Hi everyone, this is by far the best team I've made in gen 9. I've been a hardstuck 16/1700s player for the majority of the gen and this team has allowed me to consistently stay between 1850-1950 for the last month or so. Given that Roaring Moon is (hopefully) likely to be banned, I thought I'd showcase this team before experimenting with some new stuff :).
My two favorite gen 9 Pokemon are Ursaluna and Sinistcha, and I've always tried to make them work and was able to craft a team where they worked really well together. The general goal of this team is to break sh*t with Ursaluna to open up for either a Sinistcha or specs IVal sweep, and using scarf Moon for some really reliable speed control for an otherwise pretty slow team.
I started off the team with Ursaluna and Alomomola, which work nicely together because Ursaluna naturally gets chipped down from burn/being hazard prone/being slow and Mola can switch in on a lot and wish pass for the bear.
I noticed immediately that this core gets wiped by Ogerpon, so I wanted both an offensive and defensive check to him - I added scarf Roaring Moon and Pecharunt because they can both tank a hit and typically draw out a more defensive mon on the opposing side, which Ursaluna loves.
I needed hazard control and rocks and something that could take on special attackers decently well, so I added a specially defensive utility Iron Treads.
Lastly, I wanted a strong special attacker that could break through any non-special wall, which would give Ursaluna even more switch in opportunities - I settled on Iron Valiant because it also provided the team with a sturdier Kingambit check and priority in Vacuum Wave.
I was running a speedier Pecharunt and it was flopping hard because it would get 2HKOd by Ogerpon if either of its Ivy Cudgels crit or it tera'd, and the team was pretty weak to Great Tusk, so I swapped it out for Sinistcha.
After peaking at 1985 a few weeks back and then tilting back down into the 1700s, I decided I wanted to swap out Roaring Moon for a different form of speed control/general check to setup sweepers. I tried a bunch of heinous stuff including scarf 0 speed Deo-S (yes it's bad), Scarf Rai, Kingambit, and Meow and none of them were able to perform as well as trusty Moon, so I put him back on the team and was able to get into the 2000s.
The Team Explained
Big Bear (Ursaluna) @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 Atk / 116 Def / 140 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Facade
- Headlong Rush
- Fire Punch
- Swords Dance
This thing hits like an absolute truck and 2HKOs the entire OU tier bar Sinistcha (even Neutralizing Gas defensive GWeezing falls to 2 Facades). Facade + Headlong Rush are the two strong stabs that hit almost the entire tier, and Fire Punch is for Corviknight and balloon Ghold. Max attack adamant is to hit harder and 140 speed is to hit 171 to outspeed 0 speed Corviknight. This allows you to Swords Dance on the switch and OHKO with Fire Punch if it's min speed. If it's not min speed and they ID, you still put them into a 50/50 where if they Roost and you Headlong, they die. The rest goes into defense to better take hits from Roaring Moon, since with 116 Def Ursaluna always lives an Adamant +1 Proto Atk Knock Off from Roaring Moon and has really good odds to live Tera Flying Acrobatics. Tera Ghost is to gain a fighting immunity to cheese Body Press Dondozo/Corviknight/Zama and get rid of Ursa's weaknesses to water/grass.
Ursa also acts as a ghost immunity, status absorber, and a general tanky boy that can usually take any one physical hit and threaten back with a KO. Often times getting this thing in early to activate its flame orb is a good idea so that it can revenge pretty much anything that can't kill it in one hit. On this team, Ursaluna acts as the primary answer to Roaring Moon on HO, since that's it's weakest matchup. Since HO players are greedy and always DD, you switch Ursa in on the DD and click Facade to trade 1-1 and also prevent whatever comes in next from setting up.
Obviously this thing is our main tool against stall - note that if you swords dance up to +6 you can beat GWeezing with Tera Ghost using Headlong Rush, which is the only tough matchup against stall. Otherwise it's fire punch corvi, facade x6 (Dondozo takes 2).
Ursa also acts as a ghost immunity, status absorber, and a general tanky boy that can usually take any one physical hit and threaten back with a KO. Often times getting this thing in early to activate its flame orb is a good idea so that it can revenge pretty much anything that can't kill it in one hit. On this team, Ursaluna acts as the primary answer to Roaring Moon on HO, since that's it's weakest matchup. Since HO players are greedy and always DD, you switch Ursa in on the DD and click Facade to trade 1-1 and also prevent whatever comes in next from setting up.
