SM OU Mega Houndoom Sun Balance

[yung snack gawd]

Hello there fellow PS player! My name is snax and this is my team for SM OU. For years now, I've been using the RMT and having fun team building (even though my teams are garbage lol). Please enjoy this balanced sun team that I whipped up in 10 min. Any help and suggestions with teams in the future are greatly appreciated!

Houndoom-Mega @ Houndoominite
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Dark Pulse
- Sludge Bomb
- Nasty Plot

Mega Houndoom is the main focus of this sun team, taking advantage of its ability Solar Power. I wanted to use Mega Houndoom because it's one of my personal favorite mons and it rarely gets any shine being in RUBL (plus it's nice to run something different in OU than standard sun teams). I made its pre-mega ability Flash Fire in order to switch into any fire type attacks, making it a hard Will-O-Wisp pivot. The moveset is nothing special being a standard Nasty Plot set up variant. You could sub Fire Blast for Flamethrower for that extra accuracy; I chose Fire Blast for that extra kick.

Klefki @ Heat Rock
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sunny Day
- Foul Play
- Thunder Wave
- Spikes

Klefki is another mon I wanted to highlight in this sun team. Back in Gen 6, Klefki was a MAJOR threat and I wanted to use this mon because of its ability Prankster. Klefki serves as the 'sun-setter' and holds the Heat Rock in order to lengthen sun's amount. I gave it T-Wave in order to be a nuisance for setup mons and substitute users. Spikes provide for another way of hazards. Foul Play is just thrown on there for a coverage attacking move and can be replaced for Moonblast or another setup move (hard walled by Taunt).

Kartana @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Sacred Sword
- Smart Strike
- Knock Off

Kartana is your LIFE SAVER if caught in a tough situation. While testing this team, I was pitted against many RAIN TEAMS. I prefer using scarf than band in order to outspeed Greninja and Mega Alakazam. The first three moves are really standard. The last slot can be subbed with Defog, just in case you wanted to have another way to get rid of hazards. I like running Knock Off because it's a safe move all around and can be used to scout for Z moves/Megas.

Landorus-Therian @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Fly
- Swords Dance

Lando is the king of OU with how diverse it can be. I decided to make him Z-Fly because I needed a Z on this team and I wanted to use Torn as a wall. +2 Z-Fly absolutely destroys anything in the tier, especially Ferro and Pex. I gave him rocks because I wanted another hazard on this team. You could make him double dance and drop rocks for Rock Polish if you wanted a more sweeper set.

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Defog
- Will-O-Wisp

Rotom serves as Gren check. Pump is used for STAB and Volt is used for momentum. Wisp is REALLY standard. Rotom also serves as the only way of hazard removal on this team. I run Leftovers over Iapapa because I prefer this constant healing rather than just the one. I like Rotom because he is immune to EQ and can shut dwonMega Swampert.

Tornadus-Therian @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpA
Mild Nature
- Hurricane
- Knock Off
- Heat Wave
- U-turn

With the rise of Z-Hurricane Torn, I wanted to run Torn as a bluff. AV allows for that extra bulk that Torn takes advantage of with its ability Regenerator. U-turn gives Torn a momentum booster and compliments Rotom's Volt Switch. Again, Knock Off is an extremely safe move and used for scouting items. Heat Wave hits Ferro, Kart, Mega Scizor, and another steel type better than Focus Blast does with its type coverage (plus it gets boosted if the sun is up).

Thank you for taking time out of your day to check out my team! Have fun using this team and testing it out! Again, comments and suggestions are welcome :)

 

[Jipay15]

Playing Nasty Plot Houndoom-Mega with fire blast ? Lol you have some nuts. I think flamethrower would be better because at +2, you already does a ton of damages so I'm not sure that extra power is worth the risk of miss with FB. But it depends on the player after all. It's true that this mon can be very dangerous under sun, and it destroys many defensive teams. Nothing special to say for the rest. I agree with Scarftana being better than its band version for late-game sweep. Maybe you lack an ice-move (always useful for Chomp, Lando and Gliscor), so consider HP ice instead of knock off on your Torna ?

