The Team
Hello. I usually play shell smash teams, but recently, i got very interested in sun. I made this team and I was able to almost peak at top 100, but then I went on a loosing streak. A lot of it has to do with me being bad with sun teams, but my team can also use some tweaking. Please help me with fixing my team to cover as many threats as I can :D EVERY member is replaceable if it means making the team better (except ninetales of course). At the moment, this team is focused on wall breaking with with Darmanitan Flare Blitzing to set up Sawsbuck to victory. My team is named after a Kanye West album.
Hello. I usually play shell smash teams, but recently, i got very interested in sun. I made this team and I was able to almost peak at top 100, but then I went on a loosing streak. A lot of it has to do with me being bad with sun teams, but my team can also use some tweaking. Please help me with fixing my team to cover as many threats as I can :D EVERY member is replaceable if it means making the team better (except ninetales of course). At the moment, this team is focused on wall breaking with with Darmanitan Flare Blitzing to set up Sawsbuck to victory. My team is named after a Kanye West album.
IN-DEPTH LOOK!
Dark Fantasy (Ninetales) (M) @ Leftovers Trait: Drought
EVs: 128 HP / 252 SAtk / 20 SDef / 108 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Sunny Day
- SolarBeam
- Fire Blast
- Roar
Every sun team needs a sun starter. In my case, the starter is Ninetales. Ninetales is plagued with easily being the weakest of the weather starters. There are many things against it. It's faster than all the other starters so you will never have weather up first turn if you both start with your respective weather starters. Ninetales is also more frail than all the other starters, and that coupled with a weakness to Stealth Rocks really makes him difficult to keep alive. Finally, Ninetales has far less usable sets than the other weather starters. Regardless of all of the disadvantages, I still chose to use sun because it's fun.
Anyways, Sunny Day tales is my favorite Ninetales set by far. I feel that it is currently the strongest Ninetales set, and It allows me to put heavy aggressive pressure on my opponent. This is perfect because it fits my play style perfectly. Now for an explanation of the move. Sunny Day allows me to predict incoming weather switches and punish accordingly. This allows me to get ahead of the weather war by forcing their weather starter to take more residual damage by switching in fear of taking a super effective move. Despite the popularity of Sunny Day Tales, people are still taken surprise by this and it's hilarious. SolarBeam is there to combat the slew of water types in this metagame. It is mostly used to dent Politoad and Rotom-W, both of which are 2HKOed. It's especially saucy on Politoad when you predict the switch and Sunny Day, and then threaten a Solar Beam. Fire Blast is there for STAB and to destroy foes who do not resit fire. Due to max SpA, Fire Blast WILL hurt a LOT. Finally, Roar is there to phaze out sweepers as well as to add residual damage to other weather starters. The ideal play would be to predict the incoming Ttar or Toad and Sunny Day, and then when they switch out and reswitch in for weather, I roar so they take more damage.
So Appalled (Forretress) (M) @ Leftovers Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Def / 80 SAtk
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Spikes
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Rapid Spin
After opting to use sun, I knew for a fact that I needed a spinner. Without spinners, my Pokemon will all die too fast because fire types are weak to rocks. I chose Forretress because he is the bulkiest spinner. So here it is, Forretress is my hazard support and spinner. Forretress also does double duty by serving as my dragon move absorber and check to Landorous/Gliscor. He is really a great Pokemon and I use a really really unique set.
Rapid spin is needed to keep Ninetales and Darmanitan healthy. Taking 25% damage per switch is too much, and without a Spinner, there is no way I'd win the weather war. Next move I chose was Spikes. Spikes is there to help me win the weather war by tacking on extra damage here and there. For the attacking moves, I chose Volt Switch to regain momentum upon switching. Volt Switch not only scouts, but it's also a weak check to Gyarados of sort. Finally, the last move was Hidden Power [Ice]. This is a big surprise to people and they don't expect it at all. Hidden Power [Ice] 2HKOs Dragonite (with Marvel Scale broken) and Salamence. This can work to my favor if I have sturdy in tact and they think i'm set up bait and try to dragon dance on me. The main positive though, is to check Landorus and Gliscor. Landorus can not do anything to Forretress except U-turn out. This is important because Scarflandorus wrecks my team. Gliscor can't do anything either because Forretress shrugs off Earth quakes and is resistant to Toxic. Acrobat can hurt a little though, but HP Ice usually deals with it. I am currently testing Gyro Ball and Pain Split to see if I can check Terrakion (Gyro Ball) or survive better (Pain Split).
