Sweepin' the Clouds Away

[cabforpitt]

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Ever since I started playing Pokemon, one has always been my favorite. Venusaur was my choice of a started, and dominated the Elite Four for me. When I started playing competitive Pokemon after Platinum came out, I played 4th Gen UU because I could use him. Now I am more serious about battling, but I wanted to use Venusaur again. This team is quite old, but I have been using it recently to great success, hitting 1905 and 16th on the ladder.

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Teambuilding Process

Venusaur was the first member of the team, so I needed to make a team that synergized with him. Since the only real reason to use Venusaur is chlorophyll, the next choice was obvious. Ninetales is the only drought Pokemon in OU, and while not as strong as Tyranitar or Politoed, is a good choice for the team. Ninetales still hits hard though, and is pretty specially bulky.Because I have sun up, a Fire type is logical. Heatran has great resistances, and checks both Dragons and opposing sun teams. A ridiculously powerful Fire Blast, Flash Fire, and Stealth Rocks make for a good choice.
I also needed a way to check sand. Tyranitar is my obvious nemesis, so I decided to use Terrakion. Terrakion is incredibly powerful, and can snap most walls in half. Being able to 2hko most of the tier is a massive asset.
I was still having problems with Tyranitar, and I also needed some stronger revenge killing than Quick Attack. So, I decided to use Scizor. Scizor also helps to deal with Lati@s, which my team has trouble with.I tried several Pokemon in the last spot, mostly sun abusers. However, my team was too reliant on keeping sun up. I needed a way to win the game without sun up. Enter Dragonite. Dragonite can set up on almost anything, and sweep easily.

Ninetales (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drought
EVs: 136 HP / 252 SAtk / 120 Spd
Modest Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Fire Blast
- SolarBeam
- Sunny Day
Ninetales exists to get sun up. If the opposing team is weatherless, and I don’t foresee any ways of them canceling my weather, then Ninetales is often my first sacrifice. If I see Tyranitar, Hippowdon, Politoed , or Abomasnow, then keeping Ninetales alive is my top priority. The moveset focuses on beating opposing weather users. Will o wisp cripples Tyranitar trying to switch in. Sunny Day Tales is really strong, and actually has a chance to beat Politoed if you can predict the switch. Fire Blast is STAB, and Solar Beam, although unreliable, is significantly more powerful than energy ball, and is acceptable because of sunny day.​

Heatran (F) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Stealth Rock​

Heatran is often in the lead position. This set is similar to Shuca sets from the 4th gen, but with Balloon instead. I need hazards, and Heatran can bring them. Fire Blast in the sun hits like a train, and earth power and Hidden Power Ice let him hit enemy Heatran and dragons. EV’s are to hit as hard and fast as possible. I run Timid to outspeed Modest Heatran, which is a major threat to my team.​

Venusaur (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Growth
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Venusaur is the centerpiece of the team. Growth is a huge boost in sun, and sweeping is simple in certain pokemon (e.g. Heatran) are eliminated. Giga Drain (my favorite tutor move from B/W 2) keeps Venusaur healthy, allowing him to take powerful moves with his substantial natural bulk, and not die from Life orb recoil. Giga drain also lets you get free growths on Chansey or Blissey that don’t run Flamethrower or T-wave. Sludge Bomb busts through dragons, and HP Fire lets me kill Ferrothorn. Evs and nature let me hit hard and fast.

Scizor (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Pursuit
Scizor is my other steel type and revenge killer. The set is classic, and it works the same as in 4th gen, although it checks slightly different threats. Tyranitar and Lati@s are common Pokemon that threaten my team that Scizor deals with. Bullet Punch is for revenge killing, and U-Turn for scouting. Superpower hits Magnezones trying to trap me or random Ferrothorns. I run max attack adamant to hit as hard as possible, max HP for the most bulk from both ends of the spectrum, and 4 speed to speed creep enemy Scizor and Vaporeon.

Terrakion @ Choice Band
Trait: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Close Combat
- X-Scissor
- Quick Attack
Terrakion is another good switch in to Tyranitar, who plagues my team so. Defensive switch ins like Skarmory are 2hko’d, and almost everything is killed by the appropriate STAB. Quick attack lets me pick up low health threats if Scizor is KO’d or to surprise other pokemon that would switch when faced with Scizor. X-Scissor is just filler. It hits Celebi, I guess.

Dragonite (F) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Fire Punch
- Earthquake
Dragonite is my ace in the hole. If I lose the weather war, and things aren’t going my way, Dragonite still has a chance to sweep. One dragon dance makes you fast and lets you KO most pokemon with outrage or the appropriate coverage move. Multiscale makes it easy to set up, and then just spam outrage once steels are eliminated. Fire punch is stronger in the sun, and easily eliminates Ferrothorn/Forretress/Skarmory. Earthquake hits Heatran and Steels in other weather harder. Evs are standard, max attack and speed with Adamant for more power.​

Threats:

This frog is everywhere. Sunny day on Ninetales is meant to counter it, and Venusaur and Terrakion can hit it hard. Scizor runs pursuit to pick up low health ones.

Tyranitar loses to terrakion and scizor, hates being burned, and gets giga drained or earthquaked to death by Venusaur or Dragonite.

I HATE THE HIPPO. Seriously, Hippowdon is like my least favorite Pokemon in the game. It’s the only weather starter with reliable recovery, and always switches in to physical moves and roars Dragonite away, ruining my weather. Thankfully it isn't used very much.

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Lati@s are annoying. Specs and Scarf aren’t as threatening because Scizor can pursuit them, and bulky calm mind usually have too limited attacking movepool to win. Life orb or Leftover offensive Lati@s, however, spam Dragon moves and HP fire Scizor to death.

Heatran is irritating too. It completely walls Venusaur and Ninetales, and outspeeds and destroys Scizor with fire blast. Terrakion has trouble switching in, as my team attracts earth powers. Dragonite has problems with HP Ice, and has problems killing a BalloonTran. My own heatran is my only solid switch-in.

Importable

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Heatran (F) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Stealth Rock

Ninetales (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drought
EVs: 136 HP / 252 SAtk / 120 Spd
Modest Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Fire Blast
- SolarBeam
- Sunny Day

Venusaur (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Growth
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Scizor (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Pursuit

Terrakion @ Choice Band
Trait: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Close Combat
- X-Scissor
- Quick Attack

Dragonite (F) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Fire Punch
- Earthquake

And that's the team! Please rate and give other feedback!​

 

[GC7]

Hey there cabforpitt, well this team seems pretty good, althought i Think this team will have a real hard time with landorus, once heatran is dead you will have a real hard time killing him, and even then while heatran is still up you must predict very well landorus switching in to hit him with hp ice, I really think this team can do good, maybe you should Give Choice band victini a try over Heatran and swithch terrakion to a sub swords set, he seems to do better in sun teams with that set than with the good old choice set,

Victini (Choice Scarf) (Adamant)
252 att, 252 speed, 6 hp
V-Create
Fusion Bolt
U-turn
Zen Headbutt

Terrakion (Life Orb)(Jolly)
252 att, 252 speed, 6 hp
Stone Edge
Close Combat
Swords Dance
Substitute

well anyways pretty nice team, I have a similar one and i know it has potential :)

 

[ganj4lF]

Hey, your team is great and your peak only confirms that.

Just a couple of observations. First of all, you should not run 252 HP on Scizor. A spread of 248 HP | 252 Atk | 8 Spe is better since it doesn't have a HP stat divisible by 8 and thus lets you take less damage from Leech Seed, SR, burn and similar effects. You could also try to speed creep a bit other Scizors, but that's up to you. Anything between 248 and 224 HP EVs is nice, just avoid HP stats divisible by 8.

Also, a minor annotation, I don't like running offensive DD Dragonite without ExtremeSpeed. Doing so means that many weak, but fast Scarfers (or just very fast pokemons, Jolteon and Aerodactyl still outspeed at +1) can stop you quite easily. ExtremeSpeed allow you to deal with them after a bit of residual damage, and it's useful overall to stop sweeps that could otherwise cause you a loss.

Thirdly, and lastly, run Timid nature on Venusaur. Timid allows you to outspeed many threats that could otherwise stop you while Scarfed - Latios, Terrakion, +2 Adamant Dragonite amongst others. Modest hits harder, indeed, but in my experience is not worth the risk to be outsped by said threats.

Good luck for tour team!

 

[Prinz]

Hey there, cool team you have here! In my opinion, you team needs a revengekiller even without the sun (Scizor can't revengekill a lot of 'mons, it can't do OHKO at Dragonite, for example), as you know, the sun will not always be present, also it doesn't have effective methods to kill other weather setter. I'd put Dugtrio in place of your Scizor and I'd use Magma Storm Heatran here for have 2 pokèmon useful against the opponents' weather setter. If you use Dugtrio, you can put ExtremeSpeed on your Dragonite. Finally, for have an excellent revengekiller I'd put Choice Scarf on your Terrakion in place of Choice Band.

Sets:

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Heatran:

Heatran (M) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Sunny Day
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power / Hidden Power [Ice]
- SolarBeam

Dugtrio:

Dugtrio (M) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Arena Trap
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Reversal

Hope it helped, best of luck!

 

[Jimbon]

Hi there,

Pretty solid sun team here, but it does seem like you have big problems with other weather. Pokemon such as offensive Politoed in particular among other weather inducers seem like one of the biggest problems for you to face. Offensive Politoed, mainly scarf sets look very annoying for you to face. It can revenge Dragonite and Terrakion, while dealing a massive amount to Scizor in the Rain. Venusaur hardly becomes a reliable switch in either, not appreciating two STAB Rain boosted Hydro Pumps in the Rain. With no spinner and an offensive Ninetales, you really can't keep switching in, and it seems like any Rain Team with Latias / Latios is probably your worst matchup. You really have nothing for them, especially Calm Mind versions who commonly pack Hidden Power [Fire] to remove Scizor, before you U-Turn / Pursuit. Latias in particular also walls your Venusaur, who does seem to be your primary sweeper. It also beats Dragonite one on one before it nets a Dragon Dance, being able to stop your sweeping attempts should it be in at the right time, which is not hard as it uses a lot of your team as setup fodder. To help with this, I'd strongly suggest you try out Specially Defensive Ninetales over your current set. This Ninetales set mitigates some of the problems your team currently has, mainly being able to take on some of the weather inducers I was talking about earlier, being able to tank hits from Tyranitar after burning it, and having much more freedom when switching into a Politoed Scald. This Ninetales set also patches up some other problems, namely stuff like Calm Mind Latias and Quiver Dance Volcarona, either of which can setup on multiple 'mons. Either those on your team that hit on their weaker physical defense (Scizor, Terrakion) are easily used as setup fodder when locked into the wrong move. Specially Defensive Ninetales can make much better use of support moves such as Toxic and Roar as it has the bulk to switch into a stray Volt Switch or U-Turn. Both of the aforementioned stat boosters are not beating Ninetales, as you can easily Toxic them, and then Roar them out to render their boosts useless. This is very important because your main sweeper, Venusaur, is walled pretty hard by these two and needs a Growth to break through them. Removing these / weakening these makes it much easier for Venusaur to sweep late game, as most teams do not carry that many checks for Venusaur. There really isn't a big drawback to using a Defensive Ninetales. It makes winning weather wars a hell of a lot easier, while you already have Heatran who performs a much better offensive Special Attack under Sun than Ninetales, with much better typing and bulk too.

On offensive Sun using some sort of Chlorophyll 'mon, I always like a Scarfer alongside my Chlorophyll Pokemon for extra insurance. It's great when you run into Sand teams using Stoutland, or even just offensive teams in general that usually only carry one scarfer of their own. It makes sure you don't lose flatout to 'mons that can boost their Speed that Venusaur cannot beat. This includes opposing DD Nite and Scarf Mence, both of which can only be checked currently by your Heatran, who can only do so with Air Balloon intact. I'm advocating the change of Scarf Terrakion over your current set. Scarf Terrakion provides you with that much needed secondary late game sweeper that you seem to need, as well as a catch-all revenge killer that seems to fit in nicely with your team. It helps out greatly against Sand Teams which you mentioned were one of your worst matchups. Scarf Terrakion puts a lot of pressure on Sand Teams, forcing in Gliscor / Skarmory which really aren't problems for Sun Teams. However, if you do choose to go with this set, I'd recommend some moveset changes. I think running Rock Slide > Quick Attack and Toxic > X-Scissor would be your best bet. Rock Slide adds a secondary STAB option alongside Stone Edge, but has much better accuracy. This is important for situations where you absolutely need to hit, for example +1 Volcarona and +1 Dragonite who both have the potential of sweeping your team if they get a second boost. Toxic may seem like an odd move choice on Terrakion, but I'll explain why it's incredibly practical. Terrakion only really needs its STAB options coverage wise, as there's nothing relevant you additionally hit with other moves. Toxic hits the common Terrakion switch-ins and cripples them. These include Slowbro, Jellicent, Politoed and more. Every time they switch into Terrakion, they're only taking more and more damage with Toxic racking up. Terrakion can essentially wear down it's counters with consistent Toxic damage, and eventually you can break through the aforementioned Scarf Terrakion checks. You may also want to change your current EV spread to a spread of 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spe, thus giving Genesect an Attack boost upon switching in. It's a minor change but it means you have a much easier time switching in on Genesect, namely Rock Polish sets and situations where you need to switch in to take a U-Turn while still providing offensive pressure.

