Raw team data: https://pokepast.es/a4bf51cf53ffebf8
I had stopped making teams for a good chunk of time, but I've been starting to get back into it lately so I don't have a complete lack of drive for it when Sword and Shield come out. So, I decided to act on one of my random ideas: to make a team based around Alolan Raichu, one of my favorite Pokémon. I've played several games with this team and it seems a bit inconsistent, struggling a lot with Ground types in particular, so I'm here for advice.
panqueques (Raichu-Alola) (F) @ Aloraichium Z
Ability: Surge Surfer
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Thunderbolt
- Psyshock
- Grass Knot
First up, the star of the show. The set functions how you might expect it to: boost its Special Attack and then attempt a sweep under the proper conditions. Nasty Plot is the setup move of choice, partially because it gives you more power immediately, partially because Raichu's defenses don't exactly give it the liberty to set up more than once with something like Calm Mind. Thunderbolt is obviously standard coverage, and with the Aloraichium Z in place it can become a pretty handy nuke. Even if it doesn't kill, Stoked Sparksurfer could potentially paralyze whatever it hits and cripple that mon for the rest of the team. Psyshock takes care of the other STAB option as well as providing at least potential salvation from Chansey. The last slot was originally occupied by HP Ice, but I thought Grass Knot might be more helpful both for bulkier Ground- and Rock-types and for dealing with the rain scourge Mega Swampert (and the first two battles I had with this team were against rain, so it came in handy for me). I could very easily change it back, but for now I think it's okay. Max EVs in Special Attack and Speed are easy enough to understand, though I went with a Modest Nature for more damage output and because I'd already be pretty fast under Electric Terrain.
RHCP (Tapu Koko) @ Terrain Extender
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Wild Charge
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-turn
- Defog
Speaking of Electric Terrain, here's the obvious choice for the mon that would set it up. I mean, what else would it be in this tier? The terrain on this team serves the purpose both of increasing the damage of Raichu's Tbolt/Stoked Sparksurfer even more and to give it the doubled Speed thanks to Surge Surfer. Under Electric Terrain with this investment, Raichu hits 638 Speed, which makes it faster than all but two of OU's most common Dragon Dancers even at +2 (and everything else if they're unboosted). As for Koko's set, it's pretty easy to understand. When I was building this team, I started by adding the mons before filling in the sets, so I went with a physically-oriented Koko after noticing that my team was largely specially-oriented. Full Attack EVs help the Wild Charge to do even more under my terrain. HP Ice and U-turn are of course pretty standard on Koko, providing coverage for Lando and giving me potential momentum, respectively. I swapped out Taunt for Defog in the last slot when I started to realize that Spikes could get very annoying for this team, and also when I started to realize that I hadn't clicked Taunt once. I gave it Terrain Extender as its item so I can have as many potential sweep turns with Raichu as possible.
Muchacho (Hawlucha) (M) @ Electric Seed
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 96 HP / 252 Atk / 36 SpD / 124 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Acrobatics
- Swords Dance
- High Jump Kick
- Roost
And of course, what would a terrain sweeper team be without the infamous KokoLucha combo? As obvious and (depending on who you're asking) boring as this strategy is, I think its spot on here would be pretty beneficial to the team regardless. Hawlucha's STAB coverage helps to check a number of mons that both of the first two tend to struggle with -- Ttar, Tangrowth, most Steel-types, and the previously-mentioned demon Chansey. Koko's Terrain Extender also provides me with more opportunities to get this thing in and get the Unburden boost. As for the set itself, I literally just copy-pasted Smogon's recommended terrain sweeper set. Max Attack Adamant Nature for highest damage output, 124 Speed EVs to outpace Jolly Sand Rush Excadrill, Acrobatics and HJK for strong dual STAB options, etc.
EAST SIDE! (Gastrodon-East) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Earthquake
- Scald
- Toxic
- Recover
At this point in the teambuilding process I was noticing a weak point in my team, namely that it struggled with the two most common mons in the tier according to May's usage stats: Lando and AshGren. This team member is mostly aimed at mitigating the issue of the latter of those two. Max HP and max Special Defense with Sassy Nature provides Gastrodon with the ability to hard wall every standard Greninja variant barring post-transformation AshGren. This investment also allows it to check a number of other special attackers in OU like Tornadus, Alakazam without Energy Ball, Heatran without Z-Solar Beam, and every Electric-type in the tier. The set itself is pretty basic, though. Scald and Recover are borderline requirements on Gastro, with the former being a good STAB option plus the burn chance and the latter being the go-to for recovery. Toxic is there to handicap basically anything that switches in, especially for the very common Tangrowth switch. Earthquake is on the set instead of Earth Power mostly to help against CM Magearna, hitting it for noticeably more damage even when it's boosted. Even if this set isn't specifically designed to take on Lando, it can still serve as a moderate check at times, scaring it out with the threat of Scald or Toxic.
