SV OU SST (Slow Shed Tail) Orthworm + Espathra Bulky Offense V1.1

[arnimacarni]

Hi there everyone! This is my first time posting here, but I'm getting invested in Competitive Singles and I've been working on a team which I think has potential.

I based this team on this team by Piyush25 which I found recently while researching sets. His team has a more HO angle to it, but I have always preferred to play it slow. My first idea was to do an Orthworm Stall team, but I'm not too keen on Stall, so I decided to go for a more offensive team, I don't know if you'd call this Bulky Offense or Balance, but I've given it the nickname SST. The idea is to switch around and cripple opponents as much as possible until I can succesfully enter with Orthworm. I've been having some great games recently, and I seem to have identified some of the weaknesses, so any further help is very welcome.

Orthworm (M) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Earth Eater
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Shed Tail
- Iron Head

Orthworm is the facilitator of the whole strategy behind this team. Against slower teams, I can lead with him and set up rocks and spikes, threatening Glimmora and checking Garchomp. More often than not, I need to play it safe with him, as the many Fire-types in the metagame can ruin him completely. The spread is the same as the one I found, as investing in SpDef doesn't seem to be advantageous at all. The best recipient of Shed Tail is Espathra, although I've had some games where Great Tusk or Dragonite were good recipients as well. Against a slower opponent it has seemed possible to Shed Tail twice in a game, which allows me to check my opponent both in the special and physical sides.

Espathra (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Speed Boost
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 248 HP / 228 Def / 32 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stored Power
- Dazzling Gleam
- Calm Mind
- Roost

So piggybacking on the great team I'm building upon, I didn't change the Espathra spread in the slightest. The 32 EVs in speed allow Espathra to outspeed Meowscarada and Roaring Moon at +1. Investing the rest into HP and Def allows for her to sustain some physical hits while setting up. I've had much more fun with Roost rather than Protect, as it allows me to stay around longer against the likes of Skeledirge or Dragapult. Tera Fairy is almost mandatory to outlive the odd Sucker Punch or Shadow Sneak, and of course further boosts Dazzling Gleam. In practice, even defensive Gholdengo couldn't withstand some of my attacks. I'm very happy with this set as I have been trying to make Espathra work for me for the longest time.

Great Tusk @ Assault Vest
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Headlong Rush
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Rapid Spin

Here is where my team begins to differ from the original one. I believe Great Tusk was used more of a spinner and lead but I've been trying to make him work as a sweeper. Great Tusk can be the recipient of Shed Tail, clear rocks and boost Speed with Rapid Spin and start demolishing things with Headlong Rush (which seems to fit this set better than Earthquake) and Close Combat. I gave him Assault Vest to be able to withstand some special hits but I'm thinking of trying Booster Energy to increase damage output. I also gave it Tera Ground to just destroy everything in front of me.

Gholdengo @ Leftovers
Ability: Good as Gold
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Hex
- Nasty Plot
- Recover

The other team originally had Breloom but I didn't want to bother with him so I tried bringing in the ol' reliable Gholdengo. I'm surprised by how easy it is to start snowballing with this thing. Spreading paralysis is very effective at crippling down foes, and those who aren't affected like Rotom-W and Garchomp can still be hindered by Hex and Nasty Plot. Specially Garchomp has to play around with caution, as a timely switch to Orthworm when trying to Earthquake benefits me greatly. My biggest surprise was how good it checked Skeledirge, as it wasn't quick enough to roll me over with Torch Song. I tend to lead with Gholdengo most times against more offensive teams, but lead Cinderace and physical Dragapult seem to give me lots of trouble.

Dragonite (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Multiscale
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Ice Spinner
- Fire Punch
- Extreme Speed

I have been using DD-ES-EQ-Roost Dragonite for what seems like ages now. I'm not used to not having Roost as it seems very natural with Multiscale, however I have found this chonky gal to be able to check so much more stuff than the other set, perhaps most importantly Balloon Gholdengo and Garchomp. Apart from that it works like all Dragonites, DD as much as you can, Tera Normal and go to town with it.

Roaring Moon @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Jaw Lock
- Breaking Swipe
- U-turn
- Taunt

This is definitely the biggest change to the original team. The original RM was the Tera Flying BE DD set, but I've been trying out this other set as a way to trap walls/stallers. Jaw Lock to trap enemy, Breaking Swipe to lower Atk, U-Turn to escape unfavourable matchups, Taunt to break Stall. Checks Ting-Lu and Grimmsnarl. I gave it max Atk and Spe to match Cinderace, but still I can't check it successfully.

Threats:
-Cinderace: counters Gholdengo and Orthworm, can't seem to check him with either Great Tusk or Roaring Moon.
-Skeledirge: very dangerous to play around, Espathra can barely beat it most times.

Thank you again for taking a look at this!

 

[chimp]

Heyooo. That team is definitely a good one to be inspired by.

A few thoughts:
Personally I think Choice Band Tusk would be better here. AV can be fun, but you already have Sp.D defensive Gholdengo chillin in the back. You say you want him to be used more as a sweeper... I don't really see AV working at max efficiency in that regard, especially if its running Headlong Rush which is a bit counter-intuitive on AV.


Great Tusk @ Choice Band
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Headlong Rush
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Rapid Spin

Fighting Tera is superior over Steel here to give you a slightly better match-up against Cinderace, Skeledirge and Chien-Pao, though relatisically you're never really going to want to Tera this unless you're in a pinch. This set just pairs really well with the paralysis spam that Gholdengo provides. I also think Bulk Up could be worth it with Earthquake and Body Press to avoid being walled by Corviknight/Rotom-Wash, but I like the immediacy of CBs power combined with Orthworm.

Also, for Roaring Moon, I'd consider the following changes;
Heavy-Duty Boots > Rocky Helmet
U-turn > Roost
Tera Steel > Tera Ghost
252 Speed > 252 Defense
Jolly > Impish

All these changes really do is help Roaring Moon trap Dondozo, which is something I feel like it should do most consistently if you are running a trapping set paired with Dnite. You still outspeed Ting-Lu and Roost helps if its packing Ruination. Helmet helps give you extra damage vs. Dondozo since Jaw Lock does very little. Tera Ghost is only there if Dondozo is packing Body Press, and this can even enable you to trap some Garganacl if need be. With max Defense and Impish, you only have about a 25% of being 2KO'd by Dozo Body Press, so Tera-ing isn't *required,* but it is helpful to have the back. Ultimately, you ideally don't want to Tera Moon since its so important for Espathra/Dnite, but removing Dondozo may be worth it in some match-ups where Tera Normal Dnite isn't necessary. Ghost also lets you switch out when Jaw Locked without the need for U-turn.

All that said I do think you'd probably be better off with a Hex + Wisp Dragapult set that can check both Cinderace and Skeledirge (unless it Teras). Can't trap Ting-Lu obviously but it can whittle it down with Hex blocking Leftovers recovery; it also can offensively deal with Corviknight and Dondozo.

Hope this helps!

 

[arnimacarni]

chimp Wow man, thanks for the input! Choice Band does seem to make more sense on Tusk, hadn't considered it. Overall I found out that the speed boost from Rapid Spin isn't that valuable. As for Moon v Pult, I will try out both, let's see how they turn out! Thank you so so much!!