BTW I made this yesterday if anyone wants to look at it. https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/my-first-true-hyper-offense-team.3740654/#post-10064587
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Project Team Bazaar
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Hey y'all, recently saw a Rabia video where he was complaining and yelling about a Hisuian Typhlosion running Extrasensory and expert-belt and thought it was fun enough to build a team around since I haven't loved using scarf Typhlosion in the past.
I know the team lacks a flying type and water type as well as any hazards aside from webs, but I don't know what to change to fulfill those needs. Any and all feedback would be super appreciated but if possible I want to keep the Typhlosion set as is :^)
https://pokepast.es/1cd5fdb094d86ff5
Typhlosion-Hisui @ Expert Belt
Ability: Frisk
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Infernal Parade
- Extrasensory
- Eruption
- Tera Blast
To be honest I just love expert belt as an item. Running Tera-Fairy Terablast to catch dark switch-ins on a switch
Muk-Alola @ Leftovers
Ability: Poison Touch
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Knock Off
- Poison Jab
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
Nothing special here, just here to absorb special attacks
Vikavolt @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Levitate
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sticky Web
- Bug Buzz
- Thunderbolt
- Tera Blast
Web setter, ground immunity, hard hitter. I would love to keep this mon on the team if at all possible (yes I know Galvantula is far superior in most situations for webs)
Tera-fire because I thought it was cool (that's honestly the main reason + steel type switch in?)
Mienshao @ Life Orb
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Poison Jab
- Swords Dance
Not scarfed since Krook is the scarf mon of the team. Never been super comfortable running double scarf
Tsareena (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Queenly Majesty
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Power Whip
- Knock Off
- Rapid Spin
- Triple Axel
Offensive pivot and spinner, no innovation done by me
Krookodile @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Moxie
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Close Combat
- Gunk Shot
Scarf Cleaner, one of my all-time favorite mons tbh
Typhlosion-Hisui @ Expert Belt
Ability: Frisk
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Infernal Parade
- Extrasensory
- Eruption
- Tera Blast
To be honest I just love expert belt as an item. Running Tera-Fairy Terablast to catch dark switch-ins on a switch
Muk-Alola @ Leftovers
Ability: Poison Touch
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Knock Off
- Poison Jab
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
Nothing special here, just here to absorb special attacks
Vikavolt @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Levitate
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sticky Web
- Bug Buzz
- Thunderbolt
- Tera Blast
Web setter, ground immunity, hard hitter. I would love to keep this mon on the team if at all possible (yes I know Galvantula is far superior in most situations for webs)
Tera-fire because I thought it was cool (that's honestly the main reason + steel type switch in?)
Mienshao @ Life Orb
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Poison Jab
- Swords Dance
Not scarfed since Krook is the scarf mon of the team. Never been super comfortable running double scarf
Tsareena (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Queenly Majesty
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Power Whip
- Knock Off
- Rapid Spin
- Triple Axel
Offensive pivot and spinner, no innovation done by me
Krookodile @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Moxie
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Close Combat
- Gunk Shot
Scarf Cleaner, one of my all-time favorite mons tbh
After returning to NU and playing a bit, I’ve made an at least semi-decent team that’s gotten a ton of wins recently.
(Click on sprites for link)
(Click on sprites for link)
This started out with me wanting to make a team featuring Lycanroc-Dusk after failing multiple times to do a good Specs Dragalge team. So, that’s where I started. SD Lyc-D + Specs Galge create a strong wallbreaking core in which Galge deals with physical walls like Slowbro, and Lyc-D takes advantage of Galge’s Flip Turn to surprise special walls like Alolan Muk. Next, I added Mienshao who helps clear Steel-types but mostly is there for revenge-killing and speed control. I chose Ice Spinner over Stone Edge because I can deal with Talonflame in other ways and Dragon-types like Flygon could be an issue otherwise. Rocky Helmey Slowbro + AV Brute Bonnet create a bulky core that still maintain offensive pressure while also dealing with Ground-types. Finally, I added Talonflame for hazard control and to have a Ground immunity.