Obviously this thing is our main tool against stall - note that if you swords dance up to +6 you can beat GWeezing with Tera Ghost using Headlong Rush, which is the only tough matchup against stall. Otherwise it's fire punch corvi, facade x6 (Dondozo takes 2).
Monterey (Alomomola) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 8 HP / 248 Def / 252 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Wish
- Healing Wish
- Flip Turn
- Play Rough
Alomomola serves as the main defensive pivot on this team and the team cleric, able to wish pass to the rest of the team to keep them healthy. Max Def/SpDef is to maximize mixed bulk and 0 speed is to speed tie other min-speed Molas. Wish is to keep the team healthy, Flip Turn is for pivoting, and Play Rough helps Mola hit Moon/Dnite/Val fairly hard, tera fairy is just because it's a generally good defensive typing and it allows play rough to OHKO offensive Roaring Moon. Healing Wish is the only part of this set that's a little unorthodox. I decided to forgo Protect since generally Mola comes in, Wishes, and then switches/flip turns out - instead of trying to maximize Mola's longevity on this team, it's really more about maximizing her ability to get Ursaluna + Iron Valiant in as many times as possible. Since both of them are hazard prone + get worn down easily, having Healing Wish is nice to bring one of them back from the grave.
Often times, I'll lead Mola and flip turn directly into Ursaluna to get it activated, and then use Mola pretty exclusively as a flip turn bot for the rest of the game, sponging hits and getting it's teammates in safely.
Often times, I'll lead Mola and flip turn directly into Ursaluna to get it activated, and then use Mola pretty exclusively as a flip turn bot for the rest of the game, sponging hits and getting it's teammates in safely.
Death Valley (Roaring Moon) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- U-turn
- Earthquake
For the longest time, I hated this mon (and I still kind of do), but it really is the glue of this team. It makes the sun matchup playable since Moon gets the attack boost and outspeeds Walking Wake, which would otherwise be a huge threat to this team. It also is an extremely good revenge killer against all of the proto Speed boosters like IVal and Iron Moth. Because we're scarf, we also outspeed both of them with webs up if they're SpA boosting, which makes that matchup much better.
I opted for Earthquake over the standard Outrage on scarf moon because I wanted to be able to OHKO Iron Moth without effectively sacking my dragon to whatever Fairy type is lurking in the back. Tera Steel is to OHKO IVal with Iron Head as well as flip weaknesses to Dragon, Fairy, and Ice.
Don't sack Roaring Moon early since without him the team is fairly slow - mons like Dragapult and Darkrai become pretty unmanageable if Moon goes down too early.
I opted for Earthquake over the standard Outrage on scarf moon because I wanted to be able to OHKO Iron Moth without effectively sacking my dragon to whatever Fairy type is lurking in the back. Tera Steel is to OHKO IVal with Iron Head as well as flip weaknesses to Dragon, Fairy, and Ice.
Don't sack Roaring Moon early since without him the team is fairly slow - mons like Dragapult and Darkrai become pretty unmanageable if Moon goes down too early.
Japantown (Sinistcha) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Heatproof
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 248 HP / 164 Def / 96 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Strength Sap
- Matcha Gotcha
- Shadow Ball
I've always loved this mon and how it can just sit on the plethora of physical attackers in the tier and slowly whittle away at their will to continue playing. Sinistcha acts as our primary answer to Ogerpon-W, Great Tusk, and Zamazenta. This set is 100% standard, with 96 speed to hit 200 to outspeed Adamant Kingambit.
Because many teams will use their ground type to check Ursaluna, they often get worn down early which makes Sinistcha with tera Poison a really solid win condition - it also allows Sinistcha to wall Iron Moth and non-Psynoise Slowking-G pretty effectively since you can boost up before Future Sight hits.
HDB is necessary so that Sinistcha lives 2 Knock Offs from Ogerpon (since it would kill after rocks), but note that +2 Knock Off does KO Sinistcha - SD Knock Ogerpon is generally a big threat to this team, but the teacup can handle pretty much any other set.
Because many teams will use their ground type to check Ursaluna, they often get worn down early which makes Sinistcha with tera Poison a really solid win condition - it also allows Sinistcha to wall Iron Moth and non-Psynoise Slowking-G pretty effectively since you can boost up before Future Sight hits.
HDB is necessary so that Sinistcha lives 2 Knock Offs from Ogerpon (since it would kill after rocks), but note that +2 Knock Off does KO Sinistcha - SD Knock Ogerpon is generally a big threat to this team, but the teacup can handle pretty much any other set.
