Unleash the Power of the Sun, AGAIN! (nUU RMT)

MapleSandwich

MapleSandwich

Once again, I'm taking a stab at running a Sunny Day team. This time around, I've taken the advice from my previous OU RMT and used a lot more Pokémon capable of benefitting from the sun's effects. My Sun Warriors are capable of hitting many things a lot harder in nUU than they were in OU...the most notable absences being Heatran, Blissey, and Jirachi.

Without further ado, please, rate my team! Changes are in red.

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Cotoon (Jumpluff) (M) @ Heat Rock
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 HP/4 Def/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Sleep Powder
- Sunny Day
- U-Turn
- Encore
My Sunny Day setup Pokémon. He can generally beat any other lead, encoring Ambipom's Fake Out, Sleeping Obamasnow and switching to someone else after laying down sun, and ignoring most other leads besides Froslass, in which case I switch to Porygon2. He usually doesn't last very long, tragically, being quite frail. He can set up Sunny Day multiple times on an unprepared opponent and cripple sneaky substitute users with Encore. U-Turn allows me a free switch once the setup is done, much more useful than Worry Seed.
Ice attacks are redirected to Porygon2/Lanturn/Typhlosion
Rock attacks are redirected to Porygon2/Tangrowth
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Froth Tops (Exeggutor) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 40 Def/216 Spd/252 SAtk
Rash nature (+SAtk, -SpDef)
- Solarbeam
- Explosion
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Psychic
The shining sun of my other team returns for round two. This time around, I've found a much more reliable Pokémon to set up Sunny Day, freeing up a move slot for Psychic, which is actually usable in nUU. Hidden Power is Ground, also, to beat out many Fire Types which may otherwise prove too tough. Otherwise, the combination of Max SpAtk with Life Orb coming off of an attack with 180 power after STAB will rip through everything barring Chansey (who can be 3HKO'd, not that it usually happens.)
Fire attacks are redirected to Lanturn/Typhlosion
Bug attacks are redirected to Porygon2 (since Scyther is the only bug attacker I've seen)
Flying attacks are redirected to Lanturn
Other attack types are generally beaten in Sun.
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Vitreous (Porygon2) @ Leftovers
Ability: Trace
EVs: 252 HP/56 Def/200 SDef
Calm nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Ice Beam
- Discharge
- Recover
- Sunny Day
Porygon2 is my seconary Sun setup, and is extremely resilient on both the physical side and the special side, eating up special attacks left and right. Recover is to help him shrug off otherwise punishing attackers such as Jynx and Ninetails. The D'charge/Beam combo is a classic setup for this Pokémon, but I'm not sure if there isn't a better setup for him in nUU.
Fighting attacks are redirected to Tangrowth
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SpaGHETTI! (Tangrowth) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 200 Atk/228 Spd/80 SAtk
Naughty nature (+Atk, -SDef)
- Power Whip
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Swords Dance
Tangrowth is amazing in Sun! Sadly, he wrecks my Gold/Silver theme, but he's too good to pass up on a Sunny Day team like this. He provides some much needed Physical attacking in the form of Power Whip and Earthquake, an attack combination only resisted by Flying and Bug types. Grass types and Bug types have a nasty surprise in the form of HP Fire...especially Abomasnow. Replaced Sleep Powder with Swords Dance and haven't looked back since, Tangrowth can actually sweep through a lot more now!
Fire attacks are redirected to Lanturn/Typhlosion
Ice attacks are redirected to Lanturn/Porygon2
Flying and Bug attacks are generally ignored

