SunnyD: Unleash the power of the sun!
Got Scarlet on release. Got interested in competitive. Spent days researching OU. Decided I wanted to make a team of 6 to use in 6v6 Wifi battles that adhered to the "Ranked Battle" rules. There are no 6v6 "Ranked Battle" games, only 3v3 and 4v4 doubles VGC (both chosen from a team of 6). These are the rules:
- No duplicate held items
- No duplicate Pokemon species
- All Pokemon lvl 50 (can be scaled down)
- No "Special Pokemon" (what the game refers to as Legendaries: Koraidon and Miraidon, Paradox
are allowedhave been banned)
Torkoal @ Heat Rock
Ability: Drought
Level: 50
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 244 Def / 12 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Lava Plume
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Yawn
Standard Sun setter lead Torkoal, no different than the set recommended by Smogon for gen 8. (Just a note, EVs can be funny to work with at level 50. Smogon recommended 252 248 8 but low EVs jump from 4 to 12 and skip 8 at level 50 so I just went with it since it kept both numbers even. I try to keep HP odd if I can help it and Defs even.) Anyway, Torkoal is my only Spike setter, one spinner out of two hazard clearers. Works great as a physical wall and to inflict burn, but I try to use them sparingly to keep them alive so I can reset the Sun often. Yawn is one of my few force out techs so that may be something I need to add to others. Torkoal has a potential combo to sweep I'll talk about later but I mostly just use them for the sun. Terra Water for defensive utility and counterplay, though I could also just go Fire for added damage.
Flutter Mane @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Protosynthesis
Level: 50
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Shadow Ball
- Mystical Fire
- Psyshock
The OU banned star of the team! We go max speed here to ensure there's only 1 non-priority 'Mon that can outspeed us in Electric Terrain Scarf Iron Bundle and only 1 'Mon that can tie us in mirror Flutter Mane matchups. Went with Mystical Fire as the 3rd move to combo with the Sun, and also went with it as the Terra option to get extra damage and resist Fairy plus Fire type damage against other would be Flutters or others. Psyshock in the last option was less about type coverage and more about the ability to target physical Defense to break through special walls if needed. The max speed and scarf strategy leaves us lacking a bit of power without a self setup, but there is a combo to get us the best of both worlds.
Roaring Moon @ Choice Band
Ability: Protosynthesis
Level: 50
Terra Type: Dragon
EVs: 36 HP / 220 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Crunch
- Earthquake
- U-turn
I recognized the hype behind Roaring moon when I sorted by overall stats and realized they had the lowest Sp Attack among their neighbors near the top of the list. We capitalize by going all in on power and taking advantage of the added speed and natural bulk. I went with Dragon claw over Iron Head because of the STAB bonus. It's almost like running a normal move, safe but less Super effective opportunities. I also went Terra Dragon to make the most of the neutral damage and retain our core typing resistances. I could've also gone Dark for their resists and their offensive typing is only resisted not Immune unlike Dragons vs Faries, but I thought dragon complimented the team better (could be wrong). U turn in case I wanna hit and run, compliments the others turners on the team. It hits hard and works great as a transition against what it resists (like Chi-Yu) but the speed is a little lacking compared to the faster Mon's. Overall I feel the core of these 3 so far is really solid.
EDIT: Changed the nature and EV's to match Sandy Shocks below. Now our speed becomes our highest stat to be boosted by Protosynthesis by x1.5 instead of our attack by x1.3 in addition to the x1.5 attack from Choice Band. Dumped rest of EVs into HP, odd value.
Sandy Shocks @ Choice Specs
Ability: Protosynthesis
Level: 50
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 36 HP / 12 Def / 208 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Earth Power
- Flash Cannon
- Volt Switch
Sandy is the most recent inclusion. Had a lot to do with the overall defensive typing of the team and the fact that I can only use 1 of each held item, so I felt obligated to run Choice Specs. The best thing about Shocks and the reason why the EVs look so strange is the fact that you can max Speed to raise it 1 point above Special Attack by only cutting 44 EVs from SpA. This allows us to get a 1.5x Speed Boost from Protosynthesis instead of a 1.3 SpA boost while also getting a 1.5 SpA boost from Specs since the game looks at your base numbers, not Choice boosts (Showdown does at least). The remaining 44 were to get an odd numbered health and dumped the rest in Def since Sandy is our most physically defensive Choice attacker and to diversify their role from Flutter Mane who's a special attacker with high SpD. Sandy has good coverage and I went with Power Gem as the 3rd option because I thought it was best for their own typing and the team, the alternate being Steel or even Terra Blast normal. I prefer not to rely on Terra Blast for coverage but Sandy would be the best user of it and I'm open to suggestions. Last move Volt switch for more flipping. Really great having 3 special attackers on this team with the upcoming support role.
Flash Cannon instead of Power Gem. If you were to go off of Pikalytics or secondary effect, Flash Cannon currently has a 2% usage over Power Gem (both less than Terra Blast) and Power Gem has more PP but no secondary effect. I went through The Gen 9 Pokedex by Fire, Bug, Flying, Rock and Fairy Type to see how many Pokemon Steel hits for super effective vs Rock assuming Electric or Ground didn't also hit super effective (both hit Ice so I excluded it). Rock has a few advantages, namely Dragonite, Volcarona and Lokix. However, Steel hits just about any meta relavant Fairy Pokemon you can think of (Fluttermane, Grimmsnarl, Iron Valiant, etc). On top of all that, then you have Terra typing which boils down to: Steel for Terra Fairy or Rock for Terra Bug (lol). Flash Cannon wins. Lastly, I never mentioned Sandy's Terra typing because I assumed Electric before I really thought about it. Short story, Electric better than Ground. Long story, Sandy Shocks has a lot of water opponents it wants to hit with Thunderbolt but doesn't wanna get hit back with water, which favors Terra Electric. However, Sandy also wants to hit a lot of Poison, Rock and Steel Pokemon with Earth Power but not get hit with Earthquake, which favors Terra Ground. Looking at my team, Corviknight handles most of the Earth Power targets while Roaring Moon is my only water resist Pokemon and doesn't hit many for super effective. More important to hit them with Sandy Shocks, terra Electric to avoid super effective water, get rid of the other Ground weaknesses (still electric resist instead of immune), and also boost 2 attacks options - one of which is my strongest.
Scream Tail @ Leftovers
Ability: Protosynthesis
Level: 50
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 244 HP / 12 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stored Power
- Calm Mind
- Wish
- Baton Pass
I wasn't sure if this set was going to work using Wish without protect, but I've tested it out and can say with confidence this is one of the better Flutter Mane checks in the game. Most checks rely on if "Flutters has Psyshock" but this set checks if "Flutter has Calm Mind + Psyshock" because without both, Scream walls and kills Flutter and then sweeps/Baton sweeps the remaining team. Even without Terraing out of Psychic, +1 Flutter can't kill Scream with a super effective Shadow Ball, which gives you time to setup on Flutter or almost any Special Attacker, using Terra if needed. Stored power is useless without at least 1 calm Mind, but after 1 its useable and after 2 it's amazing. Basically Scream needs to be aware of who they're up against, if they can sustain, and how they're going to wish pass, with or without a calm mind boost. Worst case scenario, you switch or only wish and switch. Best case scenario, you fully setup and start sweeping, come against a Dark opponent immune to Psychic, and then you Baton Pass to either Torkoal, Flutterman or Sandy with a wish if unthreatened. It may not work at higher levels of play, but its generally good and the combo piece of the team in the form of a Special wall. Only "Anything Goes" Showdown legal because of Baton Pass. I could also go with Thunder wave Protect or something else if needed but this seems to work well. EVs to get an odd numbered HP, all in on defense - no speed. Terra Fairy seemed like the best resists with the least threatening weaknesses but I'm open to changes (I also considered Normal and Water, but Psychic had to go).
