Team of the Rising Sun [OU Sun Team]

[spiderpony]

Introduction​

Ok, so first I would just like to say that I am a big fan of Pokemon and love this community. I think it's really cool that people will come together to help people out in refining their strategies. This is my very first posting here, so please be gentle. I would greatly appreciate any help I can get.​

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The Team​

Ever since I have heard about weather teams, I have been fascinated by them to a large degree. After looking through an article from Smogon about the subject of a sun team, I set out to try and do just that. There were a lot of interesting ones to choose from and after some playing around initially, this is what I came up with. This has served me well for the most part. With an emphasis on speed to try and outmaneuver my opponent, I tried to combine that with strength to give my team a healthy chance at winning. Now, victory is easier said than done. I have encountered a few problems that I am hoping I can get worked out. One of my biggest problems is facing Keldeo and some other legendaries that most people pack (I try to avoid them in my teams as a sense of honor and what not). Skarmory and Ferrothorn are a couple other big concerns of mine as their typing makes it difficult to really hit them hard and fast and remove them from the match quickly. Anyway, let me tell you a bit about my individual Pokemon so you can get a better idea of how I battle and what I work with.​

Kyubii (Ninetales) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Drought
EVs: 252 Satk/252 Spe/4 HP
Timid Nature
- Flamethrower
- Will-O-Wisp
- SolarBeam
- Hidden Power Ice
Ninetails is a must due to its ability. I run a defensively trained one, as it can take a lot of damage as well as give support with its Flamethrower and Roar. W-O-W and SolarBeam are different stories however. Though SolarBeam is convenient to have, it sadly doesn't hit nearly as hard as I'd need it to, and with W-O-W's accuracy, I rarely, if ever, use it. All in all, it's been a realiable asset.

Groomgroom (Venusaur) @ Life Orb
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 72 HP / 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 180 Spd
Modest Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 SAtk / 30 Spd
- Hidden Power Fire
- Giga Drain
- Growth
- Sludge Bomb
Now, Venusaur is another great addition and one of my favorites to run when using this team. With the speed boost from sun and great stats, this thing hits pretty hard, especially with growth. I've never really had a problem with it besides the occasional mis match when my team is running low. I can't really think of anything too negative about it.

Iron Fist (Infernape) @ Choice Sash
Trait: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Fire Punch
- Close Combat
- Mach Punch
This tricky little monkey has a nice moveset, which is what appeals to me most. U-turn to counter psychics and others weak against bug, along with two punching moves and a strong Close Combat to round it all out. In the sun, this guy is a forced to be reckoned with. Out of the sun however, not so much. It isn't fast enough to counter some of it's bigger weaknesses. This along with it being a banded set, falls into some trouble if the wrong move is selected (I'd run life orb, but in my opinion it's not worth the risk most of the time). I wouldn't say it's my biggest problem, but it certainly makes facing certain teams a bit more difficult.

Starship (Cloyster) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Skill Link
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Shell Smash
- Icicle Spear
- Rock Blast
- Ice Shard
Cloyster is responsible for most of the kills I have made when battling. With focus sash, I can Shell Smash/Icicle Spear through most of the foes I encounter, especially those running a sub game. Rock Blast and Razor Shell help fight off those that are more resilient to its icy assault. It's only real problem is a miss smash or fighting against something with protect. It has to be used carefully, but when used right, it is an invaluable asset to the team.

Dumbo (Donphan) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Ice Shard
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
Usually my go to lead, especially when facing another weather team. Stealth Rock is usually the opening move to get my hazards out. Then I can usually whittle down, if not kill, after getting a few Earthquakes or Ice Shards in. It can take a lot of damage, so it makes good use as a wall as well. The only problem I see is it's low speed stat. I've tried a bit with different spinners, but this one seems to work the best

Messenger-boy (Dragonite) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Fire Punch
- ExtremeSpeed
- Dragon Dance
-Dragon Claw
Last but not least, is the ever so reliable Dragonite. This has served me well, sweeping a lot of the more worrisome threats out of the way, as well as taking some damage as well. Dragon Dance helps give it a speed boost at the beginning since Multiscale helps it take a lot of initial damage. Then it's whatever I think I need to throw out to get the job done. Aside from its few weaknesses, it's been great in my team and can't really think of any reason to replace it.

Well that is my team. Feel free to comment on any changes I should consider or any strategies that I should use when playing this team. I hope I can get some constructive help!

Edit: Changed to MCBarret's suggested lineup. It works great with the exception of having trouble with Pokemon who do multiple stat boosters. With the right moving around, it should be able to tackle almost anything. I will also say that Plus' runs just as good, if not a tad better. Espeon and Dugtrio do well together in stopping spinners and setting up for better switch ins. Either one is fine so take your pick.

 

[Plus]

Hi there. One of the biggest things when playing Sun Offense is to keep the entry hazards away, and to ensure that other styles of weather don't get in your way. Sandstorm teams and Rain teams will prove to be very detrimental to your team if you aren't careful -- this is why many successful sun offense teams will have a method of trapping or killing Tyranitar which is a very big threat to sun teams otherwise.

