Solar Eclipse
I haven't been on these forums in a long time, but I've still been battling here and there. Some (few... fine, barely any) may remember me as the guy who only works with mono-type teams, so here's another. But... this one has a catch. It still remains a mono dark, but this one is themed around Sunny Day, so two themes there. This was meant to be a gimmick at first, but it turns out to be much better than I expected (still not great though of course). All UU too, still to fare against the OU metagame (then again, the only OU are Tyranitar and Weavile, but what good can they do in the sun?). Anyway, let's see what this team can do!
PS: No wild cards, lol. Don't even mention these ._.
From Outer Space:
On Earth:
Houndoom (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Hasty nature (+Spd, -Def)
- Fire Blast
- Sucker Punch
- Taunt
- Counter
Anti-lead, I suppose? Fire Blast is always strong; Sucker Punch gets Focus Sashers like Azelf and Gengar (can be saved for Latias later if he's alive). Taunt stops Stealth Rocks and comes out generally fast enough (and brings in Sucker Punch and Counter). Counter + Focus Sash is a deathly surprisingly combo, especially from a UU whom you never see around OU. Aerodactyl (though Fire Blast against his Taunt + Sucker Punch will usally suffice), Swampert, random heavy hitters. This works more often than not merely due to surprise.
Most leads begin with some kind of Taunter or Stealth Rock setter, so beginning with a Sunny Day lead wouldn't seem to work. Just get them back with Taunt and go with a typical kind of lead, I suppose. And, unfortunately, the only dark type who learns Stealth Rock is Tyranitar, which wouldn't fit on this team at all obviously.
Umbreon (M) @ Heat Rock
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP/6 Atk/252 SDef
Careful nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Heal Bell
- Payback
- Moonlight
- Sunny Day
Pretty weird set, but it surprisingly works. Main key is Sunny Day, and the rest of the team can do its work. Payback for STAB, especially against Latias, and Heal Bell is a nice random support move. Moonlight is just crazy under the sun, and it's safe enough to set up the sun again against Tyranitar for Moonlight to be worthwhile (unfortunately he can't do anything back to TTar but temporarily wall).
Spiritomb (M) @ Heat Rock
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP/144 Def/112 SDef
Sassy nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Pain Split
- Will-o-wisp
- Sunny Day
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Eclipse setter number two, along with it being the main Scizor counter (and fighters in general. And bugs. It's still mono dark!). Three fire moves, good luck red bug. Pain Split for recovery, and his defenses (plus Will-o-wisp) allow it to be pretty reliable. Last move is still debatable; Sucker Punch or Pursuit could be used there instead for Latias? I consider Scizor as more of a threat so I'm using HP Fire for now.
Honchkrow (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Insomnia
EVs: 248 Atk/212 Spd/48 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Night Slash
- Brave Bird
- Superpower
- Heat Wave
Standard ScarfKrow, except with a boosted Heat Wave in the sun. Insomnia is great, for he can switch against random grass types, especially the sleepers who benefit from the sun such as Roserade. Night Slash for standard STAB; Brave Bird 2HKOs Swampert without any support (and Honchkrow is fragile enough to not care about recoil); Superpower gets Tyranitar and Heatran, two main threats to this team, amongst others that would typically wall this set; Heat Wave for other steels ESPECIALLY SCIZOR. I believe in the sun it even 2HKOs Bronzong too, a nice bonus there.
Shiftry (M) @ Leftovers / Lum Berry / Focus Sash
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 60 HP/196 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Nasty Plot
- Solarbeam / Grass Knot
- Dark Pulse
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Pretty deadly with just one Nasty Plot and Chlorophyll. Speed allows it to outspeed +spd Tyranitar, so in case he switches into a SolarBeam he'll still get hit.
SolarBeam vs Grass Knot is still a debate; the former obviously relies on the sun, and if Tyranitar does switch in, a turn is wasted. Grass Knot still hits Tyranitar (and even Hippowdon) for 120 base, along with Suicune for 100 base. It feels nice to abuse SolarBeam in the sun though, lol, plus that would be a good STAB move overall.
