Before this year I had played hardly any singles, and definitely not OU at any level that's even middling. Maybe I peaked at 1400 or so with SD Garchomp, but I was not really taking the format seriously in any capacity. However, I am a fan of Iron Valiant, and a particular set had captured my eye.
I actively play the tier 4v4 Doubles UU, and in its playerbase I am infamous for my addiction to the
Choice Specs Iron Valiant set. In trying to improve in OU, I decided to try my hand at building teams with this set, since it's familiar to me thanks to playing 4v4 DUU. My first attempt at building resulted in a weird abomination with Stored Power Cresselia, Tera Fairy Dragonite and Tera Ghost Iron Valiant with Aura Sphere. Needless to say, this didn't work out, but here's the paste for curiosity. I have no clue what the Pult was meant to be. 
After this, I tried figuring out some good cores that would aid Iron Valiant. In truth, though, I just hated playing against stall, so I started using Mixed Kyurem alongside Iron Valiant and Slowking-Galar as a pivot that could set snow. These teams were better, and funnily enough I ended up in a blunderr video using a variation that had Dragonite on it. I climbed to 1600s a couple times using these teams, but I still felt something was missing. Also, the Iron Valiant mirror was nightmarish, only Slowking could really handle mixed attacking Valiant without Tera. And it gets owned by Swords Dance. Also, for some reason, I was still using Aura Sphere. This team wasn't great, but here's the paste if you want to take a look. It's a Gholdengo variant of the team that I used after the blunderr incident. 
After struggling to break past 1600 or so, I decided to give up on Kyurem Slowking as a way to supplement Specs Valiant. There were some poor ideas I won't get into here, but I may or may not have fallen below 1300 trying Incineroar and using Iron Valiant semistall. Not my brightest moments.
A couple months ago, however, I was looking at some UUBLs and was fascinated by Latias, particularly the Agility Weakness Policy set. Theoretically, it's possible to win some battles in a single turn. Stored Power can stack so many boosts that resistances can't even survive, regardless of if your Latias has any special attack investment. In theory, Latias pairs well with Choice Specs Iron Valiant, with the latter slicing down annoying bulky Dark types like Kingambit and Ting-Lu, while Latias can ruin Pecharunt's life if it has any boosts up.
I consulted some of my friends who play Gen 9 OU and we came up with 
, which was not bad but Hatterene just didn't feel the best in that slot. Doubling on psychic and fairy types is a little bit risky, and my team still had a steel type problem. But I hate Great Tusk, and it makes my team INCREDIBLY weak to Fairy-type damage, so I opted for Cinderace instead. Burn control, a Fairy resistance, and pseudo hazard control is nice, as well as hard countering the tide of screens HO teams in the current Gen 9 OU meta.
I also changed my Iron Valiant set to one I consider more optimal, but that's something I'll touch on in the section about the team itself!
I actively play the tier 4v4 Doubles UU, and in its playerbase I am infamous for my addiction to the
Choice Specs Iron Valiant set. In trying to improve in OU, I decided to try my hand at building teams with this set, since it's familiar to me thanks to playing 4v4 DUU. My first attempt at building resulted in a weird abomination with Stored Power Cresselia, Tera Fairy Dragonite and Tera Ghost Iron Valiant with Aura Sphere. Needless to say, this didn't work out, but here's the paste for curiosity. I have no clue what the Pult was meant to be. After this, I tried figuring out some good cores that would aid Iron Valiant. In truth, though, I just hated playing against stall, so I started using Mixed Kyurem alongside Iron Valiant and Slowking-Galar as a pivot that could set snow. These teams were better, and funnily enough I ended up in a blunderr video using a variation that had Dragonite on it. I climbed to 1600s a couple times using these teams, but I still felt something was missing. Also, the Iron Valiant mirror was nightmarish, only Slowking could really handle mixed attacking Valiant without Tera. And it gets owned by Swords Dance. Also, for some reason, I was still using Aura Sphere. This team wasn't great, but here's the paste if you want to take a look. It's a Gholdengo variant of the team that I used after the blunderr incident.
