Hello all! This is a throwback to gen 7, when the terrain seed hawlucha sets were powerful. For those who don't know, the idea was to have a mon, usually one such as tapu koko, and then use the terrain they set with a seed, to get the unburden bonus. I wanted to build a team around the same concept, but in gen 8.
I started with Hawlucha, for he's the star sweeper of the show. I then needed someone to set terrain. I went with Indeedee, for the only other terrain setters are Pincurchin and Galarian Weezing, who I didn't think fit with the rest of the team.
I then added Incineroar, for I saw a cool utility set that I thought would fit well in this team.
Next, I wanted something to soak up damage. Quagsire and Sylveon are, in my opinion, one of the best defensive cores in the generation.
Finally, I wanted someone to deal with hazards, and someone who could deal with annoying fairies and ferrothorn. Cinderace presented itself wonderfully for all these jobs.
The Team:
Incineroar @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Fake Out
- Darkest Lariat
- Parting Shot
- Flare Blitz
I saw this utility set in a defensive Hatterene stall team, and thought it would be a perfect answer to dragapult, ferrothorn, etc. Fake out is to scout what the opponent will do. Darkest lariat is to hit those annoying ghosts, dragapult being an example. Parting shot is if the opponent switches, and I want to go out. Just take the shot, leave, and lower their attack power on the way. Flare blitz is a STAB, making it a great utility to deal with common problems. Full EVs in HP and SpDef, along with a careful nature give it as much special bulk as possible, so it can check the mons it needs to.
Quagsire @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Relaxed Nature
- Scald
- Earthquake
- Recover
- Haze
Quagsire, the better (in my opinion) version of Seismitoad. His role is the same as his, able to completely wall Dracovish, but it can also do two things Seismitoad cannot. Quagsire has recovery, in the form of recover, and it can negate setups that try to take advantage of his defensive status, such as Cloyster, Bisharp, the list goes on. Scald is to burn physical attackers, earthquake as a STAB. Recovery is to keep Quagsire healthy, because if he dies, then few others on my team have enough defensive bulk to check the threats that it does. Haze is to, as I said, deal with setups.
Sylveon (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hyper Voice
- Toxic
- Wish
- Protect
Sylveon is the specially defensive wall for my team. This thing completely negates Dragapult and Hydreigon, special attack Kommo, the list goes on. Hyper voice is for STAB, and I think it's okay that soundproof Kommo walls it, for I have Hawlucha. I find that mystical fire just doesn't put in the work, and I have two answers to its common uses, Corviknight and Ferrothorn, in Cinderace and Incineroar. Wish is to keep not only itself, but others on the team healthy. Protect is to ensure that if Sylveon needs it, she can get wish healing. It also allows to scout for certain moves and sets.
Cinderace @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Court Change
- Sucker Punch
- Pyro Ball
- Gunk Shot
Cinderace is my secondary sweeper, as well as this team's only form of hazzard removal. Normally, Cinderace would be run with high jump kick, but I find that it really doesn't do as much as it could, and my team doesn't have a great way to deal with fairies such as Togekiss, Sylveon, and Clefable. To remedy both of these issues I have gunk shot. Seriously, I don't know why this isn't run normally. So few see it coming, and it really puts in work. Court change is used so this team has some sort of hazzard removal. Sucker punch is mainly used to get some chip on mons I don't have a good way to kill, examples including Dracovish, Kommo, etc. Pyro ball is for STAB, allowing it to deal destructive damage to anything that doesn't resist it.
Indeedee (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Aromatherapy
- Hyper Voice
- Energy Ball
- Psychic
The terrain setter for the team. It's main job is to go in, get out, and let Hawlucha do some work. A problem I saw in the early stages of this team was that I couldn't find a good way to use his moveset and EVs to create something worth an entire slot in my team. After some testing, I found that a life orb set actually works pretty well. Aromatherapy is to remove a burn or para on Hawlucha, a toxic on either of my walls, allowing them to keep doing the good work they can do. For the second slot, I originally ran dazzling gleam, but found I never really used it, and I could use a normal STAB, so hyper voice was the replacement. I have found this move to work much better, so that Hatterene doesn't completely wall it. Energy ball is to better deal with Seismitoad or (for the smarter of the bunch) Quagsire. Psychic is for STAB, and also to take use of the terrain.
Hawlucha (M) @ Psychic Seed
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Acrobatics
- Swords Dance
- Thunder Punch
- Drain Punch
And last, but certainly not least, we have the star of the show, Hawlucha! I was really sad to see the concept of terrain Hawlucha go, mainly because of the banning of the most common terrain setters, the Tapus, in the OU tier. Once Indeedee has set up it's terrain, I can then bring this bad boy in, and he can wreak his havoc. Swords dance is to boost up his attack stat, so then he can sweep. Acrobatics is for STAB, and it's attack power once the seed has been consumed makes it my primary attack when sweeping. Drain punch is for fighting STAB, and it also provides some good recovery for Lucha. Thunder punch is for coverage, to ensure I always have an at least neutral hitting attack for any mon that comes in.
Thank you for looking at my team! To conclude, I really think this concept is still valid in gen 8, and hope if not this team, then some other team will make it out there with this same concept in mind.
I started with Hawlucha, for he's the star sweeper of the show. I then needed someone to set terrain. I went with Indeedee, for the only other terrain setters are Pincurchin and Galarian Weezing, who I didn't think fit with the rest of the team.
I then added Incineroar, for I saw a cool utility set that I thought would fit well in this team.
Next, I wanted something to soak up damage. Quagsire and Sylveon are, in my opinion, one of the best defensive cores in the generation.
