Over the last couple of months, I'm slowly becoming better and more comfortable at team building, meaning I'm confident in going back and polishing some of my old teams. I originally made a sun team for Doubles OU, and while I'm yet to make another DOU team, I took the general idea of that old team and used it to make the team you're about to see, "String Cheese on a Hot Day"
Starting off, it wouldn't be a sun team without the GOAT, Torkoal.
Helios (Torkoal) @ Heat Rock
Ability: Drought
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 248 HP / 248 Def / 12 SpD
Bold Nature
- Lava Plume
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
- Will-O-Wisp
My Torkoal is pretty standard, with its main job to be setting the sun, as it always is. I originally considered a more offensive Torkoal with Scarf Eruption, but felt the team would be better suited for a bulky support version. Rapid Spin and stealth rock allow to block and set hazards respectively, with will-o-wisp helping protect the other team members from dangerous physical attackers. Rounding out the moveset is Lava Plume, giving good damage to Torkoal's support. While Torkoal's main job is to keep the sun up for as much as possible, hazard setting and removal, burn support, and good damage give it purpose outside of setting up for its more offensively oriented teammates
Another icon of sun teams is up next, with Walking Wake bringing up much needed water coverage to the team.
Poseidon (Walking Wake) @ Life Orb
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Steam
- Draco Meteor
- Flamethrower
- Sunny Day
Walking Wake needs no introduction, this poke is insane. Water stab that's usable in the rain would be all it needs to be a fixture on sun, but it also helps to have great secondary stab, fire coverage, and the ability to set up the sun if Torkoal goes down or is afraid of an opposing poke. While the Wake's I've seen are more often Booster Energy or especially Choice Specs, I prefer being able to set up the sun and use more then one stab over the greater power and longevity of specs. Sun and Protosynthesis boosted Hyrdo steams got the job done specs or not, and being able to hit water resists with Draco Meteor or Flamethrower is the cherry on top of a hydrogen bomb of a sun boosted threat.
While the first 2 pokes were a given with the title of a sun team, I don't know how many of you would've expected to see Liligant H on this roster. I was ecstatic to see one of my all time favorite pokes be a staple on one of my favorite teams I've ever used. I knew Torkoal and Walking Wake were guaranteed when I started building this team, but I was very surprised to see Liligant not only be a promising member of the team, but become one of the most reliably dangerous across the many games I've played so far.
Persephone (Lilligant-Hisui) @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Solar Blade
- Triple Axel
- Swords Dance
Liligant has many great tools that allow to shine in the sun. Chlorophyll is of course an amazing ability to have for a sun poke, and it only gets better with the added threat of Swords Dance and great coverage. Liligant H can easily blast through teams with a single SD, and even without it can threaten great damage with incredibly powerful Solar Blades and Close Combats, and turn the tables on flying types with Triple Axel and/or a fire Tera. All of this offensive pressure is incredible, but a problem with Liligant is its heavy reliance on the sun to be threatening. With Torkoal or Walking Wake setting up the sun, however, Liligant regularly gets its time in the sun. Sure it sucks that it can abuse its Clorophyll ability in conjunction with Sleep Powder with the recent ban, but its other traits more then make up for it.
Rounding off the third and final member of this triforce of sun powered nukes, we have of Roaring Moon. With a life orb wall breaker and a set up sweeper, it'd only be fair if I rounded off the trio with a choice attacker.
Thanatos (Roaring Moon) @ Choice Band
Ability: Protosynthesis
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Outrage
- Iron Head
- U-turn
While I didn't want to use a Choice item on Walking Wake, I never thought of giving Roaring Moon anything but a choice band. While Walking Wake relies on its ability to set sun and abuse its 2 amazing stabs on a dime, Roaring Moon has one thought only, with that being to bludgeon the opponent with one of its incredibly powerful options. With its band, Protosynthesis, and great coverage, Roaring Moon can threaten basically anything in the game. Knock off can be further raised to catastrophic heights with a tera dark, allowing it to OHKO a shocking amount of pokes. Not to mention outrage being catastrophically strong without need for tera, Iron Head allowing it to deal great damage to its arch enemy in the fairy type, and U-turn doing great damage with the added bonus of a pivot to another threat or Torkoal to set sun.