Overall, this team has served me well the last few days. The only issue with it is that you have no way to set up hazards, but, if you’re really concerned, you can run Stealth Rock over Swords Dance. I wouldn’t recommend it however as I found, with the switches Lycanroc-D causes—which more than it should be, set-up is easier to accomplish, and it can wrap games up. Another issue that could arise is dealing with special breakers, but, if Brute Bonnet can’t handle it, half of the team, Scarf Mienshao + Talonflame + Accelerock Lyc-D, don’t have an issue at all at picking them off.
Overall, this team has served me well the last few days. The only issue with it is that you have no way to set up hazards, but, if you’re really concerned, you can run Stealth Rock over Swords Dance. I wouldn’t recommend it however as I found, with the switches Lycanroc-D causes—which more than it should be, set-up is easier to accomplish, and it can wrap games up. Another issue that could arise is dealing with special breakers, but, if Brute Bonnet can’t handle it, half of the team, Scarf Mienshao + Talonflame + Accelerock Lyc-D, don’t have an issue at all at picking them off.
Inspired by Diamonds_realm's Chandelure set from Next Best Thing, I set out to create a hazard stack offense that utilized defensive Chandelure as the team's spinblocker. The team has been very fun to use and nabbed me a win in my first BLT game, give it a shot!
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Chandelure: Max physdef with painsplit and wisphex. Still deals a lot of damage uninvested thanks to base 145 SpA.
Klefki: Obligatory hazard setter for hazards-based team. Magnet rise seems neat.
Thundurus: Offensive pivot with knock off to remove pesky boots
Krookodile: Scarfer, Knocker, and Rocker. Sometimes can clean in endgame via Moxie.
Tsareena: Hazard spinner with yet another knock off. I went with an offensive spread because I wanted to deal damage.
Dragalge: Defensive pivot with strong STAB combo, provides a handy grounded poison, tons of resists, and now actually has Dragon Tail to help with calm mind Dudunsparce.
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]=- Chandelure: Max physdef with painsplit and wisphex. Still deals a lot of damage uninvested thanks to base 145 SpA. Klefki: Obligatory hazard setter for hazards-based team. Magnet rise seems neat. Thundurus: Offensive pivot with knock off to remove pesky boots Krookodile: Scarfer, Knocker, and Rocker. Sometimes can clean in endgame via Moxie. Tsareena: Hazard spinner with yet another knock off. I went with an offensive spread because I wanted to deal damage. Dragalge: Defensive pivot with strong STAB combo, provides a handy grounded poison, tons of resists, and now actually has Dragon Tail to help with calm mind Dudunsparce.
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Partial Rain HO
I realized I hadn't contributed anything here and I've been sitting on some decent teams! I think the rain sweepers (especially Kingdra) can be really scary but the problem with rain is that you have to manually set it, so not many people are using rain right now. Understandably Sun is a bit easier to manage since drought ninetails is in the tier. I wanted to try and blend rain and traditional HO into one team. Brambleghast is the lead, iron thorns and lucario are both running lure sets to help break down the opposing team for late game rain to blast through. Legion is scarf adaptability here over swift swim so it can benefit from the rain but not solely function in the rain. It operates as a revenge killer/normal scarfer in the early game before rain has gone up as well. There is a more detailed explanation below, mons ordered in the order they typically come out.
Replay vs Shen
VS Sun 1
VS Sun 2
More Detailed Explanation
Brambleghast - Lead
Bramble is our suicide lead here. Its job is to get up a spike, spin away hazards from opposing leads, and then poltergeist or curse for chip/a set up opportunity for one of the sweepers.
Iron Thorns - Breaker
Iron thorns is a powerful and somewhat underrated sweeper right now. This team's goal is to overwhelm the opponent and thorns here typically functions more like a breaker than a late game cleaner. It loves to be able to DD after bramble clicks curse early game and proceed to knock holes in the opponent's team. Terablast grass gives thorns the ability to get through the ground types more effectively (especially the ground/water types like gastro that are a problem for rain), supercell is there for massive damage and ice punch rounds out its coverage hitting things like flygon and grass types that otherwise wall iron thorns here.