Finally, I wanted someone to deal with hazards, and someone who could deal with annoying fairies and ferrothorn. Cinderace presented itself wonderfully for all these jobs.
The Team:
Incineroar @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Fake Out
- Darkest Lariat
- Parting Shot
- Flare Blitz
I saw this utility set in a defensive Hatterene stall team, and thought it would be a perfect answer to dragapult, ferrothorn, etc. Fake out is to scout what the opponent will do. Darkest lariat is to hit those annoying ghosts, dragapult being an example. Parting shot is if the opponent switches, and I want to go out. Just take the shot, leave, and lower their attack power on the way. Flare blitz is a STAB, making it a great utility to deal with common problems. Full EVs in HP and SpDef, along with a careful nature give it as much special bulk as possible, so it can check the mons it needs to.
Quagsire @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Relaxed Nature
- Scald
- Earthquake
- Recover
- Haze
Quagsire, the better (in my opinion) version of Seismitoad. His role is the same as his, able to completely wall Dracovish, but it can also do two things Seismitoad cannot. Quagsire has recovery, in the form of recover, and it can negate setups that try to take advantage of his defensive status, such as Cloyster, Bisharp, the list goes on. Scald is to burn physical attackers, earthquake as a STAB. Recovery is to keep Quagsire healthy, because if he dies, then few others on my team have enough defensive bulk to check the threats that it does. Haze is to, as I said, deal with setups.
Sylveon (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hyper Voice
- Toxic
- Wish
- Protect
Sylveon is the specially defensive wall for my team. This thing completely negates Dragapult and Hydreigon, special attack Kommo, the list goes on. Hyper voice is for STAB, and I think it's okay that soundproof Kommo walls it, for I have Hawlucha. I find that mystical fire just doesn't put in the work, and I have two answers to its common uses, Corviknight and Ferrothorn, in Cinderace and Incineroar. Wish is to keep not only itself, but others on the team healthy. Protect is to ensure that if Sylveon needs it, she can get wish healing. It also allows to scout for certain moves and sets.
Cinderace @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Court Change
- Sucker Punch
- Pyro Ball
- Gunk Shot
Cinderace is my secondary sweeper, as well as this team's only form of hazzard removal. Normally, Cinderace would be run with high jump kick, but I find that it really doesn't do as much as it could, and my team doesn't have a great way to deal with fairies such as Togekiss, Sylveon, and Clefable. To remedy both of these issues I have gunk shot. Seriously, I don't know why this isn't run normally. So few see it coming, and it really puts in work. Court change is used so this team has some sort of hazzard removal. Sucker punch is mainly used to get some chip on mons I don't have a good way to kill, examples including Dracovish, Kommo, etc. Pyro ball is for STAB, allowing it to deal destructive damage to anything that doesn't resist it.
Indeedee (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Aromatherapy
- Hyper Voice
- Energy Ball
- Psychic
The terrain setter for the team. It's main job is to go in, get out, and let Hawlucha do some work. A problem I saw in the early stages of this team was that I couldn't find a good way to use his moveset and EVs to create something worth an entire slot in my team. After some testing, I found that a life orb set actually works pretty well. Aromatherapy is to remove a burn or para on Hawlucha, a toxic on either of my walls, allowing them to keep doing the good work they can do. For the second slot, I originally ran dazzling gleam, but found I never really used it, and I could use a normal STAB, so hyper voice was the replacement. I have found this move to work much better, so that Hatterene doesn't completely wall it. Energy ball is to better deal with Seismitoad or (for the smarter of the bunch) Quagsire. Psychic is for STAB, and also to take use of the terrain.
Hawlucha (M) @ Psychic Seed
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Acrobatics
- Swords Dance
- Thunder Punch
- Drain Punch
And last, but certainly not least, we have the star of the show, Hawlucha! I was really sad to see the concept of terrain Hawlucha go, mainly because of the banning of the most common terrain setters, the Tapus, in the OU tier. Once Indeedee has set up it's terrain, I can then bring this bad boy in, and he can wreak his havoc. Swords dance is to boost up his attack stat, so then he can sweep. Acrobatics is for STAB, and it's attack power once the seed has been consumed makes it my primary attack when sweeping. Drain punch is for fighting STAB, and it also provides some good recovery for Lucha. Thunder punch is for coverage, to ensure I always have an at least neutral hitting attack for any mon that comes in.
Incineroar @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Fake Out
- Darkest Lariat
- Parting Shot
- Flare Blitz
Sylveon (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hyper Voice
- Toxic
- Wish
- Protect
Quagsire @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Relaxed Nature
- Scald
- Earthquake
- Recover
- Haze
Cinderace @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Court Change
- Sucker Punch
- Pyro Ball
- Gunk Shot
Indeedee (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Aromatherapy
- Hyper Voice
- Energy Ball
- Psychic
Hawlucha @ Psychic Seed
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Acrobatics
- Swords Dance
- Thunder Punch
- Drain Punch
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Fake Out
- Darkest Lariat
- Parting Shot
- Flare Blitz
Sylveon (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hyper Voice
- Toxic
- Wish
- Protect
Quagsire @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Relaxed Nature
- Scald
- Earthquake
- Recover
- Haze
Cinderace @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Court Change
- Sucker Punch
- Pyro Ball
- Gunk Shot
Indeedee (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Aromatherapy
- Hyper Voice
- Energy Ball
- Psychic
Hawlucha @ Psychic Seed
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Acrobatics
- Swords Dance
- Thunder Punch
- Drain Punch
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