Track 11 (Ferrothorn) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed
- Knock Off
- Power Whip
Soon enough I realized two more things about the status of the team. 1) I needed a rocker, and 2) there are very few rockers that are not also weak to Lando. This was my attempt at finding a middle ground between the two: find a mon that can set up rocks without getting completely demolished by EQ, maybe even being able to force the Lando out if need be. Obviously in order to act on that goal, I made this a physically-defensive Ferro so it can actually take an EQ. Even without full Defense investment, max Attack Jolly Lando doesn't even have a 50% chance of 3HKOing Ferro unless it's a Skystrike variant. This mon can also help out with taking hits from various other physical attackers in the tier, things like Mimikyu, Ttar, Excadrill, and Kartana if it lacks Sacred Sword or hasn't locked into it. Aside from a focus on Defense rather than Special Defense, this is basically the standard OU Ferro set. Rocks are here as the standard entry hazard, Leech Seed is for whittling away at targets and for extra recovery in conjunction with Leftovers, Knock Off is to hopefully cripple things by removing their items (including the pesky Chansey, if they're dumb enough to stay in on this), and Power Whip is just for extra coverage and in case I need to do real damage with this mon. The hazard setter slot is the most subject to change on the whole team, if I'm being honest. In hindsight, I'm realizing that Gliscor or especially Skarmory might be better options if my main issue is Lando. Let me know if you think one of them would fit better on this team; I'm open to suggestions.
Ackbar (Heatran) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Toxic
- Earth Power
- Protect
Once I had the other five mons in place I was noticing a disturbing lack of Fire coverage. Not exactly the best strategy in a meta with so many Steel-types running around, especially something like Scizor that can't be hit super-effectively by anything else. Heatran was my first thought -- only natural for someone playing in OU -- but I came to a temporary stumbling point with that. I already had a rocker so I didn't need it for that, and I already had a Z-move user so I didn't need it for that either. I eventually decided to stick with the Heatran idea, just going for a more "stally" version of it. Think of this as a hybrid between the trapper and specially-defensive sets, with Magma Storm and Toxic for residual damage, but with Protect and Leftovers to gain our own health back instead of a Z Crystal. And Earth Power is an obvious enough coverage move to deal with other Fire-types, mainly other Heatran.
I had stopped making teams for a good chunk of time, but I've been starting to get back into it lately so I don't have a complete lack of drive for it when Sword and Shield come out. So, I decided to act on one of my random ideas: to make a team based around Alolan Raichu, one of my favorite Pokémon. I've played several games with this team and it seems a bit inconsistent, struggling a lot with Ground types in particular, so I'm here for advice.
panqueques (Raichu-Alola) (F) @ Aloraichium Z
Ability: Surge Surfer
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Thunderbolt
- Psyshock
- Grass Knot
First up, the star of the show. The set functions how you might expect it to: boost its Special Attack and then attempt a sweep under the proper conditions. Nasty Plot is the setup move of choice, partially because it gives you more power immediately, partially because Raichu's defenses don't exactly give it the liberty to set up more than once with something like Calm Mind. Thunderbolt is obviously standard coverage, and with the Aloraichium Z in place it can become a pretty handy nuke. Even if it doesn't kill, Stoked Sparksurfer could potentially paralyze whatever it hits and cripple that mon for the rest of the team. Psyshock takes care of the other STAB option as well as providing at least potential salvation from Chansey. The last slot was originally occupied by HP Ice, but I thought Grass Knot might be more helpful both for bulkier Ground- and Rock-types and for dealing with the rain scourge Mega Swampert (and the first two battles I had with this team were against rain, so it came in handy for me). I could very easily change it back, but for now I think it's okay. Max EVs in Special Attack and Speed are easy enough to understand, though I went with a Modest Nature for more damage output and because I'd already be pretty fast under Electric Terrain.
RHCP (Tapu Koko) @ Terrain Extender
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Wild Charge
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-turn
- Defog
Speaking of Electric Terrain, here's the obvious choice for the mon that would set it up. I mean, what else would it be in this tier? The terrain on this team serves the purpose both of increasing the damage of Raichu's Tbolt/Stoked Sparksurfer even more and to give it the doubled Speed thanks to Surge Surfer. Under Electric Terrain with this investment, Raichu hits 638 Speed, which makes it faster than all but two of OU's most common Dragon Dancers even at +2 (and everything else if they're unboosted). As for Koko's set, it's pretty easy to understand. When I was building this team, I started by adding the mons before filling in the sets, so I went with a physically-oriented Koko after noticing that my team was largely specially-oriented. Full Attack EVs help the Wild Charge to do even more under my terrain. HP Ice and U-turn are of course pretty standard on Koko, providing coverage for Lando and giving me potential momentum, respectively. I swapped out Taunt for Defog in the last slot when I started to realize that Spikes could get very annoying for this team, and also when I started to realize that I hadn't clicked Taunt once. I gave it Terrain Extender as its item so I can have as many potential sweep turns with Raichu as possible.