After struggling to break past 1600 or so, I decided to give up on Kyurem Slowking as a way to supplement Specs Valiant. There were some poor ideas I won't get into here, but I may or may not have fallen below 1300 trying Incineroar and using Iron Valiant semistall. Not my brightest moments.
A couple months ago, however, I was looking at some UUBLs and was fascinated by Latias, particularly the Agility Weakness Policy set. Theoretically, it's possible to win some battles in a single turn. Stored Power can stack so many boosts that resistances can't even survive, regardless of if your Latias has any special attack investment. In theory, Latias pairs well with Choice Specs Iron Valiant, with the latter slicing down annoying bulky Dark types like Kingambit and Ting-Lu, while Latias can ruin Pecharunt's life if it has any boosts up.
I consulted some of my friends who play Gen 9 OU and we came up with
, which was not bad but Hatterene just didn't feel the best in that slot. Doubling on psychic and fairy types is a little bit risky, and my team still had a steel type problem. But I hate Great Tusk, and it makes my team INCREDIBLY weak to Fairy-type damage, so I opted for Cinderace instead. Burn control, a Fairy resistance, and pseudo hazard control is nice, as well as hard countering the tide of screens HO teams in the current Gen 9 OU meta.I also changed my Iron Valiant set to one I consider more optimal, but that's something I'll touch on in the section about the team itself!
The Team Itself
Garde-de-Fer (Iron Valiant) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Thunderbolt
- Psyshock
- Vacuum Wave
While Latias is able to set up into an effectively unstoppable monster, this bot is getting you OHKOs right out of the box. The EV spread is standard, no point in dropping speed or special attack. The moveset was one I made by determining my priorities. Shadow Ball is standard on Valiant, sometimes even with Tera Ghost, but realistically I'm not using it on this team very much. Most of the targets I'd like to hit with it are weak to other members of the team, particularly Kingambit. Anyway, Tera Fairy Moonblast was my call, because this thing outspeeds and breaks like practically nothing else. Choice Specs Enamorus can outdamage, sure, but this thing is ideally the fastest on the field at all teams and sending most neutral targets, even fairly bulky ones, straight to oblivion. Resists like Pecharunt, offensive Gholdengo, Galarian Weezing, and Ceruledge are in for a rude awakening if they try to switch in. Here's a replay where Moonblast swept through 5/6 of a team after their Steel type was removed. Thunderbolt and Psyshock are there to deal with the birds and stall respectively. While physically tanky Moltres can be broken by two Tera Fairy Moonblast, you're often not getting the chance to click it twice; Corviknight is a similar story. Finally, I selected Vacuum Wave as it's vital for cleaning purposes, Kingambit focused teams will be stripped of any possible option (barring Tera, but ideally you have a plan for that) they might have to bring the game back in an endgame. It's also a nice way to avoid Thunderclap from Raging Bolt, and finish off chipped 'mons in general. In short, this Iron Valiant set is just ridiculous at breaking, it'd honestly be difficult for me to overexaggerate how good it is.
Necrofantasia (Latias) @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Levitate
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Def / 4 SpD / 76 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stored Power
- Draining Kiss
- Calm Mind
- Agility
This is pretty self-explanatory, though I should make it clear how you should go about boosting Latias up. Generally, it's possible to use a Gholdengo, Primarina or Iron Valiant to boost up, but all of them can OHKO you if they crit, and in front of Iron Valiant you're forced to click Agility anyway. Instead, I try to bait Ice Spinner from Great Tusk or Knock Off from Iron Treads. Hell, Knock Off from anything other than a strong STAB attacker works. Make sure to Taunt something like Gliscor if you're pivoting in from Lando though, since they might have Toxic. All of that said, this EV spread beats Regieleki (and thus Booster Speed Iron Valiant) after an Agility. Scarf Meowscarada or Darkrai will still be faster, and thus I think that's worth looking into as an edit, but this bulk is extremely valuable. Without many Supreme Overlord boosts, Kingambit won't OHKO you, and most Intimidated Great Tusk Ice Spinner will do very little chip. Draining Kiss is used to keep Latias alive and to take advantage of things like Iron Valiant and Pult that can get OHKOd at +2 and used for healing. I like this set, but I'm open to suggestions.
