SV OU Raging Bolt and Serperior Balance

Team Import: https://pokepast.es/b7bd270c98896d3b

:raging-bolt:
Raging Bolt @ Leftovers
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 200 SpA / 56 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Thunderclap
- Thunderbolt
- Dragon Pulse

Ever since DLC 2 released Raging Bolt was the pokemon I was most excited to use. Thunderclap is a great priority option that helps me finish of pokemon that would otherwise threaten Raging Bolt such as Iron Valiant and Enamorus. Calm Mind I've found to be the most successful set in my playtesting since it serves as a fantastic late game cleaner that is really hard to take down on the special side even with only one calm mind. Leftovers is here over booster energy because the extra healing is way better for the role I want raging bolt to fulfill for the team since I also want raging bolt to constantly come in throughout the game to sponge the myriad of fire,water,electric and grass moves in the tier. Leftovers also helps mitigate the drawback of having to play 50/50 with thunderclap since I will be healing away while the opponent is trying to outstall my thunderclap PP. Tera Fairy is great for avoiding one of Raging Bolt's biggest weaknesses: dragon. Fairy is also just a great all-around defensive typing. The 56 speed ev's are to outspeed max speed adamant kingambits

:skarmory:
Skarmory @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sturdy
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Roost
- Spikes
- Body Press
- Whirlwind

Since I was building a team around Raging Bolt I needed to cover its weaknesses and its biggest one IMO is its weakness to ground. I went searching through the OU tier for good ground resists/immunities when I stumbled across skarmory. Skarmory is an amazing defensive mon that I've found pairs extremely well with raging bolt since not only does it provide me with a much-needed ground immunity, but it can take advantage of said ground types by setting up spikes while they switch out. The EV spread and moveset should be pretty self explanatory.

:kingambit:
Kingambit @ Leftovers
Ability: Supreme Overlord
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
- Low Kick

One of the things I do when I (rarely) teambuild is making sure I always have a dark and ghost resist mon. For this team slot, I was stuck between either choosing Ting-Lu or Kingambit. Ting-Lu served as a more consistent check to all the dark and ghost types running around as well as being a better partner with skarmory but Kingambit served as a valuable physically offensive presence to my team. Then I realized one of the weaknesses I needed to cover for raging bolt, ice. While Ting-Lu would serve as a great check to a lot of dark and ghost type mons running around the tier, the same couldn't be said for the ice types like weavile or especially kyurem. While Kingambit isn't a perfect counter to the ice types either, it still provided me with an ice type resist rather than a weakness which is why I decided on using kingambit in the end. If whoever is reading this does want to me use Ting-Lu instead however I'm happy to oblige. Tera fighting low kick with max speed adamant kingambit is mainly for other kingambits. I opted for iron head instead of kowtow cleave because I really missed hitting fairy types for super effective damage. Leftovers is there for minimizing the risk of clicking sucker punch since I'd be healing every turn it fails.

:skeledirge:
Skeledirge @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Unaware
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Torch Song
- Alluring Voice
- Scorching Sands
- Slack Off

Since I'm running two steel types, I needed to cover up the two weaknesses these two steel types shared, Fire. While raging bolt could serve as a good fire resist, it wasn't good enough for me especially against one of the most fearsome fire types in the tier, Volcarona. This is where Skeledirge comes in. Specially defensive Skeledirge serves as a great check to Volcarona as it either walls Volcarona to hell in back or forces Volcarona to tera. Even if Volc does tera however, I can still tera my skeledirge and slack off the damage since tera blast doesn't two hit KO skeledirge most of the time even if it hits me with a super effective tera blast the first turn before I tera'd. Tera Fairy is the classic Dirge tera type and I saw to reason to change it especially since it got a cool move in alluring voice. Scorching sands is another great addition to skeledirge's movepool since it can punish physical attackers 30% of the time.

