora, your Balloon Gholdengo turned into a bit of an odd choice. You don't exactly NEED a spin/defog blocker in a team with only rocks and no spikes. Specially not when said pokemon doesn't offer immediate power nor speed control since you are balloon.
3. The first thing that sticks out has to be Cyclizar. It just looks so out of place here. Dragonite + Cyclizar is fine enough and will make your mu vs offense way better but you are wasting yet 2 more slots that would only have to be 1. The good thing about Cyclizar + Ape/Espathra is that the can sweep through teams regardless of archetype just because of their nature (Taunt/Rage first and Stored Power) but Dragonite just cannot.
4. Tauntless Cyclizar as your Spinner here looks rather odd too. Ting-Lu seems rather annoying already, and Cyclizar just lets it comes in, put hazards, click Whirlwind vs your Shed Tail, or just click Ruination/Eq if you try to stay in.

Some changes I would try without changing the structure of the team too much are:

1. Rapid Spin > Iron Head on Treads.
2. Change the Chien-Pao to Specs Chi-Yu (helps a bit vs opposing Chi-Yu and gives you extra power).
3. Make the Gholdengo Scarf to preserve speed control and cripple something with Trick if need be. You can actually do Trick + Nasty Plot and stabs.
4. Make the Rotom defensive SpDef (or mixed defenses) Thunder Wave to help vs Chi-Yu and Iron Valiant.
5. I would prolly put a physical attacker over Cyclizar, one that's decently bulky and that isn't a complete deadweight vs fat cause Chi-Yu alone can't do all the job. An idea I am having is Choice Band Azumarril with Tera Blast Electric, but something more conventional like Kingambit could work. Though Azu also helps vs Chien-Pao.

Just throwing out ideas since I am not sure if you are willing to take out Cyclizar, but hope some of the observations at the start can help.

I really appreciate the advice! I'm unsure of whether I want to replace Cyclizar yet, but if I do should I run a bulkier Tera Flying set on Dragonite? And should I run Tera Grass + Tera Blast Chi-Yu, or should I run Psychic instead?

 

[SetsuSetsuna]

I really appreciate the advice! I'm unsure of whether I want to replace Cyclizar yet, but if I do should I run a bulkier Tera Flying set on Dragonite? And should I run Tera Grass + Tera Blast Chi-Yu, or should I run Psychic instead?

Up to you on Chi-Yu. I like Tera Grass/Fairy Tera Blast; it doesn't hurt to have and the pokemon that get hit by Psychic like Clodsire already take a lot from fire attacks. I would keep Tera Normal on Dnite, or maybe Fire if you go for Fire Punch/Tera Blast and are scared of possible burns. But it comes down to your preference.

There's probably a way to keep Cyclizar too so maybe wait for other opinion, it just looked to me like the easiest one to replce.