Bisharp. Despite being UU in Sun and Moon, this guy is really good in higher tiers. It’s STAB Sucker Punch is probably it’s best quality, as it allows him to revenge kill stuff and sweep teams with frail attackers. I decided that building a team with Bisharp would both be worthwhile for the power it could offer, and enjoyable, since beatsticks with priority moves and set up are very fun to sweep with, especially when your opponent is afraid to remove hazards from the field lest they activate Defiant. This team took the form of Sticky Web offense (with a number of other hazards to capitalize off of with Bisharp’s Defiant).The Team
The movesets and descriptions
Bisharp @ Black Glasses
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Iron Head
- Swords Dance
- Knock Off
This is just a basic Bisharp set. I bring him in once enough hazards have been stacked, set up a Swords Dance if necessary, and spam Sucker Punch with 84 something power from Black Glasses. Iron Head and Knock Off are necessary for more reliable STABs. This guy is great at taking advantage of hazards on my opponent’s side of the field by means of his ability Defiant. While in battle, he gives my opponent two choices: One, don’t use Defog in fear of activating Defiant and allowing me to sweep your whole team, as your team is then swept because the hazards provided necessary chipping for me to land KOs. Two, use Defog to avoid this situation and alleviate the threat of hazard chipping so that I can’t sweep properly, upon which Defiant is activated, allowing me to sweep your team with the necessary extra power needed to land KOs.
Araquanid @ Focus Sash
Ability: Water Bubble
EVs: 216 HP / 252 Atk / 40 SpA
Brave Nature
- Sticky Web
- Liquidation
- Magic Coat
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Araquanid serves the purpose of leading and setting webs. Magic Coat is a really great asset for bouncing hazards from opposing leads. With Liquidation and Water Bubble, Araquanid serves as a powerful beatstick against low defense Pokemon like Chansey, or things weak to water like Landorus-T, Charizard-Y, and Tyranitar. HP Fire is kind of a niche move used for opposing Ferrothorn and Scizor who Araquanid is otherwise useless against. It won’t hit hard enough to outright KO them, but can definitely cause enough chipping to make them reconsider their presence in battle. With a decent Water/Bug typing, Araquanid can also switch into attacks from stuff like Garchomp’s Earthquake or Greninja’s Hydro Pump that may threaten my team.
Diancie-Mega @ Diancite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Diamond Storm
- Earth Power
- Moonblast
- Stealth Rock
Diancie is my Stealth Rocker. With surprisingly higher attack and SpA, it can punch enormous holes in opposing teams and threaten a wide array of opponents with its Rock/Ground/Fairy coverage. Surprisingly fast, Diancie is capable of forcing a lot of switches, giving it chances to punish switch ins with the right coverage move or get Rocks up for free. Stealth Rock support is great for Bisharp to help it sweep. It also has good synergy with Sticky Webs to brutally punish your opponent if they dare release their beloved pets from their Pokeballs. Also helps Greninja stack damaging hazards. Using its powerful typing and coverage, Diancie can help my team break past stuff like Toxapex, and kill slower attackers like Mega Charizard and Garchomp.
Victini @ Leftovers
Ability: Victory Star
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- V-create
- Bolt Strike
- U-turn
- Blue Flare
Sticky Webs free up an item slot for Victini’s Choice Scarf, meaning he can run any item his heat desires. I tried Choice Band and Life Orb for some power boosting, but found their secondary effects too restricting, so I used Leftovers to make him better against hazard stacking teams. This guy serves as my team’s hit-and-run wallbreaker. Typically, he will enter battle, drop a V-Create, and, assuming my opponent doesn’t switch in a Toxapex, give me a free KO. U-turn helps make Victini less of a momentum drain by pivoting and scouting opponent’s switches. He also serves as a mixed attacker as to break as many walls as possible. I chose Victini because I needed a fast Fire-type to kill annoying stuff like Ferrothorn.
Greninja @ Expert Belt
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Ice Beam
- U-turn
- Waterfall
- Spikes
Greninja is about the only good offensive Spikes setter in the game. It also provides necessary pivoting power with Protean boosted U-turn. Greninja’s main role it to beat up Ground types with Ice Beam and Waterfall while spamming Spikes to aid my team in hazard stacking.
Tapu Koko @ Electrium Z
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Defog
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Tapu Koko was necessary greater speed control, and to form a sort of offensive core with Greninja. This guy has a lot of great synergy with my team, for example, using Electric Terrain to protect my team from Spore and power up Victini’s Bolt Strike. The moveset may look weird, but by this point I desperately needed hazard removal, so I ran Defog on him. I chose to run Electrium Z on a special set since my team needed another solid special attacker, and Wild Charge was causing too much trouble with its recoil.
Checks and Counters
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Speed Control: My team doesn’t have a reliable scarfer. I would have run Choice Scarf in Victini, but it was too restrictive without providing extra damage. Apart from that, we do have Bisharp’s Sucker Punch and Araquanid’s Sticky Webs, but this won’t be quite enough to consistently handle really fast threats.-
Hazard Control: My only means of removing hazards is Tapu Koko’s Defog. As you probably know, Koko is not a reliable Defog user, and in the event that I do get an opportunity to use it, it will clear my hazards as well. Preferably, I would want a Rapid Spin user to keep my hazards intact (maybe a spinblocker too). If my opponent ever tries to stack hazards, I usually have to spam Araquanid’s Magic Coat, which only protects me on the turn I use it.Thank you in advance for any suggestions in optimizing this team. It is one of my personal favorites, and it is very fun to use due to being so offensively oriented (and because of all the nuclear bombs like V-Create and Gigavolt Havoc).
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