:great-tusk:
Great Tusk @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Temper Flare
- Earthquake
- Close Combat

I needed a form of hazard removal and since I already had skarmory which meant I couldn't run corviknight for defog that meant I was really only left with one other option. Temper Flare was a move I've always wanted to try on Great Tusk since it served as a way to finally punish Air Balloon Gholdengo which many teams rely on as their form of spin blocking. Since I wanted to outspeed and OHKO gholdengo with temper flare max speed and max attack seemed like the best option. HDB as the item allowed me to more reliably come in throughout the battle and spin away those hazards while Close Combat and EQ are just good coverage stab moves.

:serperior:
Serperior @ Leftovers
Ability: Contrary
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Substitute
- Glare
- Tera Blast

Finally, I realized that not only did I have really bad forms of speed control, but that I should probably run another special attacker. That's where Serperior comes in. Not only does it help my form of speed control by being a fast mon, but it can help cripple fast mons as well with Glare. Serperior also served as another ground resist since my team was starting to get ground weak again. Leftovers synergizes well with substitute since it meant I could more reliably set up subs throughout the game. Tera Fire blast serprior is my favorite out of all the Tera options since it hits steel types for super effective damage including ones that are immune to ground like corviknight or skarmory.

Conclusion:
Overall while I don't enjoy teambuilding I think I did a decent job with this team. However, I want to change that decent into something better and I still encounter a lot of problems while playtesting with this team like Gouging Fire and Iron Boulder and screens and I would really appreciate the help and advice as to how I can make this team better in general. I do have one request though which is to not replace raging bolt in this team with something else since this is the mon I wanted to teambuild with in the first place. I am open to every other form of feedback or any other suggestions, however.
 
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I like the 6 a lot, and the :raging-bolt:/:skarmory: core is a strong synergy. I toyed around with the team and made some minor changes.

My version: :raging-bolt: :skarmory: :kingambit: :skeledirge: :great-tusk: :serperior:

Changes

1. :kingambit:: The most apparent thing I noticed about your team is a lack of immediate power. Everything needs to set up to apply pressure. You have three theoretical set-up sweepers in :serperior:, :raging-bolt:, and :kingambit:, so I decided to make :kingambit: a Choice Band set with 4 attacks. This set is fairly unexpected and puts in a lot of work; players like Fusien have peaked #1 on ladder with this set. Also, :kingambit: and Calm Mind :raging-bolt: fill the same role as a slow Sucker Punch set-up cleaner, so I opted to keep the :raging-bolt: set the same. You could easily switch the roles so that you have normal :kingambit: and Choice Specs :raging-bolt:, but I prefer this more as it has proven successful and no immunities to worry about.


2. :serperior:: Tera Ground is the best for this team in my opinion. You already destroy :corviknight: and :skarmory: with :raging-bolt: and :skeledirge:, so I don't believe Tera Fire is warranted. You even have Tera Fire Temper Flare :great-tusk: in a pinch, so your Fire coverage is more than enough on the team. Your team struggles with :heatran:, :gouging-fire:, and :iron-boulder:, so Tera Ground improves the matchup quite a lot. You could also make :serperior: Tera Stellar if you want a more consistent sweeper, but you already have :raging-bolt: to sweep late game, so I think Tera Ground is an unexpected but strong pick for your team.


3. EV Changes:
a. :serperior:: 168 HP lets you guaranteed live a +1 Flare Blitz from Jolly :gouging-fire: after you tera. 88 SpA lets you KO zero-bulk :gouging-fire: with Leaf Storm into +2 Tera Blast. +2 Mighty Cleave becomes a 50% chance to OHKO rather than guaranteed, and if you need to live, you can always tera. You can keep 252/252 if you want, but the extra bulk is pretty nice in a pinch.
b. :skeledirge:: 12 Speed EVs to outspeed :corviknight:.

I hope this helps out some of the more difficult matchups! The only change I think is pretty necessary is making :kingambit: or :raging-bolt: a breaker, but the other suggestions are completely up to you to toy around with and see what performs well for you. Let me know how it does for you :)
 
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