XY OU Sun team!

Reyvax

Stuck in 1300! I'm looking for criticism and suggestions. I'm really not good at building teams so your help is appreciated. It's also my first team I made intending to be competitive.

I know sun team aren't that popular right now (at least in the low ladder!) because I haven't seen one in 20+ games but it's really a style I like. Actually, I simply love Charizard, Ninetales and Venusaur and a sun team allows me to put them all on the same team lol

Ninetales (F) @ Heat Rock
Ability: Drought
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Sunny Day Confuse Ray
- Solar Beam
- Fire Blast

I took Ninetales because it's the only sun setter in OU besides Megazard Y and the only one that can carry heat rock (which imo is needed, 3 more turns for Venusaur to sweep is worth having no lefties).
I built it to be specially defensive because it already has will-o-wisp to cripple physical attackers and being tanky means it can last longer and set up sun more times. Sunny Day is there in case Ninetales has to fight weather wars with other weather setters.

I'm considering a more agressive set to have Ninetales put off more offensive pressure.
Edit: Replaced Sunny Day with Confuse Ray to make Ninetales more annoying. Sunny Day wasn't actually needed since weather teams are fairly uncommon.

Charizard (M) @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Solar Power
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Focus Blast
- SolarBeam
- Roost

I don't think I have to explain why I put Megazard Y in a sun team. It's one of my two main sweepers. I prefer the damage of fire blast over the accuracy of flamethrower. Focus blast is there to beat Heatran that's a big threat to the team. Solarbeam is there for water types, giving really good coverage to Charizard (it can hit everything for at least neutral damage except dragon/flying types). Roost is there to give it more longevity.


Venusaur (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Growth Synthesis
- Sleep Powder

Venusaur is my second sweeper. I gave him a modest nature over a timid one because he shouldn't have any trouble outspeeding anything in sun with chlorophyll. Giga drain gives good damage with a stab and recovery, sludge bomb is stab and hits fairies super hard. Growth gives +2 spA in sun which makes Venusaur really hard to wall unless you're a dedicated special wall that also resists it's stabs.
Finally, chlorophyll makes it almost certain that you'll be able to use sleep powder before the opponent moves, which gives Venusaur free opportunities to set up.
Edit: trying Synthesis instead of Growth for reliable and powerful recovery in sun.

Those three are pretty much the core of my team. I'm pretty sure I want to keep them. However, I can't say the same for the rest of the team.


Togekiss (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Air Slash
- Defog
- Roost
- Thunder Wave

I wanted a spinner or a defog user. Because most of the spinners are water type and I'm not a big fan of water types in a sun team, I opted for a defog user. At first, I used Mew and felt like it was decent, but didn't really pull his weight as a team slot. I've always like Togekiss as a pokemon so I gave it a try and it's working nicely. If you've got another suggestion, I'm open to ideas.

Air slash is there to provide minimal offensive presence so that Togekiss isn't complete taunt bait. Defog is there because stealth rock is a huge threat to the team (Charizard loses 50% of his health if he switches in on stealth rock!). Roost is there for recovery. Thunder wave is there for the dreaded serene grace/paraflinch combo. I'm considering heal bell because status is really annoying at times (mainly getting Charizard or Venusaur paralyzed).

I'm considering putting Excadrill on this slot to spin, put stealth rock and provide earthquake coverage but I'm not sure yet.

Gliscor (M) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake

I put Gliscor there mainly because I wanted a physical wall as well as something to check Heatran with. I'm not really sure about it or even about its set. If you have a better suggestion it would really be appreciated!

Dragonite (M) @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Extreme Speed
- Outrage
- Fire Punch
- Roost Earthquake

I put Dragonite because I wanted a physical threat since my team was otherwise mostly special damage based. I use weakness policy with hp ev's because of multiscale: Dragonite will survive super effective damage most of the time and will be able to hit back hard. At +2 it can even 1HKO some squishy threats after stealth rock damage with extremespeed! Outrage destroys anything that doesn't resist it, especially at +2. Fire punch packs... quite a punch in sun and gives coverage against steel types that could otherwise wall Dragonite. Roost is here for recovery and can potentially allow Dragonite to trigger multiscale again.
Edit: Switched Roost for Earthquake for better coverage since Roost didn't do that much anyway.

It's a bit of a gimmicky set sometimes thought. I'm considering switching Dragonite for choice scarf Garchomp that would be able to act as a revenge killer+could threaten Heatran.


Weaknesses: Well, Heatran. It walls or beat the whole team except Gliscor. and Charizard. I know I need to do some changes to the team in order to deal with it better because right now it's a real pain.

Talonflame is also annoying, it threatens all of my sweepers (especially after stealth rock!) and my only reliable checks for it is Dragonite. Gliscor can wall it and wear it down with Toxic but isn't that effective.