While the triforce of sun threats has been completed, there is still one more offensive poke to discuss. The team's titular string cheese, Goldhengo, is the most recent addition to the team, but its more then proved itself.
Hades (Gholdengo) @ Air Balloon
Ability: Good as Gold
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Shadow Ball
- Make It Rain
- Psyshock
Goldhengo doesn't need a sun boost to be insane. Good as Gold needs no explanation, with it blocking an immense amount of threatening moves and rapid spin. Goldhengo also fills the much needed slot of a steel type, as 1/2 the team is weak to fairy, with Roaring Moon being quad weak to them pre tera. Shadow Ball and Make It Rain offer great coverage and STAB damage, with Psyshock being able to threaten special walls and hit poison types that threaten it and Liligant. Overall, Goldhengo is a much needed glue that helps the team shore up many big weaknesses and offers a fail safe should the sun go down.
The final member of the team took some pages from Torkoal and Goldhengo's book, as it serves a bulky support role in or out of sun.
Aphrodite (Hatterene) @ Eject Button
Ability: Magic Bounce
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 124 Def / 132 Spe
Bold Nature
- Healing Wish
- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam
- Nuzzle
Magic Bounce allows even more protection from non damaging moves along with Good as Gold, further shielding the offensive members from paralysis, leech seed, burns, toxic, etc. Nuzzle allows the spread of paralysis to fast threats, with Dazzling Gleam and Psychic doing good damage to them. Of course, Hatterene doesn't always need to stay in on a threat, as its eject button allows for a free switch to a frailer teammate. Should eject button be used up, healing wish can be used as a final assist, bringing an offensive teammate back to health, or restoring Torkoal's longevity and allowing it to set sun for way longer.
My fixation on weather teams continue, as I can't get enough of the dopamine that comes from blasting through my opponents with Liligant's Solar Blade's or Walking Wakes Hydro Steams. This team is not only one of the best ones I've made so far, but it also has the unique distinction of being comprised fully of Pokemon I adore, with all of my teams before this having at least one that I don't care about or like.
Thank you for reading this long rant of my new hyper fixation, may your ivy cudgels crit and your focus blasts hit
Starting off, it wouldn't be a sun team without the GOAT, Torkoal.
Helios (Torkoal) @ Heat Rock
Ability: Drought
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 248 HP / 248 Def / 12 SpD
Bold Nature
- Lava Plume
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
- Will-O-Wisp
My Torkoal is pretty standard, with its main job to be setting the sun, as it always is. I originally considered a more offensive Torkoal with Scarf Eruption, but felt the team would be better suited for a bulky support version. Rapid Spin and stealth rock allow to block and set hazards respectively, with will-o-wisp helping protect the other team members from dangerous physical attackers. Rounding out the moveset is Lava Plume, giving good damage to Torkoal's support. While Torkoal's main job is to keep the sun up for as much as possible, hazard setting and removal, burn support, and good damage give it purpose outside of setting up for its more offensively oriented teammates
Another icon of sun teams is up next, with Walking Wake bringing up much needed water coverage to the team.
Poseidon (Walking Wake) @ Life Orb
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Steam
- Draco Meteor
- Flamethrower
- Sunny Day
Walking Wake needs no introduction, this poke is insane. Water stab that's usable in the rain would be all it needs to be a fixture on sun, but it also helps to have great secondary stab, fire coverage, and the ability to set up the sun if Torkoal goes down or is afraid of an opposing poke. While the Wake's I've seen are more often Booster Energy or especially Choice Specs, I prefer being able to set up the sun and use more then one stab over the greater power and longevity of specs. Sun and Protosynthesis boosted Hyrdo steams got the job done specs or not, and being able to hit water resists with Draco Meteor or Flamethrower is the cherry on top of a hydrogen bomb of a sun boosted threat.
While the first 2 pokes were a given with the title of a sun team, I don't know how many of you would've expected to see Liligant H on this roster. I was ecstatic to see one of my all time favorite pokes be a staple on one of my favorite teams I've ever used. I knew Torkoal and Walking Wake were guaranteed when I started building this team, but I was very surprised to see Liligant not only be a promising member of the team, but become one of the most reliably dangerous across the many games I've played so far.