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Veruka (Typhlosion) (F) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Eruption
- Fire Blast
- Solarbeam
- Focus Blast
Another returning soldier from my OU team, Scarfruption Typhlosion literally outspeeds anything and everything that isn't scarfed in nUU. SR is far less common, allowing Eruption to be used more liberally. Fire Blast is still a destructive force rivaling Solarbeam, Solarbeam KOs water-types, and Focus Blast still whales on Rock types.
Ground attacks are redirected to Exeggutor/Tangrowth/Jumpluff
Water attacks are redirected to basically anything, especially in sun
Rock attacks are redirected to Tangrowth/Porygon2
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Lanturn (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 40 HP/80 Spd/136 SAtk/252 SDef
Calm nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Surf
- Confuse Ray
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
The most critical member of my team is also the most out-of-place. A water type on a Sunny Day team is literally a fish out of water. But without a Pokémon to take all the Fire and Ice attacks that inevitably come out in nUU, my team would be sunk. Lanturn's massive HP and SpDef allow him to be perfect for the job. He can come in on any Electric attack as well, most notably Thunder Wave, and Confuse Ray the enem back. The three attacks can hit anything effectively except for Steels, who generally don't like staying in on Lanturn anyway.
Ground attacks are redirected to Exeggutor/Tangrowth/Jumpluff
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So, there is my team. Tell me what you think! And thanks for the improvements!
 
First things first, its hard enough trying to win a game of UU with a sunny day team and you're trying to do it with a G/S/C theme, that's automatic fail in my books.

Now that we got that out of the way, you won't be encoring any fake-outs from Ambipom, since Ambipom is faster than Jumpluff and carries taunt, which by the way ruins your Jumpluff. Jumpluff is also ruined by the common Crobat lead which also outspeeds Jumpluff and usually carries taunt.

Your team is also very weak against Blaziken, especially the mixed versions, unless you have sun up and can outspeed it or use your scarfedphlosion it will wreck your team. Also Staraptor pretty much tears through this team like no tomorrow since you have no normal/flying resist and your only physical wall is weak to flying/bug.

I would suggest taking out Jumpluff and going for Crobat as a lead instead. He can still get some weather going, but he's faster and he can actually do something offensively. I would also try to get a physical/Normal resist that can also start weather so I was think maybe Solrock over Porygon. Solrock can also explode so he get you sweeping right off the bat.
 
Jumpluff needs U Turn over Worry Seed, as changing natures is incredibly situational at best. U Turn acts as a mini explosion, allowing you to switch without wasting many Sun turns.

Exeggutor wants a Life Orb as it is running an all out offensive set. Sleep Powder is an okay option to disable a counter, but due to Jumpluff's presence, something will usually be asleep. I would put Explosion in that spot to open up for Tangrowth a little bit, but Leaf Storm could work because of the sheer power.

Pory2 seems fine.

Tangrowth is going to win you a lot of games if Exeggutor runs Explosion to open up Tangrowth's sweep. Just run Swords Dance and you have a bulky, fast, hard hitting sweeper. Run SD over Sleep Powder (it's a great status to have, but you only need one sleeper).

HP Electric will be pitiful on Typhlosion. 70 base power unSTAB'ed is not a good move to run. Solarbeam has great power and can get rid of pesky waters that want to sponge Eruptions. It also loses the set up turn in sun (but I know you knew that). Use that over HP Electric.

Lanturn needs tweaking. Thunderbolt is better than Discharge as no member of your team benefits from paralysis. It pairs nicely with Ice Beam, meaning Surf can be dropped. It is made weaker in Sun, and adds little coverage. There is little in the movepool, but Toxic can break a tough wall, or Attact can annoy. I would say Toxic is best.

Also, to address demon238, it really doesn't matter what his team is weak to. Blaziken will eat him for breakfast, but the whole point of a sun team is to overpower stuff before the opponet can move. If he sees Blaziken, and the sun is up (if its not you're dead), switch in something that can live (Typhlosion into Fire attacks, or Exeggutor into Fighting), then KO with Focus Blast or HP Ground. The point of a sun team to overwhelm, not wall.

-friar04-
 
Thank you for saving me the time I would need to rebuff demon238's statement, friar. Now, as to what changes I have made based on your suggestions:

1. I will consider changing Jumpluff for Crobat, but if I do that, I will need to reinstate Sleep Powder on Exeggutor. I'll make the change if I find leads scrubbing over Jumpluff too much. Speaking of Jumpluff, experience has made me finally decide U-Turn over Worry Seed is a worthy investment, since I haven't manage to use that move once yet effectively.

