SV OU Vert Sun

[RMT Staff]

Introduction

There are many teams used during OLT that get copied and iterated on because of their success. This team by Vert has been spammed quite a bit during the latter stages of OLT Cycle 2 and the beginning of OLT Cycle 3, and for good reason. At a glance, this might look like a basic sun + Protosynthesis team, but it is far from it. Brute Bonnet used to be a rare finding on Sun teams but now is commonly seen due to the increase in stall usage, and it is a surprisingly solid stallbreaker. Iron Moth is also more of an innovative pick but is a must for this team due to how threatening Iron Valiant can be. There are four Pokemon on the team that make great use of the sun: Walking Wake hits like a truck in sun with its Special Attack boosted, Great Tusk gets its Speed boosted to provide extra utility, Brute Bonnet provides a ton of power with Loaded Dice Bullet Seed, and Iron Moth gets its already-strong Fire-type moves powered up. Finally, Kingambit is the team's dedicated late-game sweeper.

In-Depth


Torkoal @ Heat Rock
Ability: Drought
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 Spe
Calm Nature
- Flamethrower
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Yawn

The focus on Special Defense, while unorthodox on Torkoal, enables it to be more easily come in on weak Special Attacks. Flamethrower is picked over Lava Plume for more damage versus fishing for a burn; it provides a much higher chance to 2HKO Great Tusk. Flamethrower also gives an opportunity to OHKO uninvested Gholdengo. Torkoal running Stealth Rock gives Great Tusk more flexibility, while Rapid Spin takes some of the pressure off of Great Tusk to always keep entry hazards off. Yawn helps force out Pokemon that may use Torkoal as setup fodder, potentially giving one of the team's wallbreakers a free switch.


Walking Wake @ Choice Specs
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Steam
- Draco Meteor
- Flamethrower
- Dragon Pulse

Walking Wake is a special attacking nightmare in the sun, 2HKOing common specially bulky Pokemon like Galarian Slowking and Assault Vest Hisuian Samurott. This power can force the opponent to make a committing move, either sacking a Pokemon or forcing a Terastallization. Hydro Steam is Walking Wake's strongest move in the sun and is usually the move to spam unless there is a foe immune to Water. Flamethrower is the coverage move of choice, as it gets a boost under the sun and is a pretty good neutral move to have especially against Tera Fairy Volcanion which hard walls Walking Wake otherwise. Tera Fairy is used here for opposing Dragon-types like Baxcalibur, Walking Wake, and Dragapult. Tera Fairy can also be quite handy for Kingambit looking to revenge kill it with Sucker Punch.


Kingambit @ Leftovers
Ability: Supreme Overlord
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Kowtow Cleave
- Tera Blast
- Sucker Punch
- Swords Dance

This is more or less a standard Kingambit, with maximum Speed EVs to give it the best chance against opposing Kingambit without sacrificing any power. Kingambit is usually the best choice to Terasatllize given its late-game potential, as Tera Fairy + Tera Blast allows its to beat common answers like Great Tusk and Zamazenta. Kingambit is usually best kept healthy for the late-game, so limit early switch-ins to keep its HP high. If needed, Kingambit does provide some defensive ability naturally in checking Gholdengo and Dragapult.


Brute Bonnet @ Loaded Dice
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 40 HP / 252 Atk / 216 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Seed
- Spore
- Sucker Punch
- Crunch

A very underrated member of this team is Brute Bonnet. It has a great matchup into Great Tusk, which can be difficult to switch into. Spore threatens most foes, and some that could switch in like Garganacl and Gholdengo do not want to eat a Bullet Seed or Crunch, respectively. Sucker Punch makes up for Brute Bonnet's poor Speed, and the value of such a strong priority move cannot be understated. Tera Grass is used here to power up Bullet Seed but also to remove Brute Bonnet's weaknesses to Fairy and Fighting, which is particularly helpful against Pokemon like Enamorus and offensive or Body Press Great Tusk.