Persephone (Lilligant-Hisui) @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Solar Blade
- Triple Axel
- Swords Dance
Liligant has many great tools that allow to shine in the sun. Chlorophyll is of course an amazing ability to have for a sun poke, and it only gets better with the added threat of Swords Dance and great coverage. Liligant H can easily blast through teams with a single SD, and even without it can threaten great damage with incredibly powerful Solar Blades and Close Combats, and turn the tables on flying types with Triple Axel and/or a fire Tera. All of this offensive pressure is incredible, but a problem with Liligant is its heavy reliance on the sun to be threatening. With Torkoal or Walking Wake setting up the sun, however, Liligant regularly gets its time in the sun. Sure it sucks that it can abuse its Clorophyll ability in conjunction with Sleep Powder with the recent ban, but its other traits more then make up for it.
Rounding off the third and final member of this triforce of sun powered nukes, we have of Roaring Moon. With a life orb wall breaker and a set up sweeper, it'd only be fair if I rounded off the trio with a choice attacker.
Thanatos (Roaring Moon) @ Choice Band
Ability: Protosynthesis
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Outrage
- Iron Head
- U-turn
While I didn't want to use a Choice item on Walking Wake, I never thought of giving Roaring Moon anything but a choice band. While Walking Wake relies on its ability to set sun and abuse its 2 amazing stabs on a dime, Roaring Moon has one thought only, with that being to bludgeon the opponent with one of its incredibly powerful options. With its band, Protosynthesis, and great coverage, Roaring Moon can threaten basically anything in the game. Knock off can be further raised to catastrophic heights with a tera dark, allowing it to OHKO a shocking amount of pokes. Not to mention outrage being catastrophically strong without need for tera, Iron Head allowing it to deal great damage to its arch enemy in the fairy type, and U-turn doing great damage with the added bonus of a pivot to another threat or Torkoal to set sun.
While the triforce of sun threats has been completed, there is still one more offensive poke to discuss. The team's titular string cheese, Goldhengo, is the most recent addition to the team, but its more then proved itself.
Hades (Gholdengo) @ Air Balloon
Ability: Good as Gold
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Shadow Ball
- Make It Rain
- Psyshock
Goldhengo doesn't need a sun boost to be insane. Good as Gold needs no explanation, with it blocking an immense amount of threatening moves and rapid spin. Goldhengo also fills the much needed slot of a steel type, as 1/2 the team is weak to fairy, with Roaring Moon being quad weak to them pre tera. Shadow Ball and Make It Rain offer great coverage and STAB damage, with Psyshock being able to threaten special walls and hit poison types that threaten it and Liligant. Overall, Goldhengo is a much needed glue that helps the team shore up many big weaknesses and offers a fail safe should the sun go down.
The final member of the team took some pages from Torkoal and Goldhengo's book, as it serves a bulky support role in or out of sun.
Aphrodite (Hatterene) @ Eject Button
Ability: Magic Bounce
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 124 Def / 132 Spe
Bold Nature
- Healing Wish
- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam
- Nuzzle
Magic Bounce allows even more protection from non damaging moves along with Good as Gold, further shielding the offensive members from paralysis, leech seed, burns, toxic, etc. Nuzzle allows the spread of paralysis to fast threats, with Dazzling Gleam and Psychic doing good damage to them. Of course, Hatterene doesn't always need to stay in on a threat, as its eject button allows for a free switch to a frailer teammate. Should eject button be used up, healing wish can be used as a final assist, bringing an offensive teammate back to health, or restoring Torkoal's longevity and allowing it to set sun for way longer.
My fixation on weather teams continue, as I can't get enough of the dopamine that comes from blasting through my opponents with Liligant's Solar Blade's or Walking Wakes Hydro Steams. This team is not only one of the best ones I've made so far, but it also has the unique distinction of being comprised fully of Pokemon I adore, with all of my teams before this having at least one that I don't care about or like.
Thank you for reading this long rant of my new hyper fixation, may your ivy cudgels crit and your focus blasts hit