After having my sun starter and spinner, I needed my trapper. This is the insurance policy against Pokemon that gives sun abusers problems. This mostly refers to Tyrannitar and Heatran (and Magnezone to an extent, which can mess Forretress up). Dugtrio immediately came up as the premier trapper. The best part is that he can also set rocks up.
I chose Stealth Rocks as the first move because no team is complete without it. The residual damage also helps with the weather war. Earthquake is here because it OHKOs Heatran, which is necessary because it's one of the only pokes who can stop my Flare Blitz spamming. Sucker Punch is there to stop Latias/Latios/Alakazam/Psychis in general and to tack on a little extra damage before I die against scarfed pokes. Finally, Reversal is chosen to tear Ttar apart. Against Ttar, I stealth rock as he breaks my sash, OHKO with Reversal, and then hit the switch in as I die. Dugtrio is really amazing. Dugtrio replaced Mamoswine, which is seen below.
Gorgeous (Lilligant) (F) @ Life Orb Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 32 HP/ 252 SAtk / 32 SDef / 192 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Rock]
- Sleep Powder
- Healing Wish
After choosing my weather support, I dedicated my last 3 slots to sun abusers. Every sun team needs sun abusers. I didn't just want 3 sweepers, because I'd get walled pretty hard. I decided on 1 Utility, 1 Sweeper, and 1 Wall Breaker. I chose Lilligant as my utility because not only is he the best sun utility pokemon, he is also one of the best sun abuser period.
Max special attack is used for one thing: Leaf Storm. Leaf Storm is a OHKO on Politoads who think they can survive. This is really fantastic because it catches so many different people by surprise. Leaf Storm also wrecks the following Pokemon: Rotom-W, Milotic, Tentacruel, Vaporeon, etc. Leaf Storm isn't even limited to water types. It OHKOs Terrakion (yay!). It also hits Gliscor, Landorous, and Tyrannitar pretty hard. Great move. Hidden Power Rock is chosen to keep enemy Volcaronas in check. It can also pick off weakened dragons, but it's mostly there for Volc and fires. Sleep Powder is used to disable one of my opponent's Pokemons at crucial times. It has saved me multiple times and the only con is 75% accuracy. Finally, Healing Wish is used to keep my Darmanitan Flare Blitzing longer or to keep my Ninetales alive to keep the weather war going. The ultimate supporter.
Monster (Sawsbuck-Summer) (M) @ Life Orb Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 140 HP / 252 Atk / 116 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Nature Power
- Horn Leech
- Double-Edge
- Swords Dance
My newest addition. He's frail but he works and he finally brought the excitement to my team. I've always been an offense player and he does this perfectly. With Lilligant as support, Sawsbuck is my initial sweeper.EVs: 128 HP / 252 SAtk / 20 SDef / 108 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Sunny Day
- SolarBeam
- Fire Blast
- Roar
Every sun team needs a sun starter. In my case, the starter is Ninetales. Ninetales is plagued with easily being the weakest of the weather starters. There are many things against it. It's faster than all the other starters so you will never have weather up first turn if you both start with your respective weather starters. Ninetales is also more frail than all the other starters, and that coupled with a weakness to Stealth Rocks really makes him difficult to keep alive. Finally, Ninetales has far less usable sets than the other weather starters. Regardless of all of the disadvantages, I still chose to use sun because it's fun.
