Hey guys. This is my first SV RMT and this is less about showing off the team and more about looking for feedback and what could be improved. Before I get into the team I just wanted to explain the thought process behind the team and what i was trying to aim for. I wanted to use this Dragonite set after seeing it put in a tonne of work in some games I was spectating and wanted to see what I could do with it. The first thought that came to mind was this can set up on Rapid Spinners (mainly Great Tusk) as well as beat Body Press users such as Zamazenta, Corvinight and Skarmory so I started there. Gholdengo, Ting-Lu and Dragonite form a core of 3 Pokemon that resist or are immune to every single type so that was my starting point and I went from there.
Dragonite @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Multiscale
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Tera Blast
- Low Kick
- Encore
- Dragon Dance
So as previously mentioned this set can find several set up opportunities vs usual checks that want to head into an Iron Defence Body Press war with it or Great Tusk which wants to Rapid Spin into Ice Spinner and can then Encore. What's good about this set is that it also doesn't trigger contact from Moltres or Zapdos or Rocky Helmet either which allows you to stay healthy and keep Multiscale intact for longer. Now the one drawback of this is that most of the time if you Tera something else you are kind of left with a useless Dragonite as you will see in some of the replays. In reality if i wasn't trying to force this Dragonite set I would probably make it Earthquake + Ice Spinner. This set can do serious damage to teams not expecting it however, two shotting Pecharunt with Tera Blast at +1 and one shotting Kyurem with Low Kick. Low Kick also a great lure for Kingambit with Tera Ghost and if you have your Multiscale broken you can even try catching the Sucker Punch with an Encore leading to a free set up and forcing them to drain their PP or pick one to Dragonite.
Ting-Lu @ Red Card
Ability: Vessel of Ruin
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 236 SpD / 16 Spe
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Earthquake
- Ruination
Now this set I messed around with a lot. Ting-Lu is here for its great defensive utility soft checking a majority of the metagame while also doing a huge amount of damage with Ruination in the early game which can disrupt a lot of teams. Taunt on a slow Ting-Lu seems kind of weird and in all honesty it is, this should probably be faster than at least Skarmory. At the moment it out speeds Araquanid and Hydrapple (lol) which is fine though we aren't really messed up by Sticky Webs that much on this team. Red Card here as a good one counter measure to early game booster threats trying to cause damage and also works well when combined with Ruination to force a lot of damage early on in the game. I never ended up clicking Tera with Ting-Lu once so I just made it Tera Poison in the scenario I get owned by an Enamourus or Tera Fairy Gholdengo. But yeah in hindsight this Ting-Lu would be much better served with Speed investment for something like Corvinight to deny Roost or 0 Speed investment Skamory (Which is rare since most are running 200 Speed for Gambit now anyways).
Gholdengo @ Air Balloon
Ability: Good as Gold
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Shadow Ball
- Make It Rain
- Recover
Gholdengo here rounds out the core, wielding an Air Balloon to avoid taking Spikes Damage the first couple of times it comes in and to become immune to Ground which is pretty nice to allow Dragonite to not have to come in and risk breaking its Multiscale. Gholdengo synergies well with Zamazenta and Iron Valiant, with the latter 2 forcing in Fairy Types such as Clefable for Gholdengo to exploit while also being able to check opposing Valiant from full. Usually with this team, I like to play aggressive with the Gholdengo once I have landed a Ruination or an Earthquake on the Great Tusk, since from there the Tusk will die to a +1 Tera Blast from Dragonite. Once the Gholdengo dies to Tusk, Dragonite can come in and click Tera + Dragon Dance and either remove it or Encore depending on the situation. Potential change here would be making the Gholdengo more bulky, since it's the only real Fairy resist which is super suspicious. I dont really find many situations that really require Nasty Plot either so maybe that could become Thunder Wave(?). Correct Pokemon to use in this slot just not 100 percent on the set or spread.
