I've always been a fan of sun teams, especially in Gen 9 OU. I decided to try making one with Eruption Typhlosion-Hisui, since it seemed like an extremely powerful breaker. I went through several iterations of this team, but this is the one I ended up with:
https://pokepast.es/d6fceb74a63b5ef1
Ninetales @ Heat Rock
Ability: Drought
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Weather Ball
- Healing Wish
- Encore
- Will-O-Wisp
This is a pretty standard Ninetales set. I decided to go with Ninetales instead of Torkoal because the high speed, Encore, and Will-O-Wisp can help against some scary physical attackers, especially Kingambit. This Ninetales is basically my only Kingambit answer, since almost everything else gets cooked by Sucker Punch after a Swords Dance. If the Kingambit goes Tera Fire, then it's a lot harder to deal with. However, Ninetales's main job is just to set the sun. It can also heal allies with Healing Wish, which Typhlosion especially appreciates.
Walking Wake @ Choice Specs
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 12 HP / 244 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Steam
- Flamethrower
- Draco Meteor
- Knock Off
Walking Wake is an auto include on all sun teams for obvious reasons. Hydro Steam in the sun hits crazy hard, especially with Tera Water. However, there are a lot of common Pokémon that almost completely wall Walking Wake. Ogerpon-Wellspring is Walking Wake's #1 enemy. If I see an Ogerpon on the enemy team, I basically can't click Hydro Steam until it's eliminated. A Draco Meteor is usually enough to OHKO it, but that requires prediction which might go wrong. Other pains include Samurott-Hisui, Tera Water Slowking-Galar, Tera Water Gliscor, and Alomomola. While it can beat Raging Bolt and opposing Walking Wake, it's extremely hard to switch in against them. I decided to go with Knock Off for the fourth move slot. I'm not sure if anything would be better, but I rarely click it anyways. I went with a speed boost + Choice Specs. Getting a special attack boost is really tempting and would probably help break a lot of things, but I like being able to outspeed almost everything in the sun.
Typhlosion-Hisui @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Blaze
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Eruption
- Fire Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
Typhlosion is the star of the team, and it both impressed and disappointed me. It goes without saying that Eruption is insanely powerful and OHKOs basically everything neutral to it under sun and with Tera Fire, and it doesn't even need those for some. However, it has the obvious drawback of being significantly less powerful if you lose any HP whatsoever; even a single spike makes it lose a lot of OHKOs, and the rock weakness is devastating. I initially had a Hatterene on the team to help with this, but I decided to swap it out with a Raging Bolt, which made things even worse for Typhlosion. Heatran is also a big problem due to Flash Fire; an Ogerpon-Wellspring and Heatran on the same team is an extremely difficult matchup since I can't use my two big moves. One upside to Typhlosion is that it can act as a spinblocker in an emergency and OHKOs almost all spinners, but this is pretty risky since health on Typhlosion is extremely valuable. However, if it gets down to 25%, its Fire Blasts become extremely powerful, basically acting as a second Eruption. I considered running Flamethrower for the accuracy, but the power of Fire Blast is hard to give up. Shadow Ball also acts as great Ghost STAB, and Focus Blast can be good coverage, but I rarely ever use it. Also, while it does outspeed most things with Choice Scarf, anything that can boost its speed or use priority is a serious problem for Typhlosion, especially booster speed Iron Valiant. It basically needs to outspeed and kill to work, so it's pretty useless if it gets outsped.
Great Tusk @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Headlong Rush
- Ice Spinner
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
Great Tusk is also basically an auto include on sun teams. Not only does it get boosted from the sun, but it also provides great utility. I do miss running Knock Off, but no other Pokémon on my team can set Stealth Rock. Rapid Spin is also essential since the team is extremely weak to hazards. Headlong Rush and Ice Spinner should go without explanation. I decided to run speedy Great Tusk, and it feels nice to use. Rocky Helmet is great for punishing physical attackers and lets it beat most opposing Great Tusks, but I'm wondering if Heavy Duty Boots would be better, especially since there's not a single Pokémon on this team that's immune to Toxic Spikes.