Anyways, Sunny Day tales is my favorite Ninetales set by far. I feel that it is currently the strongest Ninetales set, and It allows me to put heavy aggressive pressure on my opponent. This is perfect because it fits my play style perfectly. Now for an explanation of the move. Sunny Day allows me to predict incoming weather switches and punish accordingly. This allows me to get ahead of the weather war by forcing their weather starter to take more residual damage by switching in fear of taking a super effective move. Despite the popularity of Sunny Day Tales, people are still taken surprise by this and it's hilarious. SolarBeam is there to combat the slew of water types in this metagame. It is mostly used to dent Politoad and Rotom-W, both of which are 2HKOed. It's especially saucy on Politoad when you predict the switch and Sunny Day, and then threaten a Solar Beam. Fire Blast is there for STAB and to destroy foes who do not resit fire. Due to max SpA, Fire Blast WILL hurt a LOT. Finally, Roar is there to phaze out sweepers as well as to add residual damage to other weather starters. The ideal play would be to predict the incoming Ttar or Toad and Sunny Day, and then when they switch out and reswitch in for weather, I roar so they take more damage.
So Appalled (Forretress) (M) @ Leftovers Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Def / 80 SAtk
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Spikes
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Rapid Spin
Rapid spin is needed to keep Ninetales and Darmanitan healthy. Taking 25% damage per switch is too much, and without a Spinner, there is no way I'd win the weather war. Next move I chose was Spikes. Spikes is there to help me win the weather war by tacking on extra damage here and there. For the attacking moves, I chose Volt Switch to regain momentum upon switching. Volt Switch not only scouts, but it's also a weak check to Gyarados of sort. Finally, the last move was Hidden Power [Ice]. This is a big surprise to people and they don't expect it at all. Hidden Power [Ice] 2HKOs Dragonite (with Marvel Scale broken) and Salamence. This can work to my favor if I have sturdy in tact and they think i'm set up bait and try to dragon dance on me. The main positive though, is to check Landorus and Gliscor. Landorus can not do anything to Forretress except U-turn out. This is important because Scarflandorus wrecks my team. Gliscor can't do anything either because Forretress shrugs off Earth quakes and is resistant to Toxic. Acrobat can hurt a little though, but HP Ice usually deals with it. I am currently testing Gyro Ball and Pain Split to see if I can check Terrakion (Gyro Ball) or survive better (Pain Split).
Runaway (Dugtrio) (M) @ Focus Sash Trait: Arena Trap
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Sucker Punch
- Reversal
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Sucker Punch
- Reversal
After having my sun starter and spinner, I needed my trapper. This is the insurance policy against Pokemon that gives sun abusers problems. This mostly refers to Tyrannitar and Heatran (and Magnezone to an extent, which can mess Forretress up). Dugtrio immediately came up as the premier trapper. The best part is that he can also set rocks up.
I chose Stealth Rocks as the first move because no team is complete without it. The residual damage also helps with the weather war. Earthquake is here because it OHKOs Heatran, which is necessary because it's one of the only pokes who can stop my Flare Blitz spamming. Sucker Punch is there to stop Latias/Latios/Alakazam/Psychis in general and to tack on a little extra damage before I die against scarfed pokes. Finally, Reversal is chosen to tear Ttar apart. Against Ttar, I stealth rock as he breaks my sash, OHKO with Reversal, and then hit the switch in as I die. Dugtrio is really amazing. Dugtrio replaced Mamoswine, which is seen below.
Mamoswine (M) @ Focus Sash Trait: Snow Cloak
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Ice Shard
- Stealth Rock
- Endeavor
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Ice Shard
- Stealth Rock
- Endeavor
Gorgeous (Lilligant) (F) @ Life Orb Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 32 HP/ 252 SAtk / 32 SDef / 192 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Rock]
- Sleep Powder
- Healing Wish
After choosing my weather support, I dedicated my last 3 slots to sun abusers. Every sun team needs sun abusers. I didn't just want 3 sweepers, because I'd get walled pretty hard. I decided on 1 Utility, 1 Sweeper, and 1 Wall Breaker. I chose Lilligant as my utility because not only is he the best sun utility pokemon, he is also one of the best sun abuser period.