Iron Valiant @ Booster Energy
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Thunderbolt
- Vacuum Wave
I decided to go with an Iron Valiant here as my 4th Member. The first time it comes in it can out speed practically everything and is a great tool to force progress. I landed on a Calm Mind Thunderbolt set here to break through Moltres and Corviknight or land very heavy damage on them which can allow the 3 Physical breakers we have do their job a lot easier. Vacuum Wave is a great tool to pick off low HP targets especially once boosted and gives you some bail potential if the booster has been consumed, being able to pick off a boosted Kingambit in the end game or a Weavile and even in some very niche scenarios gimp a Raging Bolt clicking Thunder Clap can be the difference between winning or losing. Running Thunderbolt on this also allowed me to drop Stone Edge on Zamazenta which allowed me to use very cool Ice Fang set, however if you were to use Stone Edge on Zamazenta here you would probably use Calm Mind + Shadow Ball and Tera Ghost or even a Mixed attacker set with Knock Off. I did also consider running Sword Dance + Liquidation here which can also do the same thing as Thunderbolt + beats Slowking Galar, the downside being you now take contact and you lose priority.
Zamazenta @ Clear Amulet
Ability: Dauntless Shield
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Howl
- Close Combat
- Crunch
- Ice Fang
I dont know if this Zamazenta set is turbo matchup fish or insane heat but shoutout to Patatex for showing me this. Clear Amulet stops your stats from being dropped by the opponent including Sticky Webs which I did not know about until I used this set. And then obviously you have the other stuff like Landorus Intimidate, Sinistcha Strength Sap and Pecharunt Parting Shot. I decided on this set over something like Boots because smashing into a Landorus with Close Combat and taking Rocky Helmet or Stone Edging it for very little damage just wasn't cutting in and having to exhaust your Red Card on a Landorus U-Turn early on is pretty bad so I went with this. Leading off and just Ice Fanging a Landorus or Gliscor is great and enables Dragonite late game. This Zamazenta set isn't overly reliant on Tera too and allows you to more freely use it on Dragonite. Howl is a really funny move to use last but it can allow Zama to clean up a lot in the end game. Ogerpon for example is one which knows you are Close Combat and is reliant on you clicking Close Combat to nail you with Ivy Cudgel but you can Howl and then clean one shot it without giving it the chance to kill you while your defence is lowered. This set can also push through a Corviknight if your Dragonite is removed and can allow Kingambit to clean up too. Zama also serves the defensive purpose of checking oppossing Gambit as well as checking Darkrai though needs to be weary of coming in hard on it without knowing the set (Wisp). Like I previously mentioned, this set could easily be Stone Edge + Boots if you reworked the Valiant and Dragonite set or even just Iron Press.
Kingambit @ Lum Berry
Ability: Supreme Overlord
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Kowtow Cleave
- Iron Head
Last Mon is Kingambit which feels like a perfect fit on this 6. Great at closing out games once the opposing team have used there resources such as Tera or their Physical checks such as Skarmory, Corviknight and Great Tusk to check the rest of the team. I gave Gambit a Lum Berry here since switching into Moltres is a pain so being able to just stay and hit it without fearing for the burn is good. It also helps with Boots Dragpult which only one member being Booster Valiant out speeds (+1 Adamant Dragonite doesn't outspeed Pult) so having this late in the game to remove it without cripping yourself is really strong. Tera Flying here since both of our Ground immunes are kind of fake especially when half the time we are going to Tera the Dragonite anyways, not that Ground Types are huge problem but having it as insurance is nice and to be honest, I didn't really know what else to make the Gambits Tera. I nearly went with Low Kick here over Iron Head but opted against it due to already having 3 fighting moves on this team.
If you made it this far thank you for reading, please let me know if you have any changes to suggest. I do think this 6 is very strong but obviously the sets are admittedly a little bit wonky due to trying to force the Dragonite Set. I'm going to drop some replays at the bottom for you guys to watch just so you can see how the team plays out. Thanks all!
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2333792472-lpgpf93e1a0of1slaqqld39o4jcnnrxpw?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2333152364-rcyqepkh0najuigcw9tdgrsbo6q6ds6pw?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2333924687-wwwxu7dggpqojrgynd6nfv8oen17w9spw?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2333783051-ka5jhriicl8pjm1onxso4ai5hp8x46spw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2333929505-9xmx13xr50a2wb0pa37rv4kvx6igc7upw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2333152364-rcyqepkh0najuigcw9tdgrsbo6q6ds6pw?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2333924687-wwwxu7dggpqojrgynd6nfv8oen17w9spw?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2333783051-ka5jhriicl8pjm1onxso4ai5hp8x46spw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2333929505-9xmx13xr50a2wb0pa37rv4kvx6igc7upw