Lucario - Mixed breaker
Lucario here is sporting a bit of an unusual set, at least compared to the typical SD E-Speed "E-Killer" sets. This lucario is a mixed wallbreaker with 4 attacks. Close combat is of course the stab of choice, extreme speed for picking things off and priority, shadow ball 2 hits slowbro (very valuable for the team), and psychic 2 hits Vileplume (also very valuable for the team.) Potentially luring and weakening these mons makes it much easier for legion to power through with rain support late game. Originally I had vacuum wave over psychic for cloyster/lycanroc-dusk but I think hitting plume is more valuable.
Tornadus - Rain Setter
Tornadus' main role here is to set up rain. As such torn should be played carefully. At most it will be able to set rain twice, but typically just once. The idea is to have that 1 time be enough after lucario/thorns have broken holes/weakened checks on the opposing team. Hurricanes from torn are powerful in their own right and a lot of teams have trouble switching into the combination of hurricane and weather ball under rain. Still tornadus typically has to take a hit to set rain so prioritize getting the rain up over clicking offensive moves with tornadus most of the time. U-Turn over focus blast is also an option here.
Basculegion - Rain Sweeper / Scarfer
Choice Scarf Basculegion is the quintessential partial rain mon. The idea of this set is largely what gave way to the creation of this team. With a choice scarf and adaptability legion is already a decent scarfer in the tier and has good damage output on its water moves, that are of course boosted further under rain. A scarf adaptability set is chosen here over swift swim because it allow legion to function both in and out of rain. Outside of rain its a good scarfer; in rain its a major threat. Terablast ghost is here because legion honestly doesn't have good coverage moves here and being able to kill slowbro in a pinch is valuable. 9/10 games you shouldn't tera legion since you lose the adaptability boost to its water moves, but it is there in a pinch.
Kingdra - Rain Sweeper / Star of the show
Swift swim kingdra really needs no introduction. This mon is very scary under rain, outspending the entire tier under rain, ohkoing most offensive mons with weather ball, dropping Dracos, hurricaning grass types, and taking names. Most games you will use Kingdra late game to finish off what the rest of the team has started. Weather balls is used over hydro pump or surf for a balance of power and accuracy, but both of those are fine options as well. Draco is your secondary stab. Hurricane (not really sure why this mon gets this but it's a cool option!) is there to hit grass types harder. Ice beam is an option as well but hurricane has a higher base power and you already have draco for dragon types. Flip turn does decent chip with life orb and the rain boost, but most of the time you will be clicking one of your other moves. Most of the time you want to save tera water for kingdra for the silly damage tera water life orb weather ball does in the rain! 252 SpA Life Orb Tera Water Kingdra Weather Ball (100 BP Water) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Slowbro in Rain: 205-243 (52 - 61.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
I realized I hadn't contributed anything here and I've been sitting on some decent teams! I think the rain sweepers (especially Kingdra) can be really scary but the problem with rain is that you have to manually set it, so not many people are using rain right now. Understandably Sun is a bit easier to manage since drought ninetails is in the tier. I wanted to try and blend rain and traditional HO into one team. Brambleghast is the lead, iron thorns and lucario are both running lure sets to help break down the opposing team for late game rain to blast through. Legion is scarf adaptability here over swift swim so it can benefit from the rain but not solely function in the rain. It operates as a revenge killer/normal scarfer in the early game before rain has gone up as well. There is a more detailed explanation below, mons ordered in the order they typically come out.
Replay vs Shen
VS Sun 1
VS Sun 2
More Detailed Explanation
Brambleghast - LeadBramble is our suicide lead here. Its job is to get up a spike, spin away hazards from opposing leads, and then poltergeist or curse for chip/a set up opportunity for one of the sweepers.