Dark Pulse also makes a good STAB, especially against Latias where he may get lucky with flinchhax. HP Fire for a pseudo-STAB in the sun, plus yet another lighter to smoke some Scizor (bonus: Abomasnow). If it switches into something like a Swampert or a Vaporeon, it can set up a Nasty Plot or two and begin terror; otherwise, it can still come in at any time (sometimes even when the sun isn't up) and wreck some havoc.
Item is for debate: Leftovers isn't too useful since he's fragile anyway. Lum Berry helps any sweeper. Focus Sash for last since I can't clear out Stealth Rocks or anything like that, but it does let me get in an extra Nasty Plot once in a while.
Absol (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Super Luck
EVs: 252 Atk/216 Spd/40 SAtk
Lonely nature (+Atk, -Def)
- Sucker Punch
- Fire Blast
- Superpower
- Ice Beam
Random death threat. STAB + Priority + Max ATK + LO = ABSOLute KO to Latias (okay, not so absolute actually). Fire Blast, again, for sun abuse, plus for steels who resist dark. Superpower for Tyranitar and others. Ice Beam makes a nice surprise here and there, especially for dragons who think they can just switch in against the other three moves. Latias wouldn't want to directly switch into Absol, so Night Slash would be pretty useless despite it being a reliable STAB; element of surprise wins here.
Considering Choice Scarf (even with ScarfKrow) since 240 speed doesn't seem to do for me, but Life Orb is just so... orgasmic on Absol. When it gets the chance to strike, it's pretty awesome; however, it rarely gets that chance. The weakest link in my team, IMO.
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Of course, dark types can't abuse the sun as much as grasses or fires could, but again this all started out from a gimmick theme. The main bother is the lack of defense, but lol at the concept of defensive darks (lol Umbreon). Choice users? Goodbye. Set-uppers? Goodnight. Dragons with Outrage? 2012! What to do against those? How to abuse the sun even further? Gimme your best shot, Smogon.
PSS: No wild cards! xD
I haven't been on these forums in a long time, but I've still been battling here and there. Some (few... fine, barely any) may remember me as the guy who only works with mono-type teams, so here's another. But... this one has a catch. It still remains a mono dark, but this one is themed around Sunny Day, so two themes there. This was meant to be a gimmick at first, but it turns out to be much better than I expected (still not great though of course). All UU too, still to fare against the OU metagame (then again, the only OU are Tyranitar and Weavile, but what good can they do in the sun?). Anyway, let's see what this team can do!
PS: No wild cards, lol. Don't even mention these ._.
From Outer Space:
On Earth:
Houndoom (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Hasty nature (+Spd, -Def)
- Fire Blast
- Sucker Punch
- Taunt
- Counter
Anti-lead, I suppose? Fire Blast is always strong; Sucker Punch gets Focus Sashers like Azelf and Gengar (can be saved for Latias later if he's alive). Taunt stops Stealth Rocks and comes out generally fast enough (and brings in Sucker Punch and Counter). Counter + Focus Sash is a deathly surprisingly combo, especially from a UU whom you never see around OU. Aerodactyl (though Fire Blast against his Taunt + Sucker Punch will usally suffice), Swampert, random heavy hitters. This works more often than not merely due to surprise.
Most leads begin with some kind of Taunter or Stealth Rock setter, so beginning with a Sunny Day lead wouldn't seem to work. Just get them back with Taunt and go with a typical kind of lead, I suppose. And, unfortunately, the only dark type who learns Stealth Rock is Tyranitar, which wouldn't fit on this team at all obviously.
Umbreon (M) @ Heat Rock
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP/6 Atk/252 SDef
Careful nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Heal Bell
- Payback
- Moonlight
- Sunny Day
Pretty weird set, but it surprisingly works. Main key is Sunny Day, and the rest of the team can do its work. Payback for STAB, especially against Latias, and Heal Bell is a nice random support move. Moonlight is just crazy under the sun, and it's safe enough to set up the sun again against Tyranitar for Moonlight to be worthwhile (unfortunately he can't do anything back to TTar but temporarily wall).