Max special attack is used for one thing: Leaf Storm. Leaf Storm is a OHKO on Politoads who think they can survive. This is really fantastic because it catches so many different people by surprise. Leaf Storm also wrecks the following Pokemon: Rotom-W, Milotic, Tentacruel, Vaporeon, etc. Leaf Storm isn't even limited to water types. It OHKOs Terrakion (yay!). It also hits Gliscor, Landorous, and Tyrannitar pretty hard. Great move. Hidden Power Rock is chosen to keep enemy Volcaronas in check. It can also pick off weakened dragons, but it's mostly there for Volc and fires. Sleep Powder is used to disable one of my opponent's Pokemons at crucial times. It has saved me multiple times and the only con is 75% accuracy. Finally, Healing Wish is used to keep my Darmanitan Flare Blitzing longer or to keep my Ninetales alive to keep the weather war going. The ultimate supporter.
Monster (Sawsbuck-Summer) (M) @ Life Orb Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 140 HP / 252 Atk / 116 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Nature Power
- Horn Leech
- Double-Edge
- Swords Dance
I chose adamant+max attack so he can just dent people unboosted. Double-Edge is there because after a Swords Dance, it will OHKO anything neutral. It also hurts unboosted. I used to have return, but once I switched to Double-Edge, I never looked back. It OHKOs so many threats it's ridiculous. Nature Power is there because it acts like Earthquake on wifi, which lets me kill fire types. Horn Leech gets rid of pesky water types and lets me recover health, which is really important for Life Orb recoil. It also allows me to check Politoad and Tyrannitar outside of sun. Finally, Swords Dance is there for when I have the rare occasion to setup and get greedy.
I changed the nature to Jolly and modified the EVs to outspeed Adamant Lucario in neutral weather.
Power (Darmanitan) (F) @ Choice Scarf Trait: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Flare Blitz
- U-turn
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
The wall breaker. He is named Power for one reason: He's damn powerful. He is there to break the mid game wide open to allow Sawsbuck to go ham.
Out of all the Darmanitan sets, Choice Scarf is easily the best. Scarf Darmanitan is amazing. I originally had choice band, but that was being too greedy. Flare Blitz is the reason why I chose Darmanitan. It's the very definition of power. It pretty much OHKOs anything not resistant to fire in the sun and also OHKOs some pokes that resist fire. U-Turn is there to allow me to scout my opponents and to regain momentum. Rock Slide takes down opposing flyers and fire types and allows me to check DD Dragonite to an extent. Finally, Earthquake destroys rocks and steels. Darmanitan works really well with Lilligant, because Healing Wish essentially gives him a second chance to flare blitz and not very many teams can survive 2 rounds of flare blitzing.
Well, that's my team. Please pick apart EVERYTHING and rebuild this team again from the ground up so it stops sucking.
Importable!
Gorgeous (Lilligant) (F) @ Life Orb Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 32 HP / 32 Def / 252 SAtk / 192 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Rock]
- Sleep Powder
- Healing Wish
Monster (Sawsbuck-Summer) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 140 HP / 252 Atk / 116 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Nature Power
- Horn Leech
- Double-Edge
- Swords Dance
So Appalled (Forretress) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Def / 80 SAtk
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Spikes
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Rapid Spin
Dark Fantasy (Ninetales) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drought
EVs: 144 HP / 36 Def / 252 SAtk / 76 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Sunny Day
- SolarBeam
- Fire Blast
- Roar
Runaway (Dugtrio) (M) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Arena Trap
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Sucker Punch
- Reversal
Power (Darmanitan) (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Flare Blitz
- U-turn
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
EVs: 32 HP / 32 Def / 252 SAtk / 192 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Rock]
- Sleep Powder
- Healing Wish
Monster (Sawsbuck-Summer) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 140 HP / 252 Atk / 116 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Nature Power
- Horn Leech
- Double-Edge
- Swords Dance
So Appalled (Forretress) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Def / 80 SAtk
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Spikes
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Rapid Spin
Dark Fantasy (Ninetales) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drought
EVs: 144 HP / 36 Def / 252 SAtk / 76 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Sunny Day
- SolarBeam
- Fire Blast
- Roar
Runaway (Dugtrio) (M) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Arena Trap
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Sucker Punch
- Reversal
Power (Darmanitan) (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Flare Blitz
- U-turn
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake