Knowing that sand and rain are really common in today's metagame, I wanted to make a sun team that is working well. I tested in on PO and i got above 1300 on the PO server, but I know that it isn't a superb accomplishment.
This is my first RMT in gen 5, but I talked on IRC with others and got enough practice in today's metagame. If there are some mistakes, please ber with me and just correct them. I'm not a pokemon master.
This team resolves around the sweep of 2 common sun abusers: Sawsbuck and Volcarona. The rest of the team helps them in achieving this. I may struggle with common defensive cores, but I usually do fairly well against them. Most of the time, the losses are because of a misplay by me, and I will become better at predicting moves.
And changes will be in red, but not if an entire slot is changed.
So let's get a little bit of Sunshine!
9-Tales (Ninetales) (F) @ Chesto Berry
Trait: Drought
EVs: 252 HP / 88 SDef / 168 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
- Will-O-Wisp
- Rest
This team wouldn't be a sun team in Ninetails wasn't in it. Her ability, Drought, bestows permanent sun in the battlefield, giving her teammates some help in acquiring their goal. That alone can be reason of using Ninetails. Fire Blast in sun can hurt a lot of pokemon, even with Ninetails 81 Special Attack. HP fighting is for hurting Tyraitar, even though it won't hurt as much. It also helps me break the occasional balloon of a Heatran switching in, predicting a fire move. Will-O-Wisp spreads burn and also helps in crippling Tyranitar. I use ChestoRest to keep Ninetials alive to keep sun alive as well, as Delko suggested. Chesto Berry and Rest will heal my HP completely and get rid of the sleep immediately.
The EV spread gives Ninetails some special bulk to add into her nice base Special Defence stat of 100. This is why max HP is chosen, as her HP is only a mere 70. The Speed Ev's allow ninetails to outspeed all non-scarfed Excadrills in sun as well as outspeeding all non-scarfed Tyranitars (so they can be burned by Will-O-Wisp).
Sawsbuck (Sawsbuck-Winter) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 66 HP / 252 Atk / 192 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Horn Leech
- Return
- Nature Power
- Swords Dance
Sawsbuck is one of my 2 sun sweepers. he is the physical sweeper. His ability Chrolophyll doubles his speed, making him a threat to opposing teams. Swords Dance gives Sawsbuck a sky-high Attack and with sun, he'll be at +2 Attack and +2 Speed. Horn Leech is his Grass STAB and recovers some nice HP lost to Life Orb. Return is his other STAB move and gets a 102 BP thanks to max happiness (STAB not included). Return also beats SubCM Latias and a lot of fast pokemon like Thundurus and Tornadus. I chose Nature Power over Jump Kick because Ferrothorn is taken care of by the other pokemon of the team, as 4 other teammembers have a move that is super effective on Ferrothorn. Nature Power turns into Earthquake, giving Sawsbuck the opportunity to smash Jirachi and other pokemon who resist Grass and Normal.
Max Attack is chosen to give Sawsbuck as much power as possible, as his base 100 Attack is good, but only with proper investment. The Speed Ev's are to outspeed all positive natured base 115 Speed pokemon with a +1 boost, or positive nature 90 base Speed pokemon with a +2 boost. The rest is dumped into his Hp for some survivability.
Buzz (Volcarona) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Flame Body
EVs: 252 HP / 136 Def / 120 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Fiery Dance
- Bug Buzz
- Quiver Dance
- Morning Sun
The second sun sweeper, the special one. Volcarona is a real dangerous threat to most teams. Flame body can get the surprise burn on pokemon. Butterfly Dance is a great move and very dangerous on pokemon like Volcarona. Boosting 3 of your best stats by one stage is ridiculous. Fiery Dance is the Fire STAB move, that also has a possibility to raise the SpA even further. Bug Buzz is the other attacking move and get's quite nice coverage with Fire. Finally, Morning Sun keeps Volcarona alive, as it heals 2/3 of his health in sun and helps to heal off Stealth Rock damage.