2. I didn't consider Explosion on Exeggutor before, but I think I'll try it. In that case, I'll change Modest to Rash.

3. Tangrowth improvement is done and done.

4. I actually already implemented Solarbeam on Typhlosion over HP Elec before I read this, but thanks for the suggestion anyways.

5. Lanturn, I'll put TBolt in, but I don't think I want to drop Surf. If I get stuck against a stubborn fire type like Moltres late game, Surf really can save me. I know it's weakened in Sunny Day, but it still works for me. On the other hand, what about dropping Confuse Ray for Toxic?


Thanks to you both for your suggestions and improvements!
 
I have 2 minor suggestions:

First, change Download to Trace on Porygon-2. Trace is far superior on a defensive pokemon and makes P2 a great Staraptor counter, which is great since scarf staraptor gives your team a problem if the sun isn't up.

Lanturn, I'll put TBolt in, but I don't think I want to drop Surf. If I get stuck against a stubborn fire type like Moltres late game, Surf really can save me. I know it's weakened in Sunny Day, but it still works for me. On the other hand, what about dropping Confuse Ray for Toxic?
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T-bolt still KOs Moltres ;). Second surf is rather redundant, as friar stated before. T-wave would probably be the best replacement, since both Exeggutor and Tangrowth are quite slow, and will have trouble sweeping without paralysis suport. Also parafusion can really annoy your opponents.

Edit: @friar04- I meant out of the sun, since momento on jumpluff (which I second) means he has only one reliable sunny-day set-up.
 
Lanturn really doesn't have a great movepool does it?

Neither option is amazing really, as your team is hyper-offensive so breaking walls shouldn't be a big problem. Confusion is a waste of a moveslot on most pokes, but Lanturn will cause switches on BoltBeam attackers so I guess it will work reasonably. The other benefit of confusion is that it could lend a free switch, which your team appreciates, so I think Confuse Ray beats Toxic if it is battling for one moveslot.

And yes, Trace on Pory2, thanks for catching that Dragonite24
However, Exeggutor and Tangrowth have Chlorophyll, making them incredibly fast, so paralysis isn't necessary.

-friar04-
 
I'll take a stab at this again.

One thing you might want to consider for Jumpluff is Memento... yeah lol. Memento is actually a great way to get a free switch in in order to get your Typhlosion or Exeggutor into the battle to attempt a sweep. Or, instead of Jumpluff, I would reccommend Crobat, with Sunny Day, U-turn, Taunt, Roost. One of the things I found that was extremely important for Sunny Day teams is to stop Stealth Rock from entering the field, because Eruption is such a dangerous move if you are at full health. Crobat does this well with Taunt, and can Roost to come back in later.

I would suggest to try replacing Lanturn with Milotic. Milotic is bulkier and can take Fire attacks better than Lanturn, and also has Hypnosis for (pretty) solid sleep support. It also allows you to invest more physical defense into P2 to take on Strapator, which this team might have issues with. If you plan on staying with Lanturn, you should explore the possiliby of using Waterfall. While it doesn't have impressive damage output, it does break Raikou's Substitutes with some investment, which is something your Lanturn can wall, but not beat at this point. Waterfall/ Toxic/ Spark/ Protect is a decent idea for a set if you want to try it out. You should invest enough attack to stop Raikou's Substitutes, and place the rest in Special Defense, then HP. Protect has a triple function on this set, it stalls for Toxic damage, gets Leftovers, and allows you to get those predicted EQ users even easier. Also, Crobat can take those fighting/ ground attacks directed at Lanturn to set up Sunny Day again.
 
After reading maddog's comments, I felt the need to post.

I do not support Memento on Jumpluff. That leaves you with only one weather changer right off the bat, and while your battles should be over quickly, you will often have to put up weather again, and Jumpluff being dead hurts you in that way. That means you would have to make one grass sweeper a weather changer, and Exeggutor/Tangrowth already compliments each other well so that would be a detriment to the team.

Therefore, I second maddog on the idea of the Crobat lead. It has some resists/immunes that can be abused to get him back into play to help the team. I think his moveset is a winner as well, although its a shame we can't fit in Heat Wave. Still think Crobat is the better lead.

-friar04-
 
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