Muchacho (Hawlucha) (M) @ Electric Seed
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 96 HP / 252 Atk / 36 SpD / 124 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Acrobatics
- Swords Dance
- High Jump Kick
- Roost
And of course, what would a terrain sweeper team be without the infamous KokoLucha combo? As obvious and (depending on who you're asking) boring as this strategy is, I think its spot on here would be pretty beneficial to the team regardless. Hawlucha's STAB coverage helps to check a number of mons that both of the first two tend to struggle with -- Ttar, Tangrowth, most Steel-types, and the previously-mentioned demon Chansey. Koko's Terrain Extender also provides me with more opportunities to get this thing in and get the Unburden boost. As for the set itself, I literally just copy-pasted Smogon's recommended terrain sweeper set. Max Attack Adamant Nature for highest damage output, 124 Speed EVs to outpace Jolly Sand Rush Excadrill, Acrobatics and HJK for strong dual STAB options, etc.
EAST SIDE! (Gastrodon-East) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Earthquake
- Scald
- Toxic
- Recover
At this point in the teambuilding process I was noticing a weak point in my team, namely that it struggled with the two most common mons in the tier according to May's usage stats: Lando and AshGren. This team member is mostly aimed at mitigating the issue of the latter of those two. Max HP and max Special Defense with Sassy Nature provides Gastrodon with the ability to hard wall every standard Greninja variant barring post-transformation AshGren. This investment also allows it to check a number of other special attackers in OU like Tornadus, Alakazam without Energy Ball, Heatran without Z-Solar Beam, and every Electric-type in the tier. The set itself is pretty basic, though. Scald and Recover are borderline requirements on Gastro, with the former being a good STAB option plus the burn chance and the latter being the go-to for recovery. Toxic is there to handicap basically anything that switches in, especially for the very common Tangrowth switch. Earthquake is on the set instead of Earth Power mostly to help against CM Magearna, hitting it for noticeably more damage even when it's boosted. Even if this set isn't specifically designed to take on Lando, it can still serve as a moderate check at times, scaring it out with the threat of Scald or Toxic.
Track 11 (Ferrothorn) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed
- Knock Off
- Power Whip
Soon enough I realized two more things about the status of the team. 1) I needed a rocker, and 2) there are very few rockers that are not also weak to Lando. This was my attempt at finding a middle ground between the two: find a mon that can set up rocks without getting completely demolished by EQ, maybe even being able to force the Lando out if need be. Obviously in order to act on that goal, I made this a physically-defensive Ferro so it can actually take an EQ. Even without full Defense investment, max Attack Jolly Lando doesn't even have a 50% chance of 3HKOing Ferro unless it's a Skystrike variant. This mon can also help out with taking hits from various other physical attackers in the tier, things like Mimikyu, Ttar, Excadrill, and Kartana if it lacks Sacred Sword or hasn't locked into it. Aside from a focus on Defense rather than Special Defense, this is basically the standard OU Ferro set. Rocks are here as the standard entry hazard, Leech Seed is for whittling away at targets and for extra recovery in conjunction with Leftovers, Knock Off is to hopefully cripple things by removing their items (including the pesky Chansey, if they're dumb enough to stay in on this), and Power Whip is just for extra coverage and in case I need to do real damage with this mon. The hazard setter slot is the most subject to change on the whole team, if I'm being honest. In hindsight, I'm realizing that Gliscor or especially Skarmory might be better options if my main issue is Lando. Let me know if you think one of them would fit better on this team; I'm open to suggestions.
Ackbar (Heatran) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Toxic
- Earth Power
- Protect
Once I had the other five mons in place I was noticing a disturbing lack of Fire coverage. Not exactly the best strategy in a meta with so many Steel-types running around, especially something like Scizor that can't be hit super-effectively by anything else. Heatran was my first thought -- only natural for someone playing in OU -- but I came to a temporary stumbling point with that. I already had a rocker so I didn't need it for that, and I already had a Z-move user so I didn't need it for that either. I eventually decided to stick with the Heatran idea, just going for a more "stally" version of it. Think of this as a hybrid between the trapper and specially-defensive sets, with Magma Storm and Toxic for residual damage, but with Protect and Leftovers to gain our own health back instead of a Z Crystal. And Earth Power is an obvious enough coverage move to deal with other Fire-types, mainly other Heatran.