Mojave (Iron Treads) @ Leftovers
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 248 HP / 28 Atk / 220 SpD / 12 Spe
Careful Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
This Iron Treads is a pure utility set and acts as the team's fairy resist. SR/Rapid Spin provides some much needed role compression for the team. Knock Off is there to remove items and hit Balloon Gholdengo on the switch so that EQ kills the following turn.
The 12 speed is to outspeed Modest Raging Bolt and the 28 Attack is to 2HKO Bold Ghold with EQ. The rest is just poured into bulk. Tera Water just because it's a good defensive typing and allows us to surprise some stuff that otherwise threatens the team such as Primarina.
The 12 speed is to outspeed Modest Raging Bolt and the 28 Attack is to 2HKO Bold Ghold with EQ. The rest is just poured into bulk. Tera Water just because it's a good defensive typing and allows us to surprise some stuff that otherwise threatens the team such as Primarina.
Silicon Valley (Iron Valiant) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 48 HP / 252 SpA / 208 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Vacuum Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Trick
Specs Iron Valiant hits like an absolute truck. With so many teams running Gholdengo/Pecharunt as their only Fairy resist, specs Moonblast is really good in the meta right now and sometimes with even one mon removed Iron Valiant can clean house. Thunderbolt is to hit common Moonblast resists in Corviknight/Moltres/Pecharunt (Thunderbolt into Tera Electric Tbolt kills Max HP Pecharunt always, otherwise its a roll to 2HKO after rocks). I tried running shadow ball with tera ghost but it really only hit Slowking-G and Gholdengo. AV Slowking isn't 2HKOd by Shadow Ball and Thunderbolt still does solid damage to Gholdengo and will 2HKO offensive variants.
W/r/t Slowking-G, a lot of times if the opponent has one it's complete fodder for Ursaluna - going Val and then double switching to Ursa on the Slowking-G usually leads to a free kill, so it's not the biggest deal that it's walled by it.
Vacuum Wave helps us against Kingambit and Darkrai, gives the team priority, and can also sometimes allow you to get the jump on a weakened Scizor that wants to BP you.
Trick last helps immensely in the screens and stall matchups, as you can either trick a mon into a setup move or neutralize one of stall's defensive mons. You could likely run Shadow Ball in this slot, but I find that being able to get rid of being choice-locked can sometimes also be beneficial against teams that don't have a solid resist to Fairy/Electric coverage.
Tera Electric is to guarantee the 2HKO on Pecharunt/Gholdengo with Tbolt as well as OHKO Araquanid in the webs matchup - a lot of times against Araq webs the play is just to tera turn 1 to prevent webs from going up - it generally makes the rest of the match a wash.
W/r/t Slowking-G, a lot of times if the opponent has one it's complete fodder for Ursaluna - going Val and then double switching to Ursa on the Slowking-G usually leads to a free kill, so it's not the biggest deal that it's walled by it.
Vacuum Wave helps us against Kingambit and Darkrai, gives the team priority, and can also sometimes allow you to get the jump on a weakened Scizor that wants to BP you.
Trick last helps immensely in the screens and stall matchups, as you can either trick a mon into a setup move or neutralize one of stall's defensive mons. You could likely run Shadow Ball in this slot, but I find that being able to get rid of being choice-locked can sometimes also be beneficial against teams that don't have a solid resist to Fairy/Electric coverage.
Tera Electric is to guarantee the 2HKO on Pecharunt/Gholdengo with Tbolt as well as OHKO Araquanid in the webs matchup - a lot of times against Araq webs the play is just to tera turn 1 to prevent webs from going up - it generally makes the rest of the match a wash.
Threatlist
This team feels capable of winning any matchup, but there are obviously some that are harder than others. More broadly speaking, spikes stack with a solid ghost that isn't threatened by Iron Treads (Sinistcha/Tera Ghost Pecharunt) is pretty tough for the team to handle since only Sinistcha has boots.
Fast AV is the worst of the Primarina variants, but the whole team is hit super effectively by either Surf/Moonblast minus Sinistcha, which gets 2HKOd by Moonblast - if the Primarina is faster, Psychic Noise stops Matcha Gotcha so Sinistcha doesn't have a good way to hit it. Often times requires teraing Ursaluna/Moon/Iron Treads, which allows them to all take a hit.