Corviknight @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Pressure
Level: 50
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Brave Bird
- Body Press
- Roost
- Defog
Serving as a physical wall and transition defogger, Corviknight rounds out our defensive type coverage against Ground, poison status among other things. Not the most exciting pick, but with the lack of hazards this team runs, it doesn't hurt to have another defogger. Also removes terrain since there are no ice spinners on the team. Spinblocked by Gholdengo, but it's a nice compliment to Torkoal and Scream Tail to deal with opponents they can't and then U-turn to get momentum into an attacker. Helmet over Leftovers because I can't have duplicate items and Helmet helps boost Corviknights offense while relying on Roost healing or Wish pass. U-turn and Iron head seemed like the most offensive complimenting moves. Iron head gets stab and potential flinching with decent typing for this meta while U-turn keeps the momentum of the remaining team. I think they should be a good compliment because of all the other U-turn users. I'm new to this level of team building, so I don't feel as confident about Corv as the others but I know Corviknight is a safe pick. Seems like they work well together, but that's why I'm here asking for feedback.
EDIT: I asked myself "What would Lord Emvee do?" and looked at his Coviknight sets. He almost exclusively runs Brave Bird Body Press for Gen 9 OU and Terra Type Fighting to change up its weaknesses and boost Body Press, so I did the same. This might be a mistake, since we lost access to U-Turn which can be good for slow or even fast transitioning to Torkoal who we need to bring in safely or anyone else. However, the damage loss is negligible and overall I felt the lack of coverage made Corviknight much too passive and unthreatening. Now, Corviknight can brawl against priority matchups and hopefully force switches which give me opportunities to manually swap to Torkoal or others. It also reinforces Scream Tail's role as a wish passer, so if I really need to get to Torkoal, I can go: Corv > Scream > Wish > Torkoal or something like that. Worst case scenario, Torkoal sets the sun and dies - no guarentees U-turn could help with that. Might be a bad move for the team, but I think it makes Corv and the team stronger. Just relies on me making better switch plays.
Before I tested it out, I saw no priority moves, few hazards and not much negative status as possible team weaknesses. After testing it out, Priority didn't feel too bad to be without, though that may change with time. What seemed to be missing to me was a lack of disruption, not enough moves to discourage setting up. That may be a symptom of playstyle though and less about the moves. Seemed like as I got more confident setting up Scream Tail, that became less of an issue. Regardless, I feel pretty good about the team overall.
What are your thoughts? What does this team need to change? Pokemon? Moves? Terra? EVs? Held items (remember: no duplicates)? How good is it? Could it be better? I'd like to hear any feedback and I'm open to suggestions.
I feel 100% certain Torkoal, Fluttermane and Roaring Moon will stay on the team. I really like Scream Tail as well, the combo seems to work. Sandy Shocks is new but I like them. I'm less confident about Corviknight but this team might not work without them - I can't gauge their value yet. Open to any changes. I also considered Great Tusk, Gholdengo, Slither Wing, Grimmsnarl and a few others. Excited to hear who you thought of.
Thanks for reading!
EDIT: Updated the Pokepast at the top. Roaring Moon had some EV changes, Sandy Shocks and Corviknight had some move changes, and Corv also had a Terra Type change and minor EV 4 dump point change. Put updates in the Descriptions, no major changes to the team yet. Still want to hear from you! Share your thoughts, please and thanks.
EDIT 2: Well, Paradox Pokemon have been banned from Series 1. I'm going to continue to work on and finish this team immortalized here as a pseudo Uber without box-art legendaries Koraidon and Miraidon. However, I'm gonna have to start working on a non-Paradox team for the cartridge game. The good news is, this team is one Pokemon and a move away from being OU legal! Imagine for that I'll replace Flutter Mane with Chi-Yu and get rid of Baton Pass on Scream Tail (was about to do that anyway). Thanks if you've been following along. I learned a lot and got some good experience in the new meta.
Replays
- https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9anythinggoes-1726862906 - Epic Sandstorm vs Sun
- https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9anythinggoes-1726849113 - Maushold Meme vs Corviknight MVP
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