Great Tusk @ Leftovers
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 248 HP / 4 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Head Smash
- Rapid Spin
- Knock Off

Great Tusk is used primarily for speed control. The EVs allow its Speed to reach 450 under sun, outspeeding Pokemon like Dragapult, Zapdos, and non-Choice Scarf Enamorus. It also provides defensive utility in checking Kingambit as well as opposing Great Tusk. Head Smash is mainly for Zapdos and Moltres, having a good chance to OHKO offensive Zapdos and a guaranteed chance on Moltres. This lure can open up Kingambit and Brute Bonnet to put in work for the remainder of the game. Rapid Spin not only removes entry hazards, but boosts Great Tusk's Speed, which can be very helpful if the opposing team has a Choice Scarf Enamorous. Knock Off allows Great Tusk to make consistent progress when it hits the field and improves the team's matchup into stall. Tera Water is used to help against Baxcalibur and Basculegion-M.



Iron Moth @ Booster Energy
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 124 Def / 132 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fiery Dance
- Energy Ball
- Sludge Wave
- Substitute

Iron Moth helps this team a lot when it comes to the Iron Valiant matchup, which still isn't great, but it forces Iron Valiant to Terastallize or switch out. Fiery Dance under sun allows Iron Moth to become a very threatening sweeper, especially if it hits on the move's Special Attack boost. Substitute is mainly for scouting a switch or beating Kingambit's Sucker Punch. Energy Ball is mainly for bulky Water-types such as Dondozo and Rotom-Wash as well as Garganacl. Finally, Tera Ghost gives Iron Moth a means of circumventing Dragonite's Extreme Speed.

Threat List

Galarian Slowking - Galarian Slowking is annoying in that can wipe sun away with Chilly Reception; however, it is difficult for it to switch into any member of the team bar Iron Moth and Torkoal. Play aggressively with double switches against it and, if it reveals an item that isn't Heavy-Duty Boots, keep Stealth Rock up to wear it down over time more effectively.

Rain - The best way to play this matchup is to make full use of Walking Wake's 4x resistance to Water and Great Tusk's Tera typing. Getting and keeping Torkoal's Stealth Rock up is key to this matchup, as this puts Pelipper on a timer. It is ideal to keep Kingambit healthy for the late-game in this matchup, as rain teams are often ill-equipped to deal with it.

Importable

Team

Torkoal @ Heat Rock
Ability: Drought
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 Spe
Calm Nature
- Flamethrower
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Yawn

Walking Wake @ Choice Specs
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Steam
- Draco Meteor
- Flamethrower
- Dragon Pulse

Kingambit @ Leftovers
Ability: Supreme Overlord
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Kowtow Cleave
- Tera Blast
- Sucker Punch
- Swords Dance

Brute Bonnet @ Loaded Dice
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 40 HP / 252 Atk / 216 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Seed
- Spore
- Sucker Punch
- Crunch

Great Tusk @ Leftovers
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 248 HP / 4 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Head Smash
- Rapid Spin
- Knock Off

Iron Moth @ Booster Energy
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 124 Def / 132 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fiery Dance
- Energy Ball
- Sludge Wave
- Substitute

Credits
Created by: Vert
Written by: awyp
Quality checked by: royalfluxh
Grammar checked by: dex
Art by: Ticken​

 

[Jaxhawk]

The team lacks answers to Landorus-T.
Thought I'd mention the lack of an Ice move on Great Tusk makes Landorus-T matchup very difficult, No one outside of Walking Wake (2hkoed by Eq) can OHKO Lando and Eq+U-turn is very spammable against the team.
Not to mention Rocks + Intimidate cuts down on the only offense of the team.
E.g Slow U-turn out of Tusk into Moonblast mon, with rocks/spikes is an exploitable weakness.

However Lando-T is not the most used in the metagame, and the team has definitely seen success despite the clear weakness

 

[awyp]

The team lacks answers to Landorus-T.
Thought I'd mention the lack of an Ice move on Great Tusk makes Landorus-T matchup very difficult, No one outside of Walking Wake (2hkoed by Eq) can OHKO Lando and Eq+U-turn is very spammable against the team.
Not to mention Rocks + Intimidate cuts down on the only offense of the team.
E.g Slow U-turn out of Tusk into Moonblast mon, with rocks/spikes is an exploitable weakness.

However Lando-T is not the most used in the metagame, and the team has definitely seen success despite the clear weakness

I will note that there are a bunch of different variants of this team, namely Tusk. When I used the team I had Ice Spinner > Head Smash for Landorus matchups.

 

[FYBIRR]

The tables have turned
The guy (me) who hates sun teams now destroys people with sun teams