I know, it's a corny name for a team - still it's what I'm used to calling it now. I was originally drawn to a Ninetails drought team after fighting one and realizing that it can have SolarBeam, which I thought was cool (I haven't played OU since D/P). Here's a bit below on the team I was running and why I changed it before I get onto the main event:
There's most of my original team, which worked fairly well. Venusaur with Growth, Hidden Power Fire, Earthquake and Giga Drain most notably could sweep unprepared teams - especially fire switch ins thinking they would outspeed it. Still, the team had two main problems:
1) It was often walled by dragons, who after a stat boost could sweep (scarfed Salamence could no longer outspeed them).
2) It handled itself poorly against opposing weather teams. Venusaur would occasionally dent a downpour team, but it wasn't enough.
So I changed the team, and currently I've had some success.
So here's what I'm going with now:
Ninetales @ Air Balloon
Trait: Drought
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Mild Nature
IVs: 30 Def / 30 SAtk / 30 SDef / 30 Spd
- Flamethrower
- SolarBeam
- Nasty Plot
- Roar
So I have a Ninetails, obviously. I went without Sunny Day, as if I'm facing an opposing weather team I prefer to swap Ninetails in and out to affect sunshine - whilst I'm wasting a move using Sunny Day my opponent is either landing a hit or setting up so I'm not a fan of it. Also, though sunshine is very desirable on this team, it can usually cope without it. Roar is useful to phaze out people trying to set up on Ninetails, particularly Quiver Dancing Volcarona as people often mistakenly believe that I'll swap out Ninetails when facing it. Nasty Plot is useful to allow Ninetails to actually do a bit of damage, and can usually be used after a Roar when I've brought in something that can't combat Ninetails. Overall, this setup isn't that great but to have an OU drought team you need Ninetails - so what can you do?
Breloom @ Life Orb
Trait: Technician
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Spd / 252 Atk
Jolly Nature
- Bullet Seed
- Mach Punch
- Low Sweep
- Stone Edge
Breloom is my answer to opposing weather teams, and what I replaced my Venusaur with. Bullet Seed OHKO's politoed, which is very nice, and I'd imagine Low Sweep would have the same effect on TTar. Stone Edge was chosen preferentially over Spore to give me more coverage for flying dragons (+ other fire types, etc.), which after a Tailwind from Tornadus it often out speeds. On that note, do you think Mach Punch is necessary as I do often run Breloom with a Tailwind? Should I try Spore in its stead?
Darmanitan @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Superpower
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
Darmanitan is a beast, often capable of OHKOing full health x4 resists in the sun with Flare Blitz. As it's kind of fragile, I use it more to punch wholes in the opposing team as early as possible. I've noticed it also out speeds a x1 DDance from Gyarados and Dragonite, which comes in handy with Stone Edge; and it out speeds a whole lot more with a Tailwind from Tornadus. Stone Edge was picked over Rock Slide just power's sake, though I've noticed the trend that it often doesn't hit when you need it to!
Tornadus (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Heat Wave
- Air Slash
- Tailwind
- Taunt
Tornadus is mainly here for support, though if it can take a hit from an opposing pokemon and set up tailwind it can occasionally flinch hax the opposition - which is handy. Tailwind allows my sweepers to out speed and kill the opposition; and Taunt stops stalling pokemon, Baton Passers, status inflicters and a whole host of other annoyances - combined with Prankster these moves always have priority too. A special attack focus was chosen to get a nice Heat Wave out of Tornadus, which is always fun.
Having said all this, do you think Whimsicott is a better choice? It can run Taunt and Tailwind but also Memento allowing it to sacrifice itself promptly (sometimes the opponent won't kill Tornadus when I expect them too, mitigating slightly the Tailwind boost I want to use to set up one of my sweepers - with Whimsicott I can ensure it dies promptly and hinders the opposing sweeper I'm having trouble with), but it obviously isn't quite the attacker Tornadus is.