The Ev's are used to give Volcarona a lot of bulk to set up. Max HP is really obvious and the rest is spread between the defenses, with a majority to Special Defense. Even though Quiver Dance boosts his Special Defence, some bulk beforehand is really needed to have a chance to set up. Otherwise, it would get 2HKO'ed by some pokemon (not sure which) and now, Volcarona can set up on them.
Gastrodon (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power
- Recover
- Toxic
Delko suggested to use Gastrodon instead of Latias, to counter rain, and it has worked pretty well so far. Gastrodon get's a Special Attack boost when hit by a Water attack. This, together with his typing and respectable Special Defense and HP, turns it into a good rain counter. Ice beam and Earth Power are for hitting foes with the +1 Special Attack. Recover is to stay alive and stall a bit and Toxic is to status the opponent and wear them down.
The EV's are for maximised Special Bulk. So Max HP is a given and with a base 111, it will give a lot of HP. Max Special Defense and a boosting nature are given as well. It's base stat of 82 needs proper investment to be succesfull. The remaning 4 Ev's are put into Special Attack.
UpSideDown (Hitmontop) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Close Combat
- Sucker Punch
- Rapid Spin
- Foresight
This is my spinner. Without it, some on my pokemon, most noticeable Volcarona, will die quickly from entry hazards. He also functiones as a mixed wall, because of intimidate reducing the opponent's Attack. Rapid Spin is a staple on any Spinner. Close Combat 2HKO's Ferrothorn (without Protect + Leech Seed) and is one of the few spinners who can do that. Sucker Punch is for finishing off pokemon and acts as a 'strange' priority. Finally, Foresight let's me spin in front of Ghost types, as well as hitting pokemon as Spirittomb for Super Effective damage with Close Combat.
The Ev's are for a maximized Physical bulk. Max HP is really needed on a pokemon with a base HP of only 50. Max Defence and an Impish nature heightens his Physical bulk a lot. The final 4 Ev's are in Attack, as Hitmontop isn't that fast and I don't need to outspeed other Hitmontops.
Heheh (Heatran) (M) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Stealth Rock
Heatran is my 'glue' to the team, as is provides the team with some support, as well as posing a threat himself. He can defeat some of the 4x ice weaks, like Gliscor and Dragonite (after Dragonite's Multiscale is down). He is also my Stealth Rocker, and SR is needed to get some important KO's for my sweepers and he is my answer to most fire types and opposing Heatran, thanks to Air Balloon giving him a Ground immunity and Flash Fire. Fire Blast in sun, backed with Heatran's 135 base Special Attack, is really powerfull and get's STAB as well. If you then give him a Flash Fire boost, he can be almost unstoppable. Earth Power and Hidden Power [Ice] are for hitting pokemon who resist Fire Blast.
The Ev's are for giving Heatran a lot of power and speed. Max Special Attack for a lot of firepower and max Speed to outspeed and KO some pokemon. Even without EV's, 91/106/106 defenses are something to write home about and gives Heatran some bulk.
Sis (Latias) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Dragon Pulse
- Calm Mind
- Substitute
- Roost
Latias is my best answer to most rain teams and is a tiny bit of a Special wall too. this SubCm beats many other pokemon and unprepared teams will have a hard time beating her. She also fits nice in a sun team, as her best counters are Scizor and Tyranitar, and the team can handle those well. Dragon Pulse is her only attacking move and gets the best possible coverage for a single move, as it is only resisted by steel. Calm Mind boosts my Special Attack and Special Defence to ridiculus levels. Sub is to block status and other attacks and finally, Roost gives me a form of healing.
The Ev's are somewhat logical. Max HP is for more overall bulk while max Speed let's me outrun a lot of pokemon like HP Fire Latias(os) and speed tie with other positive natured 110 pokemon. The final 4 Ev's are dumped into Special Attack. Physical attackers stop this Latias, but Ninetails can spread around burn to reduce the amount of damage.
Well, this is my sun team! I hope you enjoyed readng it as much as the writing was for me and that this team will be improved to a really good team.
This is my first RMT in gen 5, but I talked on IRC with others and got enough practice in today's metagame. If there are some mistakes, please ber with me and just correct them. I'm not a pokemon master.
This team resolves around the sweep of 2 common sun abusers: Sawsbuck and Volcarona. The rest of the team helps them in achieving this. I may struggle with common defensive cores, but I usually do fairly well against them. Most of the time, the losses are because of a misplay by me, and I will become better at predicting moves.
And changes will be in red, but not if an entire slot is changed.
So let's get a little bit of Sunshine!
9-Tales (Ninetales) (F) @ Chesto Berry
Trait: Drought
EVs: 252 HP / 88 SDef / 168 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
- Will-O-Wisp
- Rest
This team wouldn't be a sun team in Ninetails wasn't in it. Her ability, Drought, bestows permanent sun in the battlefield, giving her teammates some help in acquiring their goal. That alone can be reason of using Ninetails. Fire Blast in sun can hurt a lot of pokemon, even with Ninetails 81 Special Attack. HP fighting is for hurting Tyraitar, even though it won't hurt as much. It also helps me break the occasional balloon of a Heatran switching in, predicting a fire move. Will-O-Wisp spreads burn and also helps in crippling Tyranitar. I use ChestoRest to keep Ninetials alive to keep sun alive as well, as Delko suggested. Chesto Berry and Rest will heal my HP completely and get rid of the sleep immediately.
The EV spread gives Ninetails some special bulk to add into her nice base Special Defence stat of 100. This is why max HP is chosen, as her HP is only a mere 70. The Speed Ev's allow ninetails to outspeed all non-scarfed Excadrills in sun as well as outspeeding all non-scarfed Tyranitars (so they can be burned by Will-O-Wisp).
Sawsbuck (Sawsbuck-Winter) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 66 HP / 252 Atk / 192 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Horn Leech
- Return
- Nature Power
- Swords Dance
Sawsbuck is one of my 2 sun sweepers. he is the physical sweeper. His ability Chrolophyll doubles his speed, making him a threat to opposing teams. Swords Dance gives Sawsbuck a sky-high Attack and with sun, he'll be at +2 Attack and +2 Speed. Horn Leech is his Grass STAB and recovers some nice HP lost to Life Orb. Return is his other STAB move and gets a 102 BP thanks to max happiness (STAB not included). Return also beats SubCM Latias and a lot of fast pokemon like Thundurus and Tornadus. I chose Nature Power over Jump Kick because Ferrothorn is taken care of by the other pokemon of the team, as 4 other teammembers have a move that is super effective on Ferrothorn. Nature Power turns into Earthquake, giving Sawsbuck the opportunity to smash Jirachi and other pokemon who resist Grass and Normal.
Max Attack is chosen to give Sawsbuck as much power as possible, as his base 100 Attack is good, but only with proper investment. The Speed Ev's are to outspeed all positive natured base 115 Speed pokemon with a +1 boost, or positive nature 90 base Speed pokemon with a +2 boost. The rest is dumped into his Hp for some survivability.
Buzz (Volcarona) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Flame Body
EVs: 252 HP / 136 Def / 120 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Fiery Dance
- Bug Buzz
- Quiver Dance
- Morning Sun
The second sun sweeper, the special one. Volcarona is a real dangerous threat to most teams. Flame body can get the surprise burn on pokemon. Butterfly Dance is a great move and very dangerous on pokemon like Volcarona. Boosting 3 of your best stats by one stage is ridiculous. Fiery Dance is the Fire STAB move, that also has a possibility to raise the SpA even further. Bug Buzz is the other attacking move and get's quite nice coverage with Fire. Finally, Morning Sun keeps Volcarona alive, as it heals 2/3 of his health in sun and helps to heal off Stealth Rock damage.