Spiritomb (M) @ Heat Rock
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP/144 Def/112 SDef
Sassy nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Pain Split
- Will-o-wisp
- Sunny Day
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Eclipse setter number two, along with it being the main Scizor counter (and fighters in general. And bugs. It's still mono dark!). Three fire moves, good luck red bug. Pain Split for recovery, and his defenses (plus Will-o-wisp) allow it to be pretty reliable. Last move is still debatable; Sucker Punch or Pursuit could be used there instead for Latias? I consider Scizor as more of a threat so I'm using HP Fire for now.
Honchkrow (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Insomnia
EVs: 248 Atk/212 Spd/48 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Night Slash
- Brave Bird
- Superpower
- Heat Wave
Standard ScarfKrow, except with a boosted Heat Wave in the sun. Insomnia is great, for he can switch against random grass types, especially the sleepers who benefit from the sun such as Roserade. Night Slash for standard STAB; Brave Bird 2HKOs Swampert without any support (and Honchkrow is fragile enough to not care about recoil); Superpower gets Tyranitar and Heatran, two main threats to this team, amongst others that would typically wall this set; Heat Wave for other steels ESPECIALLY SCIZOR. I believe in the sun it even 2HKOs Bronzong too, a nice bonus there.
Shiftry (M) @ Leftovers / Lum Berry / Focus Sash
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 60 HP/196 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Nasty Plot
- Solarbeam / Grass Knot
- Dark Pulse
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Pretty deadly with just one Nasty Plot and Chlorophyll. Speed allows it to outspeed +spd Tyranitar, so in case he switches into a SolarBeam he'll still get hit.
SolarBeam vs Grass Knot is still a debate; the former obviously relies on the sun, and if Tyranitar does switch in, a turn is wasted. Grass Knot still hits Tyranitar (and even Hippowdon) for 120 base, along with Suicune for 100 base. It feels nice to abuse SolarBeam in the sun though, lol, plus that would be a good STAB move overall.
Dark Pulse also makes a good STAB, especially against Latias where he may get lucky with flinchhax. HP Fire for a pseudo-STAB in the sun, plus yet another lighter to smoke some Scizor (bonus: Abomasnow). If it switches into something like a Swampert or a Vaporeon, it can set up a Nasty Plot or two and begin terror; otherwise, it can still come in at any time (sometimes even when the sun isn't up) and wreck some havoc.
Item is for debate: Leftovers isn't too useful since he's fragile anyway. Lum Berry helps any sweeper. Focus Sash for last since I can't clear out Stealth Rocks or anything like that, but it does let me get in an extra Nasty Plot once in a while.
Absol (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Super Luck
EVs: 252 Atk/216 Spd/40 SAtk
Lonely nature (+Atk, -Def)
- Sucker Punch
- Fire Blast
- Superpower
- Ice Beam
Random death threat. STAB + Priority + Max ATK + LO = ABSOLute KO to Latias (okay, not so absolute actually). Fire Blast, again, for sun abuse, plus for steels who resist dark. Superpower for Tyranitar and others. Ice Beam makes a nice surprise here and there, especially for dragons who think they can just switch in against the other three moves. Latias wouldn't want to directly switch into Absol, so Night Slash would be pretty useless despite it being a reliable STAB; element of surprise wins here.
Considering Choice Scarf (even with ScarfKrow) since 240 speed doesn't seem to do for me, but Life Orb is just so... orgasmic on Absol. When it gets the chance to strike, it's pretty awesome; however, it rarely gets that chance. The weakest link in my team, IMO.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Of course, dark types can't abuse the sun as much as grasses or fires could, but again this all started out from a gimmick theme. The main bother is the lack of defense, but lol at the concept of defensive darks (lol Umbreon). Choice users? Goodbye. Set-uppers? Goodnight. Dragons with Outrage? 2012! What to do against those? How to abuse the sun even further? Gimme your best shot, Smogon.
PSS: No wild cards! xD