Donphan @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 128 Def / 128 HP / 252 Atk
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
- Ice Shard
- Earthquake
The standard Donphan setup, with attack EVs as it can turn 3 hit KOs on some flying dragons to 2 hit KOs (notably Salamence) - which Forretress who used to occupy this slot and serve the same role could never do. Stealth Rock is nice to negate sashes, and Rapid Spin is there to reduce Stealth Rock damage to my team who are weak to it. At the very least Ice Shard allows me to put a dent in opposing dragons even if I don't kill them, plus Donphan survives water attacks a lot better in the sun. I've considered axing Donphan for a more offensive Ice Shard user (Weavile, Mamoswine) and just accepting entry hazard damage as this is primarily an offensive team - is this a good idea or atrocious?
Victini @ Life Orb
Trait: Victory Star
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Bolt Strike
- V-create
- Zen Headbutt
- Flame Charge
Victini replaced Salamence, as it's less easily walled and has Bolt Strike which is very nice against water pokemon. Though his attack (328) is nothing to write home about, the absurd damage of V-create (180!) and Bolt Strike (130) more than makes up for it - and their accuracy penalties are more or less mitigated by Victory Star. I originally used a Choice Scarf and Trick on Victini but I think Flame Charge is a much nicer alternative - you revenge kill a weakened opponent with Flame Charge and then kill off what comes next with the speed boost using V-create or Bolt Strike. Furthermore Flame Charge can be used to equilibrate the speed reduction of V-create, allowing you to use V-create on the tough threats and Flame Charge on those susceptible to fire thus regaining momentum. I changed Hidden Power Ice on this setup (naturally with a different nature and 4 EVs in SAtk) to Brick Break to Zen Headbutt - which of the three do you think is best? They're all fairly arbitrary TBH as Bolt Strike and V-create are really where Victini shines, the former I've noticed OHKOs non-bulky Politoeds.
So there you have it - I've had quite a lot of success with this team so I think I've done something right. I think the main problem with the team is being walled by the likes Heatran and Chandelure, but usually these can be dealt with using Donphan's Earthquake. I've asked a fair few questions so I'd appreciate it if people responded to them, other then that any other advice anyone has on improvements I could make is most welcome. Thanks in advance.
There's most of my original team, which worked fairly well. Venusaur with Growth, Hidden Power Fire, Earthquake and Giga Drain most notably could sweep unprepared teams - especially fire switch ins thinking they would outspeed it. Still, the team had two main problems:
1) It was often walled by dragons, who after a stat boost could sweep (scarfed Salamence could no longer outspeed them).
2) It handled itself poorly against opposing weather teams. Venusaur would occasionally dent a downpour team, but it wasn't enough.
So I changed the team, and currently I've had some success.
So here's what I'm going with now:
Ninetales @ Air Balloon
Trait: Drought
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Mild Nature
IVs: 30 Def / 30 SAtk / 30 SDef / 30 Spd
- Flamethrower
- SolarBeam
- Nasty Plot
- Roar
So I have a Ninetails, obviously. I went without Sunny Day, as if I'm facing an opposing weather team I prefer to swap Ninetails in and out to affect sunshine - whilst I'm wasting a move using Sunny Day my opponent is either landing a hit or setting up so I'm not a fan of it. Also, though sunshine is very desirable on this team, it can usually cope without it. Roar is useful to phaze out people trying to set up on Ninetails, particularly Quiver Dancing Volcarona as people often mistakenly believe that I'll swap out Ninetails when facing it. Nasty Plot is useful to allow Ninetails to actually do a bit of damage, and can usually be used after a Roar when I've brought in something that can't combat Ninetails. Overall, this setup isn't that great but to have an OU drought team you need Ninetails - so what can you do?
Breloom @ Life Orb
Trait: Technician
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Spd / 252 Atk
Jolly Nature
- Bullet Seed
- Mach Punch
- Low Sweep
- Stone Edge
Breloom is my answer to opposing weather teams, and what I replaced my Venusaur with. Bullet Seed OHKO's politoed, which is very nice, and I'd imagine Low Sweep would have the same effect on TTar. Stone Edge was chosen preferentially over Spore to give me more coverage for flying dragons (+ other fire types, etc.), which after a Tailwind from Tornadus it often out speeds. On that note, do you think Mach Punch is necessary as I do often run Breloom with a Tailwind? Should I try Spore in its stead?