Rillaboom @ Choice Band
Ability: Grassy Surge
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Grassy Glide
- Wood Hammer
- U-turn
- Knock Off
I initially had Ceruledge, but decided to replace it with Rillaboom for the priority. It's also the only thing on my team that can deal with Dondozo. I don't have much to say about Rillaboom, it's just a nice physical attacker that has great priority and can deal big damage with Wood Hammer. It helps a lot with some threats that the rest of my team hates, like Alomomola, Ogerpon-Wellspring, and Booster Speed Iron Valiant. It really struggles to deal with Zapdos and Moltres though, which switch in on it extremely comfortably. The only idea I've come up with to deal with them is to click Knock Off when they're switching in and try to kill them with hazards. It works sometimes, but it still risks status conditions. The healing from Grassy Terrain is also nice, but one annoying thing is that it sometimes takes Typhlosion out of Blaze range.
Raging Bolt @ Assault Vest
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 20 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Thunderclap
- Thunderbolt
- Dragon Pulse
Raging Bolt is another sun staple. I tried to avoid it, but I really needed another priority user. I decided to go for a more defensive set since I needed something to be able to take hits. I also went with Tera Poison for the Toxic immunity and to be able to absorb Toxic Spikes. If there aren't any Ground types on the opposing team, it goes crazy and can do a ton of damage. If there are Ground types, then it struggles a lot more, especially if there's also a Fairy type. I'm honestly not a huge fan of Raging Bolt since it never feels great to use to me, but I can't think of a better option.
This is probably my favorite sun team I've built, but I haven't had too much success with it - my peak was around 1500. I'm not sure if it's the team's fault or if I'm just a bad player. It's really good against more offensive teams since it can tear them apart, but it really struggles against defensive teams, getting quickly worn down without being able to make a dent. My main game plan is usually to eliminate the Pokémon that wall Walking Wake or Typhlosion so that they can destroy the rest of their team, but I often struggle to do this. I mentioned many of these above, but the biggest threats to this team are Ogerpon-Wellspring, Gliscor, Garganacl, Moltres, Zapdos, Slowking-Galar, Alomomola, Heatran, and Toxapex. It's also very weak to hazards, Fairy types, and opposing Sun teams. I really want to make this team work since I think Typhlosion is a fun Pokémon to use, but I'm not sure if there's anything I can do to make it more consistent. Any feedback would be appreciated.
https://pokepast.es/d6fceb74a63b5ef1
Ninetales @ Heat Rock
Ability: Drought
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Weather Ball
- Healing Wish
- Encore
- Will-O-Wisp
This is a pretty standard Ninetales set. I decided to go with Ninetales instead of Torkoal because the high speed, Encore, and Will-O-Wisp can help against some scary physical attackers, especially Kingambit. This Ninetales is basically my only Kingambit answer, since almost everything else gets cooked by Sucker Punch after a Swords Dance. If the Kingambit goes Tera Fire, then it's a lot harder to deal with. However, Ninetales's main job is just to set the sun. It can also heal allies with Healing Wish, which Typhlosion especially appreciates.
Walking Wake @ Choice Specs
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 12 HP / 244 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Steam
- Flamethrower
- Draco Meteor
- Knock Off
Walking Wake is an auto include on all sun teams for obvious reasons. Hydro Steam in the sun hits crazy hard, especially with Tera Water. However, there are a lot of common Pokémon that almost completely wall Walking Wake. Ogerpon-Wellspring is Walking Wake's #1 enemy. If I see an Ogerpon on the enemy team, I basically can't click Hydro Steam until it's eliminated. A Draco Meteor is usually enough to OHKO it, but that requires prediction which might go wrong. Other pains include Samurott-Hisui, Tera Water Slowking-Galar, Tera Water Gliscor, and Alomomola. While it can beat Raging Bolt and opposing Walking Wake, it's extremely hard to switch in against them. I decided to go with Knock Off for the fourth move slot. I'm not sure if anything would be better, but I rarely click it anyways. I went with a speed boost + Choice Specs. Getting a special attack boost is really tempting and would probably help break a lot of things, but I like being able to outspeed almost everything in the sun.