Jeff the Killer (Kingambit) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Defiant
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Kowtow Cleave
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
- Swords Dance
This set is bog standard so I don't need to write much about it.
...Okay fine, it is Defiant. In truth, I despised playing against Pecharunt so much that I picked an unpopular ability specifically to ragebait Pecharunt players, as well as Defog/Intimidate I guess. And while it's non-standard, it absolutely isn't bad. I have won some games in less than 5 turns because Defiant + Swords Dance gets Kingambit up to +5 in a single turn. Here's an example. Tera Flying over Ghost is a matter of preference, I wanted a full immunity to something like Landorus' Earthquake because then Gambit is able to abuse Defiant + Swords Dance to get set up very quickly. Generally, Defiant Kingambit is easier to use in the earlier stages of a battle, which I prefer over Supreme Overlord on this team. I'm open to considering replies that give me alternative sets, though.
womp womp (Cinderace) (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Blaze
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 224 HP / 32 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Pyro Ball
- Will-O-Wisp
- Court Change
- U-turn
Hazard spam pissed me off, and so did screens teams. As I said during the teambuilding process section, I used to have an AV Hatterene in this slot, but I decided to make the shift and it's definitely been a good decision. Blaze is used because I'm only running U-turn for coverage, and I like the big Pyro Ball damage you can get. Tera Ghost is used because I literally never once clicked Tera Fire, I only ever wanted to Tera in order to block a Great Tusk from using Rapid Spin or taking a KO with Headlong Rush. It's also nice to block Dragonite's Extreme Speed and burn them, for what it's worth. Not much else to say, nice pseudo-defensive piece that can pack a punch.
glub glub (Ogerpon-Wellspring) (F) @ Wellspring Mask
Ability: Water Absorb
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Ivy Cudgel
- Knock Off
- Encore
- U-turn
Classic max/max Ogerpon. This one makes use of Knock Off with no Grass-type STAB because I really wanted Encore. Many setup mons absolutely fold to Encore, as well as things like Gliscor who like to spam Protect. I think this is the member I really want suggestions for the most though, while this set has functioned for me it has also felt off at times. I like Ogerpon on this team, I like the water immunity, I like the Ivy Cudgel, but this specific set hasn't felt amazing. I end up sacrificing Pon to Kyurem in so many games where I know I should be getting value out of it. I'll also have to admit the lack of Grass STAB has stung. Once again, I'd like suggestions here.
LandLionJohn (Landorus-Therian) (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Taunt
- U-turn
This one's not exactly standard defensive Lando, and I'd like suggestions when it comes to this set as well. I really like Stone Edge and Taunt. They make Moltres and Dragonite so much more bearable. But for a 3 Attacks set I'm also running 0 Attack EVs. I like living the big hits but this is probably a spread I should edit, maybe even dropping a little speed. That said, Lando is VERY useful in helping bring Latias in. Intimidate pivoting lets you bait Ice Spinner from Dragonite or Great Tusk or even Zamazenta's Ice Fang. Taunt is also integral in making me not want to rip my hair out every time I see a Poison-type, and it helps deal with Trick Room users other than Hatterene. I like.
I didn't save many, but here are some. I may or may not be a little bit lucky in some of these.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2622521270
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2623552634
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2623596666
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2623539482
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2600933197 (loss vs. stall, I've yet to perfect the MU)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2622498227
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2622521270
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2623552634
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2623596666
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2623539482
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2600933197 (loss vs. stall, I've yet to perfect the MU)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2622498227
Conclusion
I still have a lot to learn when it comes to Gen 9 OU, but with this team I'm getting more comfortable with the meta and with building teams on my own. I'll be glad to receive suggestions from other players, as I want to improve this team, and I want to climb even further. My original goal was to do an RMT once I reached 1800, but to be honest I was struggling to even stay above 1700 (and am currently 1600s) so I'm just posting this now, I may do another once I improve the team using suggestions from here. Hopefully, they'll allow me to climb further.
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