 

[the pharoah]

Running Torn in a sun team is a bit counter productive dont you think? It relies on hurricane mainly to deal damage and that has an increased chance to miss in the sun, which you will want to have up most of the time. That and Mild isnt worth it on any Torn, because you are sacrificing spdef points for some extra minor damage from uturn and knock. Maybe consider changing it for another sun abuser. Also Kartana prefers to run a jolly nature on its scarf set to outspeed mons of a similar base speed stat.

 

[ScalchopFren]

I would like to start by suggesting that you ignore Jipay's comment about Fire Blast. Houndoom getting the extra firepower (pun semi-intended) from Fire Blast over Flamethrower is often something it greatly appreciates.

Pharoah is 100% correct, however. You should change your Kartana set from Jolly to Adamant (it doesn't need to be Adamant on a Scarf set with its Attack stat being what it is) and also remove Torn from the team entirely. Unfortunately, the best sun user/abuser in the entire tier - that being Mega Charizard Y - is something you can't use unless you scrap the Houndoom idea. I think more than anything you need something else that can set up the sun, so I would recommend either Ninetales or Torkoal to replace the Torn. Torkoal has the added bonus of being a spinner, so running that gives you the chance to swap Defog on Rotom out for Pain Split if you want.

 

[Flares.]

Hello there fellow PS player! My name is snax and this is my team for SM OU. For years now, I've been using the RMT and having fun team building (even though my teams are garbage lol). Please enjoy this balanced sun team that I whipped up in 10 min. Any help and suggestions with teams in the future are greatly appreciated!

Houndoom-Mega @ Houndoominite
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Dark Pulse
- Sludge Bomb
- Nasty Plot

Mega Houndoom is the main focus of this sun team, taking advantage of its ability Solar Power. I wanted to use Mega Houndoom because it's one of my personal favorite mons and it rarely gets any shine being in RUBL (plus it's nice to run something different in OU than standard sun teams). I made its pre-mega ability Flash Fire in order to switch into any fire type attacks, making it a hard Will-O-Wisp pivot. The moveset is nothing special being a standard Nasty Plot set up variant. You could sub Fire Blast for Flamethrower for that extra accuracy; I chose Fire Blast for that extra kick.

Klefki @ Heat Rock
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sunny Day
- Foul Play
- Thunder Wave
- Spikes

Klefki is another mon I wanted to highlight in this sun team. Back in Gen 6, Klefki was a MAJOR threat and I wanted to use this mon because of its ability Prankster. Klefki serves as the 'sun-setter' and holds the Heat Rock in order to lengthen sun's amount. I gave it T-Wave in order to be a nuisance for setup mons and substitute users. Spikes provide for another way of hazards. Foul Play is just thrown on there for a coverage attacking move and can be replaced for Moonblast or another setup move (hard walled by Taunt).

Kartana @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Sacred Sword
- Smart Strike
- Knock Off

Kartana is your LIFE SAVER if caught in a tough situation. While testing this team, I was pitted against many RAIN TEAMS. I prefer using scarf than band in order to outspeed Greninja and Mega Alakazam. The first three moves are really standard. The last slot can be subbed with Defog, just in case you wanted to have another way to get rid of hazards. I like running Knock Off because it's a safe move all around and can be used to scout for Z moves/Megas.

Landorus-Therian @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Fly
- Swords Dance

Lando is the king of OU with how diverse it can be. I decided to make him Z-Fly because I needed a Z on this team and I wanted to use Torn as a wall. +2 Z-Fly absolutely destroys anything in the tier, especially Ferro and Pex. I gave him rocks because I wanted another hazard on this team. You could make him double dance and drop rocks for Rock Polish if you wanted a more sweeper set.