Typhlosion-Hisui @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Blaze
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Eruption
- Fire Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
Typhlosion is the star of the team, and it both impressed and disappointed me. It goes without saying that Eruption is insanely powerful and OHKOs basically everything neutral to it under sun and with Tera Fire, and it doesn't even need those for some. However, it has the obvious drawback of being significantly less powerful if you lose any HP whatsoever; even a single spike makes it lose a lot of OHKOs, and the rock weakness is devastating. I initially had a Hatterene on the team to help with this, but I decided to swap it out with a Raging Bolt, which made things even worse for Typhlosion. Heatran is also a big problem due to Flash Fire; an Ogerpon-Wellspring and Heatran on the same team is an extremely difficult matchup since I can't use my two big moves. One upside to Typhlosion is that it can act as a spinblocker in an emergency and OHKOs almost all spinners, but this is pretty risky since health on Typhlosion is extremely valuable. However, if it gets down to 25%, its Fire Blasts become extremely powerful, basically acting as a second Eruption. I considered running Flamethrower for the accuracy, but the power of Fire Blast is hard to give up. Shadow Ball also acts as great Ghost STAB, and Focus Blast can be good coverage, but I rarely ever use it. Also, while it does outspeed most things with Choice Scarf, anything that can boost its speed or use priority is a serious problem for Typhlosion, especially booster speed Iron Valiant. It basically needs to outspeed and kill to work, so it's pretty useless if it gets outsped.
Great Tusk @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Headlong Rush
- Ice Spinner
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
Great Tusk is also basically an auto include on sun teams. Not only does it get boosted from the sun, but it also provides great utility. I do miss running Knock Off, but no other Pokémon on my team can set Stealth Rock. Rapid Spin is also essential since the team is extremely weak to hazards. Headlong Rush and Ice Spinner should go without explanation. I decided to run speedy Great Tusk, and it feels nice to use. Rocky Helmet is great for punishing physical attackers and lets it beat most opposing Great Tusks, but I'm wondering if Heavy Duty Boots would be better, especially since there's not a single Pokémon on this team that's immune to Toxic Spikes.
Rillaboom @ Choice Band
Ability: Grassy Surge
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Grassy Glide
- Wood Hammer
- U-turn
- Knock Off
I initially had Ceruledge, but decided to replace it with Rillaboom for the priority. It's also the only thing on my team that can deal with Dondozo. I don't have much to say about Rillaboom, it's just a nice physical attacker that has great priority and can deal big damage with Wood Hammer. It helps a lot with some threats that the rest of my team hates, like Alomomola, Ogerpon-Wellspring, and Booster Speed Iron Valiant. It really struggles to deal with Zapdos and Moltres though, which switch in on it extremely comfortably. The only idea I've come up with to deal with them is to click Knock Off when they're switching in and try to kill them with hazards. It works sometimes, but it still risks status conditions. The healing from Grassy Terrain is also nice, but one annoying thing is that it sometimes takes Typhlosion out of Blaze range.
Raging Bolt @ Assault Vest
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 20 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Thunderclap
- Thunderbolt
- Dragon Pulse
Raging Bolt is another sun staple. I tried to avoid it, but I really needed another priority user. I decided to go for a more defensive set since I needed something to be able to take hits. I also went with Tera Poison for the Toxic immunity and to be able to absorb Toxic Spikes. If there aren't any Ground types on the opposing team, it goes crazy and can do a ton of damage. If there are Ground types, then it struggles a lot more, especially if there's also a Fairy type. I'm honestly not a huge fan of Raging Bolt since it never feels great to use to me, but I can't think of a better option.
This is probably my favorite sun team I've built, but I haven't had too much success with it - my peak was around 1500. I'm not sure if it's the team's fault or if I'm just a bad player. It's really good against more offensive teams since it can tear them apart, but it really struggles against defensive teams, getting quickly worn down without being able to make a dent. My main game plan is usually to eliminate the Pokémon that wall Walking Wake or Typhlosion so that they can destroy the rest of their team, but I often struggle to do this. I mentioned many of these above, but the biggest threats to this team are Ogerpon-Wellspring, Gliscor, Garganacl, Moltres, Zapdos, Slowking-Galar, Alomomola, Heatran, and Toxapex. It's also very weak to hazards, Fairy types, and opposing Sun teams. I really want to make this team work since I think Typhlosion is a fun Pokémon to use, but I'm not sure if there's anything I can do to make it more consistent. Any feedback would be appreciated.