Darmanitan @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Superpower
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
Darmanitan is a beast, often capable of OHKOing full health x4 resists in the sun with Flare Blitz. As it's kind of fragile, I use it more to punch wholes in the opposing team as early as possible. I've noticed it also out speeds a x1 DDance from Gyarados and Dragonite, which comes in handy with Stone Edge; and it out speeds a whole lot more with a Tailwind from Tornadus. Stone Edge was picked over Rock Slide just power's sake, though I've noticed the trend that it often doesn't hit when you need it to!
Tornadus (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Heat Wave
- Air Slash
- Tailwind
- Taunt
Tornadus is mainly here for support, though if it can take a hit from an opposing pokemon and set up tailwind it can occasionally flinch hax the opposition - which is handy. Tailwind allows my sweepers to out speed and kill the opposition; and Taunt stops stalling pokemon, Baton Passers, status inflicters and a whole host of other annoyances - combined with Prankster these moves always have priority too. A special attack focus was chosen to get a nice Heat Wave out of Tornadus, which is always fun.
Having said all this, do you think Whimsicott is a better choice? It can run Taunt and Tailwind but also Memento allowing it to sacrifice itself promptly (sometimes the opponent won't kill Tornadus when I expect them too, mitigating slightly the Tailwind boost I want to use to set up one of my sweepers - with Whimsicott I can ensure it dies promptly and hinders the opposing sweeper I'm having trouble with), but it obviously isn't quite the attacker Tornadus is.
Donphan @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 128 Def / 128 HP / 252 Atk
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
- Ice Shard
- Earthquake
The standard Donphan setup, with attack EVs as it can turn 3 hit KOs on some flying dragons to 2 hit KOs (notably Salamence) - which Forretress who used to occupy this slot and serve the same role could never do. Stealth Rock is nice to negate sashes, and Rapid Spin is there to reduce Stealth Rock damage to my team who are weak to it. At the very least Ice Shard allows me to put a dent in opposing dragons even if I don't kill them, plus Donphan survives water attacks a lot better in the sun. I've considered axing Donphan for a more offensive Ice Shard user (Weavile, Mamoswine) and just accepting entry hazard damage as this is primarily an offensive team - is this a good idea or atrocious?
Victini @ Life Orb
Trait: Victory Star
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Bolt Strike
- V-create
- Zen Headbutt
- Flame Charge
Victini replaced Salamence, as it's less easily walled and has Bolt Strike which is very nice against water pokemon. Though his attack (328) is nothing to write home about, the absurd damage of V-create (180!) and Bolt Strike (130) more than makes up for it - and their accuracy penalties are more or less mitigated by Victory Star. I originally used a Choice Scarf and Trick on Victini but I think Flame Charge is a much nicer alternative - you revenge kill a weakened opponent with Flame Charge and then kill off what comes next with the speed boost using V-create or Bolt Strike. Furthermore Flame Charge can be used to equilibrate the speed reduction of V-create, allowing you to use V-create on the tough threats and Flame Charge on those susceptible to fire thus regaining momentum. I changed Hidden Power Ice on this setup (naturally with a different nature and 4 EVs in SAtk) to Brick Break to Zen Headbutt - which of the three do you think is best? They're all fairly arbitrary TBH as Bolt Strike and V-create are really where Victini shines, the former I've noticed OHKOs non-bulky Politoeds.
So there you have it - I've had quite a lot of success with this team so I think I've done something right. I think the main problem with the team is being walled by the likes Heatran and Chandelure, but usually these can be dealt with using Donphan's Earthquake. I've asked a fair few questions so I'd appreciate it if people responded to them, other then that any other advice anyone has on improvements I could make is most welcome. Thanks in advance.