The Ev's are used to give Volcarona a lot of bulk to set up. Max HP is really obvious and the rest is spread between the defenses, with a majority to Special Defense. Even though Quiver Dance boosts his Special Defence, some bulk beforehand is really needed to have a chance to set up. Otherwise, it would get 2HKO'ed by some pokemon (not sure which) and now, Volcarona can set up on them.
Gastrodon (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power
- Recover
- Toxic
Delko suggested to use Gastrodon instead of Latias, to counter rain, and it has worked pretty well so far. Gastrodon get's a Special Attack boost when hit by a Water attack. This, together with his typing and respectable Special Defense and HP, turns it into a good rain counter. Ice beam and Earth Power are for hitting foes with the +1 Special Attack. Recover is to stay alive and stall a bit and Toxic is to status the opponent and wear them down.
The EV's are for maximised Special Bulk. So Max HP is a given and with a base 111, it will give a lot of HP. Max Special Defense and a boosting nature are given as well. It's base stat of 82 needs proper investment to be succesfull. The remaning 4 Ev's are put into Special Attack.
UpSideDown (Hitmontop) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Close Combat
- Sucker Punch
- Rapid Spin
- Foresight
This is my spinner. Without it, some on my pokemon, most noticeable Volcarona, will die quickly from entry hazards. He also functiones as a mixed wall, because of intimidate reducing the opponent's Attack. Rapid Spin is a staple on any Spinner. Close Combat 2HKO's Ferrothorn (without Protect + Leech Seed) and is one of the few spinners who can do that. Sucker Punch is for finishing off pokemon and acts as a 'strange' priority. Finally, Foresight let's me spin in front of Ghost types, as well as hitting pokemon as Spirittomb for Super Effective damage with Close Combat.
The Ev's are for a maximized Physical bulk. Max HP is really needed on a pokemon with a base HP of only 50. Max Defence and an Impish nature heightens his Physical bulk a lot. The final 4 Ev's are in Attack, as Hitmontop isn't that fast and I don't need to outspeed other Hitmontops.
Heheh (Heatran) (M) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Stealth Rock
Heatran is my 'glue' to the team, as is provides the team with some support, as well as posing a threat himself. He can defeat some of the 4x ice weaks, like Gliscor and Dragonite (after Dragonite's Multiscale is down). He is also my Stealth Rocker, and SR is needed to get some important KO's for my sweepers and he is my answer to most fire types and opposing Heatran, thanks to Air Balloon giving him a Ground immunity and Flash Fire. Fire Blast in sun, backed with Heatran's 135 base Special Attack, is really powerfull and get's STAB as well. If you then give him a Flash Fire boost, he can be almost unstoppable. Earth Power and Hidden Power [Ice] are for hitting pokemon who resist Fire Blast.
The Ev's are for giving Heatran a lot of power and speed. Max Special Attack for a lot of firepower and max Speed to outspeed and KO some pokemon. Even without EV's, 91/106/106 defenses are something to write home about and gives Heatran some bulk.
Sis (Latias) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Dragon Pulse
- Calm Mind
- Substitute
- Roost
Latias is my best answer to most rain teams and is a tiny bit of a Special wall too. this SubCm beats many other pokemon and unprepared teams will have a hard time beating her. She also fits nice in a sun team, as her best counters are Scizor and Tyranitar, and the team can handle those well. Dragon Pulse is her only attacking move and gets the best possible coverage for a single move, as it is only resisted by steel. Calm Mind boosts my Special Attack and Special Defence to ridiculus levels. Sub is to block status and other attacks and finally, Roost gives me a form of healing.
The Ev's are somewhat logical. Max HP is for more overall bulk while max Speed let's me outrun a lot of pokemon like HP Fire Latias(os) and speed tie with other positive natured 110 pokemon. The final 4 Ev's are dumped into Special Attack. Physical attackers stop this Latias, but Ninetails can spread around burn to reduce the amount of damage.
Well, this is my sun team! I hope you enjoyed readng it as much as the writing was for me and that this team will be improved to a really good team.