SV OU New to competitive, this is my first team.

[ZK-117]

Hey, just recently decided to get into competitive showdown and tried building my own balance team. Let me know what you think!

Glimmora @ Focus Sash
Ability: Toxic Debris
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Rock Tomb
- Earth Power
- Toxic
- Protect

This what I open with every time, mostly just to set up toxic spikes/poison their lead. Poison leads pretty well into the rest of my team (mainly Clodsire and Great Tusk), so I chose this instead of screens Grimmsnarl. I've been able to get a few picks early on with toxic->protect->rock tomb/earth power which has been useful.

Clodsire @ Black Sludge
Ability: Unaware
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Protect
- Toxic
- Earthquake
- Recover

My special defense wall, and god damn is it an effective SpD wall. Being able to stall out most things with toxic->protect->recover and get in some chip damage with earthquake has been amazingly helpful, though I've been considering switching to Water Absorb to deal with hydro pump from Rotom-Wash or Iron Jugulis. I swap to this or Great Tusk after Glimmora if the opponent has any glaring counters to Roaring Moon.

Great Tusk @ Leftovers
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Protect
- Knock Off
- Rapid Spin

My physical defense wall/fallback if Roaring Moon dies. Knock Off has been a great option to knock off things like Dragonite Life Orb, and I swap to this after Glimmora if they got to set up significant hazards. Protect instead of Close Combat to take advantage of poison. Have considered swapping to booster energy instead of leftovers, but leftovers feels more impactful since I use protect.

Orthworm @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Earth Eater
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Shed Tail
- Body Press
- Stealth Rock
- Heavy Slam

Exclusively here for shed tail and to take care of things like Hatterene or tera-normal Dragonite in case of emergency. Initially I had a scarf Gholdengo here to take care of Roaring Moon counters, but Shed Tail for the sweeper seemed too good to pass up.

Pawmot @ Focus Sash
Ability: Natural Cure
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Revival Blessing
- Volt Switch
- Protect
- Wish

Very open to swapping this out, but it's done well so far as a Revival Blessing machine. Focus Sash instead of Leppa Berry since I never got much value out of Leppa Berry when I had it, and Protect in the rare case it ends up as my last mon without Revival Blessing.

Roaring Moon @ Booster Energy
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Acrobatics
- Crunch
- Dragon Claw
- Dragon Dance

Pretty much my only actual offense, but it's worked so far. Very straightforward; swap this in on shed tail, dragon dance as many times as you can get away with, and spam whatever move works best against the current opponent. I initially used Iron Valiant with calm mind and tera thunderbolt, which worked fine, but Roaring Moon seemed more effective with Dragon Dance.

 

[chimp]

Hey!!!

Thanks for sharing! Just off rip I think your Glimmora set is sub-optimal. Glimmora's strength lies almost exclusively in it's ability to set up hazards. Rock Tomb is an interesting tech, though I think Mud Shot is superior. Even when factoring in STAB, Mud Shot is going to hit harder due to Glimmora's naturally higher Special Attack. Besides that, it allows you to hit other lead Glimmora for super-effective damage. I also don't think Glimmora needs Toxic or Protect- Glimmora's whole thing is it's ability that sets Toxic Spikes, making using up a moveslot for Toxic seems a bit redundant. Same thing with Protect to be honest, as Sash Glimmora wants to come in force as much progress as possible, usually through hazards or damage. The set I'd recommend is:


Glimmora @ Focus Sash
Ability: Toxic Debris
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Mud Shot
- Mortal Spin
- Sludge Wave
- Power Gem

Given the specific spread of 6 mons you have here, though, a Scarf set wouldn't be a bad choice, either.

However, I do want to point out that you Glimmora, Pawmot and Orthworm are all culprits of typical Hyper Offense teams, and those kinds of builds typically focus on one thing: damage, damage, damage.

I suggest taking a look at teams like this:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/orthworm-espathra-ho-2k-1.3714105/#post-9468196

Notice how every Pokemon on the team (barring Orthworm) is made to be nearly as offensive as possible. Even the Great Tusk set is max offense. The goal is to overwhelm the opponent, so there is little room for slow tanks. The sweepers aren't just thrown around willy-nilly, though, they are constructed with purpose; to check common metagame threats or to weaken shared checks to give their partner's an easier time in the endgame.

Also recommend checking on this team, which features Pawmot:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/threa...lo-3-on-sv-ou-ladder-featuring-ditto.3714044/

This is, of course, not to imply that balance isn't a worthy archetype, however, it is my personal preference that teams are best built when they are focused and orientated around a goal. Pawmot, Orthworm and Glimmora all naturally find themselves on offense because their kits focus themselves more towards offense, but using them just to support one sweeper seems counter-intuitive.

....Hope this makes sense! It is a good team for a first attempt. My first attempt at competitive team when I first started was... not spectacular, to say the least. If I remember correctly, I had Choice Band Quagsire.

 

[ZK-117]

Thanks so much for replying! I think my brain was focused too much on having one sweeper to support and everything else evolved from there. This has definitely at least gotten me to see some of the intricacies of team building, even if I don’t actually know to put them into practice yet. Time for take two!