If you see other glaring weaknesses, tell me! I'm really new to pokemon and I often can't see this stuff by myself.

Thanks!
 
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Welcome to Smogon! It's good seeing new and old players joining our well constructed community. But onto the rate, there are some things that could improve on your team. So here they are.

Some Major problems.
Why are you running Sunny Day on Ninetales? You already have Drought, just switch out and have a nice day. Next, run a move set of Fire Blast / Air Slash / SolarBeam / Dragon Pulse, Roost, Focus Blast, Ancient Power. Don't run Growth on Venusaur, instead, try Synthesis since you're running a sun team. You get a lot of health back this way.
On Dragonite, instead of Roost, run Earthquake or Stone Edge for better coverage. It usually works out for me when I run it.

Hope it helps.
 
Thanks for the feedback Sparkl3y! The reasoning for Sunny Day on Ninetales was that it could allow it to win weather wars against sand/rain teams but I realize they aren't very popular so it probably isn't needed. I don't know what to put as a fourth move thought. Maybe I could put another coverage move on it and turn my Ninetales into a special sweeper?

For Charizard, I don't see much of a point in running Air Slash. Fire Blast covers the same thing it does except fighting types, which aren't usually hard to kill for it anyway. I wanna try Dragon Pulse and Ancient Power but idk what to give up for them.

I'll put Synthesis on Venusaur and see how it goes, it's just really nice to Sleep Powder someone and get a free +2 boost as they either skip turns or are forced to switch out. But I can see how it can help to have powerful, reliable recovery.

I put Earthquake on Dragonite. It does give him better coverage and should help beating Heatran. Looking back, I realize Roost isn't that helpful because Dragonite often won't have the opportunity to use it after Multiscale's been broken.

Thanks a lot for all the great suggestions!
 
Reyvax said:
Thanks for the feedback Sparkl3y! The reasoning for Sunny Day on Ninetales was that it could allow it to win weather wars against sand/rain teams but I realize they aren't very popular so it probably isn't needed. I don't know what to put as a fourth move thought. Maybe I could put another coverage move on it and turn my Ninetales into a special sweeper?

For Charizard, I don't see much of a point in running Air Slash. Fire Blast covers the same thing it does except fighting types, which aren't usually hard to kill for it anyway. I wanna try Dragon Pulse and Ancient Power but idk what to give up for them.

I'll put Synthesis on Venusaur and see how it goes, it's just really nice to Sleep Powder someone and get a free +2 boost as they either skip turns or are forced to switch out. But I can see how it can help to have powerful, reliable recovery.

I put Earthquake on Dragonite. It does give him better coverage and should help beating Heatran. Looking back, I realize Roost isn't that helpful because Dragonite often won't have the opportunity to use it after Multiscale's been broken.

Thanks a lot for all the great suggestions!
Click to expand...
I actually use a Sun team in OU, and it was centered around Ninetales.
Here's a set you could possibly use.
Ninetales (F) @ Heat Rock
Ability: Drought
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 100 Def / 104 SpA / 52 SpD
Modest Nature
- Solar Beam
- Fire Blast
- Will-O-Wisp
- Confuse Ray

It's great to use Confuse Ray then use Will-O-Wisp to get off some residual damage. Then I like to spam Solarbeam and Fire Blast since they're both boosted with the sun. This is a personal set, and it worked out rather well for me.

Hope it helps.
 
Sparkl3y said:
I actually use a Sun team in OU, and it was centered around Ninetales.
Here's a set you could possibly use.
Ninetales (F) @ Heat Rock
Ability: Drought
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 100 Def / 104 SpA / 52 SpD
Modest Nature
- Solar Beam
- Fire Blast
- Will-O-Wisp
- Confuse Ray

It's great to use Confuse Ray then use Will-O-Wisp to get off some residual damage. Then I like to spam Solarbeam and Fire Blast since they're both boosted with the sun. This is a personal set, and it worked out rather well for me.

Hope it helps.
Click to expand...
I'll give a try to your set. I like that you're giving Ninetales offensive presence, this is something I've been wanting to try for a while. Thanks!
 
Growth is not a bad option, because its boost doubles in sun. Instead of removing Growth, remove Sleep Powder for Synthesis, if you really want the recovery
 
SketchUp said:
Growth is not a bad option, because its boost doubles in sun. Instead of removing Growth, remove Sleep Powder for Synthesis, if you really want the recovery
Click to expand...
I'm actually thorn between the two. Sleep Powder is just so good in some situations... And it goes well with Growth because it often guarantees a free turn to set up. I wish I could have 5 moves x(

I'll try the two options and decide what I prefer the most in the end.
 
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