This team lacks a freeze-dry resist so Kyurem is obviously an issue. Specs Kyurem is definitely the worst matchup, but sub-tect is also pretty annoying. Iron Valiant/Steel Moon can always come in and revenge and it's prone to being worn down, but if it's paired with a defogger it's generally a pretty touch matchup.
Despite my best efforts, Ogerpon remains a problem for this team - pre-tera it shuts down Alomomola from pivoting so it requires a good amount of double switching to position well against it. SD Knock Off is the scariest set since it bops Sinistcha which can wall every set, but can still get worn down by U-turn. U-turn paired with Ghold/Hatterene can be annoying since it can deny Strength Saps, but both of those get 2HKOd by Shadow Ball, so it's not too bad if you predict them.
Annoying for the same reasons as Ogerpon in denying Mola but harder for the team to kill since it outspeeds and 1shots Ursaluna and the rest of the team can't kill it - generally can be dealt with with tera on IVal but pretty much guarantees to trade positively into the team.
Glimmora is weirdly annoying just in that the team is really prone to TSpikes and we don't have a solid way to kill it without hitting it physically, since IVal gets smoked by sludge wave and Sinistcha only 3HKOs. Generally just EQing with Treads and accepting that tspikes go up/trying to rapid spin later isn't a bad option.
Replays
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2321119551-cg4arvo3fcbww7niduvrwj4gb51v83vpw (vs. Enamorus/Rotom-Wash BO)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2322792743-ejy0tgsyoptejpesik2gxqona6kj1rhpw (the power of using Val to get Ursaluna in on something that walls it)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2322793991-tj77klpv0nap5k8kexm0asq6bhhq219pw (Ogerpon/Magnezone offense, Sinistcha sits on a Dnite forever)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2322809874-fmwx69acdc56v8a96tkxyiu39taib47pw (Saved by Vacuum Wave vs. Kyurem/Moon offense)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2323593458-33l3xl29572kfpsy0xebho252depsoqpw (vs. Garc/Zama hazard stack)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2323636966-r2inpxqqy73x7daj967jajxak7si33qpw (vs. Comfey sun)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2324332328-xbs1w6kt6wxwkvhok7ah5entsbuahn7pw (vs. Dragapult/Moon hazard stack)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2324338310-1nh4m706thfkv5jht8c6wwi3hll0kuqpw (vs. Corviknight + sub-tect Kyurem)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2332213179 (vs. Blaziken screens - trick comes in big handy)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2332349537?p2 (vs. psy terrain)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2332364609 (vs. Ribombee webs)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2332326080 (vs. Sinistcha/Ting Lu hazard stack)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2331500278 (vs. Hydrapple stall)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2332483051-4mc1e2xrp3go7o0p1xxuv578jtk2qh2pw (peak game vs. rain)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2322792743-ejy0tgsyoptejpesik2gxqona6kj1rhpw (the power of using Val to get Ursaluna in on something that walls it)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2322793991-tj77klpv0nap5k8kexm0asq6bhhq219pw (Ogerpon/Magnezone offense, Sinistcha sits on a Dnite forever)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2322809874-fmwx69acdc56v8a96tkxyiu39taib47pw (Saved by Vacuum Wave vs. Kyurem/Moon offense)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2323593458-33l3xl29572kfpsy0xebho252depsoqpw (vs. Garc/Zama hazard stack)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2323636966-r2inpxqqy73x7daj967jajxak7si33qpw (vs. Comfey sun)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2324332328-xbs1w6kt6wxwkvhok7ah5entsbuahn7pw (vs. Dragapult/Moon hazard stack)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2324338310-1nh4m706thfkv5jht8c6wwi3hll0kuqpw (vs. Corviknight + sub-tect Kyurem)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2332213179 (vs. Blaziken screens - trick comes in big handy)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2332349537?p2 (vs. psy terrain)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2332364609 (vs. Ribombee webs)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2332326080 (vs. Sinistcha/Ting Lu hazard stack)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2331500278 (vs. Hydrapple stall)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2332483051-4mc1e2xrp3go7o0p1xxuv578jtk2qh2pw (peak game vs. rain)
Anyway thanks for reading! I think that in the absense of Roaring Moon Scarf Darkrai or Balloon Kingambit are probably the two best fillers since they do a decent job checking HO, but the combination of pivoting/Knock Off/Ogerpon + booster mons check is a tough slot to fill. I had a ton of fun playing this team and hopefully get to lay it to rest shortly :).