If Skarmory and Ferrothorn are really giving you troubles, then it is because your choiced users are giving them free turns to set up. I don't mind running choiced users on a Sun team, because the amount of punch that they pack is unrivaled. However, instead of spinning, consider running Magic Bounce. It's a neat little tool to reflect entry hazards to your opponent's side of the field, and Espeon is a great pokemon for you to use because it has HP Fire to deal with Ferrothorn and Skarmory off of 130 Sp Atk, and it also has Psychic/Psyshock for you to deal with Keldeo which you mentioned gave you some troubles. It's a pokemon with 110 base speed, so outrunning Keldeo shouldn't be a problem. You can run this over Donphan -- but make sure if you do so, you are alert and not giving your opponent any opportunity to set entry hazards up. Just because you are using Espeon doesn't mean you are immune to entry hazards, so be careful.

When running Espeon over Donphan, you lose rocks, so you may want to consider Dugtrio over Cloyster to trap Tyranitar even though Cloyster has much more sweeping potential. However, by using Dugtrio, you give your other sweepers (such as Venusaur) so many more opportunities to sweep -- they should be your main hitters on a sun team. Speaking of which, you can probably try running HP Fire over Sunny Day on the Venusaur. I find the coverage to be much more important than that of some extra weather -- and it should really be easier for you to take Tyranitar out if you have Dugtrio on your team, so Sunny Day could probably be slashed off for HP instead.

Consider Sash on the Ninetales and HP Ice over Roar. I say this because Dragons like Garchomp would give you a lot of trouble without things like Cloyster to help you clean up. Sash ensures you live even if they have a Swords Dance up and try to outrage you, and you can just pick them off with HP ice. You're faster than Gliscor too, so HP Ice would really help with that as well. Just run max speed and you're set. Ninetales, apart from sun, is often a liability. Sashing it and making sure it can pick off one of Sun's bigger weaknesses is probably best for your team.

In brief, my changes are:

Espeon @ Leftovers
Timid 252 HP 252 Spe 4 Satk
Psychic/HP Fire/Reflect/Baton Pass

Dugtrio @ Focus Sash
Jolly 252 Atk/252 Spe/4 HP
Reversal/EQ/Stone Edge/Stealth Rock

Ninetales@ Focus Sash
Timid 252 Satk/252 Spe/4 HP
Fire Blast/HP Ice/Will O Wisp/Solarbeam

Anyways, nice sun team. Welcome to Smogon and I hope your stay here is enjoyable. I hope I helped =)

 

[MCBarrett]

Hey spiderpony, welcome to Smogon! I also love using sun teams so hopefully I can help make yours even better.

First off, with your Ninetales, I would recommend changing your spread to a Specially Defensive one. With Politoed being one of the biggest threats to Ninetales it is important that you are able to take it's strong special attacks as well as possible. You can use a spread of252 hp/ 252 sp def/ 4 sp att and a Calm Nature. I would also recommend using Sunny Day over Roar on your current moveset. This may seem strange at first but it will allow you to keep the sun up on a Politoed switch in which is crucial to the succes of your team. With the Sun up Keldeo will give your team much less trouble.

Next, with Venusaur, I would recommend switching your item from Black Sludge to a Life Orb. This will allow you to hit much harder, plus you already can restore your HP with Giga Drain so there is not much of a need for Black Sludge anyways. With your current EV spread you should be running Timid Nature over Modest to outspeed opposing Latios and Latias while the sun is up. Lastly, since you now have Sunny Day on your Ninetales, you can change that last moveslot to HP Fire to punish things like Ferrothorn or Skarmory that may otherwise put an end to your sweep.

For Infernape and Cloyster there are only minor changes. I would make Infernape the Standard Choice Scarf set to outspeed more threats to your team and I would get rid of Razor Shell on Cloyster since it is weakened by the sun and replace it with Ice Shard to give you some form of priority.

Finally, I would recommend using Dragon Claw over Outrage on your Dragonite and using Lum Berry over Leftovers. Dragon Claw will keep you from getting locked into a move and Lum berry will keep you from being affected by Thunder Wave or Will-o-Wisp that would otherwise be a big setback for your Dragonite.

Hopefully all of these suggestions helped! Let me know how they work and good luck with the team!

 

[spiderpony]

Hello! Thank you for the nice greeting and the informative tips. I do agree that banded Infernape gives my opponent a free move to try and take a shot at me. Sometimes I work around it, others I don't. It really depends on what I'm facing. I will give these changes a shot and see how they perform after a few battles. I'll be sure to post the results and what my thoughts are about what direction to take the team in.

 

[spiderpony]

Oh and thank you as well MCBarret for the tips as well! I will certainly try that Ninetails set, as Venusaur could certainly give my team a lot more diversity with HP Fire. I was actually thinking of switching to choice scarf for my Infernape already and wondering what to do with Razor Shell as it doesn't seem to do nearly as much as Icicle Spear or Rock Blast would do. I'll be sure to let you know how those changes go as well!

 

[spiderpony]

Ok, so after a bunch of battling, I have come to the conclusion that both teams are pretty great and a major improvement over mine original team. MCBarret's tweaks made dishing out high amounts of damage a much easier possibility. Plus' team allowed for a tad more flexibility with switch outs and setting up my opponent. Both have become great power houses that can take and dish out a lot, with only having a couple of troubles. I'm torn at which one to pick, so I'll make my decision this: I will mainly run MC's team since it is a lot like my original line up (I just can't help but want to run Cloyster. I've fallen in love with the wrecking ball) with me using Plus' every now and then when I need some variety. They are both great teams, so anyone looking for a nice sun team can pick either. I'll edit my original post to match the main lineup but point out Plus' changes as well for any that want to try those out as well. Thanks for your help you guys. I'll look forward to posting around here a lot more after the nice welcome I got yesterday.