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Defog
- Will-O-Wisp

Rotom serves as Gren check. Pump is used for STAB and Volt is used for momentum. Wisp is REALLY standard. Rotom also serves as the only way of hazard removal on this team. I run Leftovers over Iapapa because I prefer this constant healing rather than just the one. I like Rotom because he is immune to EQ and can shut dwonMega Swampert.

Tornadus-Therian @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpA
Mild Nature
- Hurricane
- Knock Off
- Heat Wave
- U-turn

With the rise of Z-Hurricane Torn, I wanted to run Torn as a bluff. AV allows for that extra bulk that Torn takes advantage of with its ability Regenerator. U-turn gives Torn a momentum booster and compliments Rotom's Volt Switch. Again, Knock Off is an extremely safe move and used for scouting items. Heat Wave hits Ferro, Kart, Mega Scizor, and another steel type better than Focus Blast does with its type coverage (plus it gets boosted if the sun is up).

Thank you for taking time out of your day to check out my team! Have fun using this team and testing it out! Again, comments and suggestions are welcome :)

Fire blast/Hydro pump/hurricane/fly are very risk moves to use my friend, have you thought about using flamethrower/air slash/thunderbolt/hidden power flying they simply do not miss. Which is good about these moves relying on a scenario where you have to hit a move is simply not a good scenario.

 

[Jipay15]

I would like to start by suggesting that you ignore Jipay's comment about Fire Blast. Houndoom getting the extra firepower (pun semi-intended) from Fire Blast over Flamethrower is often something it greatly appreciates.

Well, if you read my message, you will see that I didn't advised to change fire blast to flamethrower. If he likes taking some risk to get that extra power, that's up to him. But personally I'm not sure it's worth it, because with sun and after one nasty plot, you already OHKO a lot of threats (Clefable, Diancie-Mega, Keldeo, Ash-Gren, ...). Even a SpeDef Pex takes high damages from flamethrower :
+2 252 SpA Solar Power Houndoom-Mega Flamethrower vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Toxapex in Sun: 196-231 (64.4 - 75.9%)
While fire blast don't OHKO :
+2 252 SpA Solar Power Houndoom-Mega Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Toxapex in Sun: 239-282 (78.6 - 92.7%)

So I'm not saying to only play 100% accuracy moves ; for mons who can't boost themselves, it's better to use the strongest moves (hello Charizard-Y). But in that precise case of nasty plot houndoom-mega, where the game plan and the win condition is often to boost the mon, playing fire blast would be a risk that is not necessary (imo).

 

[ScalchopFren]

Fire blast/Hydro pump/hurricane/fly are very risk moves to use my friend, have you thought about using flamethrower/air slash/thunderbolt/hidden power flying they simply do not miss. Which is good about these moves relying on a scenario where you have to hit a move is simply not a good scenario.

Fly's miss chance is literally 5%; there's no reason whatsoever to discourage its use on the basis of accuracy. In fact, one of the moves you listed as something that SIMPLY DOES NOT MISS has the same accuracy as Fly. Plus it's not like he's going to actually use Fly outside of using its Z-powered version as a nuke.

 

[yung snack gawd]

I would like to start by suggesting that you ignore Jipay's comment about Fire Blast. Houndoom getting the extra firepower (pun semi-intended) from Fire Blast over Flamethrower is often something it greatly appreciates.

Pharoah is 100% correct, however. You should change your Kartana set from Jolly to Adamant (it doesn't need to be Adamant on a Scarf set with its Attack stat being what it is) and also remove Torn from the team entirely. Unfortunately, the best sun user/abuser in the entire tier - that being Mega Charizard Y - is something you can't use unless you scrap the Houndoom idea. I think more than anything you need something else that can set up the sun, so I would recommend either Ninetales or Torkoal to replace the Torn. Torkoal has the added bonus of being a spinner, so running that gives you the chance to swap Defog on Rotom out for Pain Split if you want.

I run Ada just for Att Boost, bc it's scarfed it already out-speeds a ton of mons