I'd also agree with ganj4lF's / A l e x a n d e r's suggestion of Extremespeed > Earthquake on Dragonite. Priority is essential on Dragonite, and is what sets it aside from other users of Dragon Dance. It also means Dragonite can actually get prior damage off on faster opponents in situations where you haven't been able to get up a Dragon Dance.

I also noticed something while looking over your team. It appears you are very weak to entry hazards, namely Stealth Rock as your Ninetales and Dragonite lose 25% upon switching in, heavily limiting their switching opportunities. This is bad for both 'mons, Ninetales needs to be healthy to win potential weather wars, and given how much reliance you have on your team with Venusaur as your main sweeper, I think you'd try to keep it around for as long as possible. Dragonite on the other hand is even more crippled by Stealth Rock. With Multiscale and Lum Berry, Dragonite pretty much has a free Dragon Dance against most 'mons. Switching in on Stealth Rock can heavily limit the setup opportunities Dragonite has, as Multiscale only makes it easier for Dragonite to set up. For example, when 100% Dragonite is in against Latias, Dragonite can live a Dragon Pulse and Dragon Dance up, being able to KO Latias on the next turn. With Stealth Rock up, you kind of lose the ability to do so, and can change how matches play out -- being able to sweep with Dragonite, or be swept by a Latias, or whatever Pokemon is in question. Given your Stealth Rock weakness, I think you should swap out Scizor for Xatu. When you factor in how offensive your team is, I really don't think you'd benefit much from a Rapid Spinner like Forretress or Tentacruel, who would only slow your momentum down. Xatu is great for switching into common hazard setters, while also being able to remove the most common of them under Sun, namely Forretress, Ferrothorn and Skarmory. Xatu, just like Scizor, also provides you with that U-Turn momentum, being able to gain a free switch into Terrakion or Dragonite as your opponent switches, which is great for keeping the offensive pressure. When you combine this with hazards, it becomes a very deadly strategy, as you can simply keep U-Turning out into said sweeper to start sweeping and go back into Xatu to deflect hazards. While Scizor also has access to U-Turn, it isn't stopping the aforementioned hazard setters, while also still leaving you open to hazards hindering your Dragonite and Ninetales. I think that if you go with the Extremespeed Dragonite + Scarf Terrakion changes, you won't have that much of a need for Scizor anymore, given that these two changes completely ease up your problems with being able to revenge kill effectively, which is what Scizor does very well.

Good luck!

Sets

Ninetales (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drought
EVs: 176 HP / 224 SDef / 108 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Flamethrower
- Toxic
- Roar
- Sunny Day

Xatu (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Magic Bounce
EVs: 248 HP / 244 Def / 16 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- U-turn
- Roost
- Toxic
- Heat Wave

 

[skulltula]

Hey, I would suggest using adamant CB Terrakion, it would greatly increase the damage done and quick attack would do even more damage.

 

[cabforpitt]

I really like Extremespeed on Dragonite, and have made that change for good. I tested Xatu and CS Terrakion, but I missed the punch of Scizor and Terrakion to break walls and just do damage. I also noticed that Latios destroyed my team without Scizor, and I still haven't decided if I like those changes. Dugtrio was interesting, but I was disappointed that I couldn't kill defensive Politoed. Specially defensive Ninetails and Magma Storm Heatran are both very strong, and I am using them on different accounts to decide what I like best. Thank you for all the rates, I like all the advice I am getting, and I hope that I can get even higher on the ladder.

 

[Ada]

Hm, I don't see how you can deal with opposing Terrakion. If you lead with Heatran and they start with Terrakion then I don't think it will end well.

Also, Scizor can check most of your sweepers because of their offensive evs. AB Heatran needs to be played with care because it doesn't want to get its balloon stolen so the only real switch in would be your own Scizor or Ninetales. I don't think they'll like taking many BPs though.

 

[cabforpitt]

Hm, I don't see how you can deal with opposing Terrakion. If you lead with Heatran and they start with Terrakion then I don't think it will end well.

Also, Scizor can check most of your sweepers because of their offensive evs. AB Heatran needs to be played with care because it doesn't want to get its balloon stolen so the only real switch in would be your own Scizor or Ninetales. I don't think they'll like taking many BPs though.

Venusaur can switch in to CC or Stone Edge and KO with Giga drain in the sun, or Scizor can Bullet Punch it to death.

Scizor isn't too much of a threat because my whole team can KO it except for my Scizor, and it can't OHKO anyone but Terrakion.