Iron Thorns - BreakerIron thorns is a powerful and somewhat underrated sweeper right now. This team's goal is to overwhelm the opponent and thorns here typically functions more like a breaker than a late game cleaner. It loves to be able to DD after bramble clicks curse early game and proceed to knock holes in the opponent's team. Terablast grass gives thorns the ability to get through the ground types more effectively (especially the ground/water types like gastro that are a problem for rain), supercell is there for massive damage and ice punch rounds out its coverage hitting things like flygon and grass types that otherwise wall iron thorns here.
Lucario - Mixed breakerLucario here is sporting a bit of an unusual set, at least compared to the typical SD E-Speed "E-Killer" sets. This lucario is a mixed wallbreaker with 4 attacks. Close combat is of course the stab of choice, extreme speed for picking things off and priority, shadow ball 2 hits slowbro (very valuable for the team), and psychic 2 hits Vileplume (also very valuable for the team.) Potentially luring and weakening these mons makes it much easier for legion to power through with rain support late game. Originally I had vacuum wave over psychic for cloyster/lycanroc-dusk but I think hitting plume is more valuable.
Tornadus - Rain SetterTornadus' main role here is to set up rain. As such torn should be played carefully. At most it will be able to set rain twice, but typically just once. The idea is to have that 1 time be enough after lucario/thorns have broken holes/weakened checks on the opposing team. Hurricanes from torn are powerful in their own right and a lot of teams have trouble switching into the combination of hurricane and weather ball under rain. Still tornadus typically has to take a hit to set rain so prioritize getting the rain up over clicking offensive moves with tornadus most of the time. U-Turn over focus blast is also an option here.
Basculegion - Rain Sweeper / ScarferChoice Scarf Basculegion is the quintessential partial rain mon. The idea of this set is largely what gave way to the creation of this team. With a choice scarf and adaptability legion is already a decent scarfer in the tier and has good damage output on its water moves, that are of course boosted further under rain. A scarf adaptability set is chosen here over swift swim because it allow legion to function both in and out of rain. Outside of rain its a good scarfer; in rain its a major threat. Terablast ghost is here because legion honestly doesn't have good coverage moves here and being able to kill slowbro in a pinch is valuable. 9/10 games you shouldn't tera legion since you lose the adaptability boost to its water moves, but it is there in a pinch.
Kingdra - Rain Sweeper / Star of the showSwift swim kingdra really needs no introduction. This mon is very scary under rain, outspending the entire tier under rain, ohkoing most offensive mons with weather ball, dropping Dracos, hurricaning grass types, and taking names. Most games you will use Kingdra late game to finish off what the rest of the team has started. Weather balls is used over hydro pump or surf for a balance of power and accuracy, but both of those are fine options as well. Draco is your secondary stab. Hurricane (not really sure why this mon gets this but it's a cool option!) is there to hit grass types harder. Ice beam is an option as well but hurricane has a higher base power and you already have draco for dragon types. Flip turn does decent chip with life orb and the rain boost, but most of the time you will be clicking one of your other moves. Most of the time you want to save tera water for kingdra for the silly damage tera water life orb weather ball does in the rain! 252 SpA Life Orb Tera Water Kingdra Weather Ball (100 BP Water) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Slowbro in Rain: 205-243 (52 - 61.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
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Mixed Legion Volt-Turn
I'm back again with another team! This time I'm posting the team I made using the mixed legion set me and Diamonds_realm worked on! This a momentum based team that uses pivoting to gain positioning and chip down the opposing team. Legion is sporting a mixed set with shadow ball where wave crash into shadow ball kills slowbro (if they are lefties and there are no hazards its like an 80% roll in your favor, otherwise it is 100%). Luring slowbro opens up for mienshao to clean late game. More detail description below!
Legion kills muk bro and ohkoes cloyster
Replay vs Balance
Long Replay Where Bro + Legion Win in the End
Detailed Description
Basculegion
I won't go into too much detail on the set here, check out the breakdown Diamonds did on the underrated sets thread! This legion is a great mixed wallbreaker noticeably luring slowbro, but also hitting a lot of physical walls hard with shadow ball while maintaining the same power as scarf legion on its water moves. Wave crash is your main stab, shadow ball hits slowbro (after a wave crash) and 2 hits a lot of other physical walls, jet is nice priority and flip turn gets you chip and momentum.
Mienshao
After we lure slowbro we need to have something that appreciates it being gone! Mienshao is the premier scarfer in the tier for good reason, and has incredible longevity thanks to regenerator. I think most of us agree that shao is the second best mon in the tier after slowbro.
Slowbro
Speaking of the best mon in the tier, here he is! Slowbro provides a defensive backbone to the team helping it to not lose to a lot of the physical threats in the tier. Slowbro is very hard to kill after a cm, scald spam is great into basically all of the tier, and psychic noise prevents recovery which is another nice trick for it to have up its sleeve. Psyshock is also a perfectly workable option here.
Magnezone
AV Magnezone is a special tank for the team. While it doesn't have lasting recovery, it does check a lot of the special attackers in the tier and it also gains momentum into talonflame, another notable thorn in Mienshao's side. Modest and Analytic allow zone to still hit hard on the switch while maintaining solid bulk. Tera Dragon and mirror coat are on here mainly for the Sun matchup, allowing zone to check venusuar.
Talonflame
Talonflame is in my opinion, the best hazard removal in the tier. Having cleared hazards is very important for keeping this team healthy as it wants to switch around a lot by nature. It leverages its speed, typing, and burns to check many physical attackers and burn the opponents as they try to u turn. It is also the team's answer to krookodile (unless they have stone edge but that isn't common) and does a great job supporting the team.
Flygon
The team needed a ground type (for a powerful EQ and a stop to volt switch) and a hazard in the last slot. While krook could also function here, flygon has access to a pivoting move in u turn, and priority in first impression.
I'm back again with another team! This time I'm posting the team I made using the mixed legion set me and Diamonds_realm worked on! This a momentum based team that uses pivoting to gain positioning and chip down the opposing team. Legion is sporting a mixed set with shadow ball where wave crash into shadow ball kills slowbro (if they are lefties and there are no hazards its like an 80% roll in your favor, otherwise it is 100%). Luring slowbro opens up for mienshao to clean late game. More detail description below!
Legion kills muk bro and ohkoes cloyster
Replay vs Balance
Long Replay Where Bro + Legion Win in the End
Detailed Description
BasculegionI won't go into too much detail on the set here, check out the breakdown Diamonds did on the underrated sets thread! This legion is a great mixed wallbreaker noticeably luring slowbro, but also hitting a lot of physical walls hard with shadow ball while maintaining the same power as scarf legion on its water moves. Wave crash is your main stab, shadow ball hits slowbro (after a wave crash) and 2 hits a lot of other physical walls, jet is nice priority and flip turn gets you chip and momentum.
MienshaoAfter we lure slowbro we need to have something that appreciates it being gone! Mienshao is the premier scarfer in the tier for good reason, and has incredible longevity thanks to regenerator. I think most of us agree that shao is the second best mon in the tier after slowbro.
SlowbroSpeaking of the best mon in the tier, here he is! Slowbro provides a defensive backbone to the team helping it to not lose to a lot of the physical threats in the tier. Slowbro is very hard to kill after a cm, scald spam is great into basically all of the tier, and psychic noise prevents recovery which is another nice trick for it to have up its sleeve. Psyshock is also a perfectly workable option here.
MagnezoneAV Magnezone is a special tank for the team. While it doesn't have lasting recovery, it does check a lot of the special attackers in the tier and it also gains momentum into talonflame, another notable thorn in Mienshao's side. Modest and Analytic allow zone to still hit hard on the switch while maintaining solid bulk. Tera Dragon and mirror coat are on here mainly for the Sun matchup, allowing zone to check venusuar.
TalonflameTalonflame is in my opinion, the best hazard removal in the tier. Having cleared hazards is very important for keeping this team healthy as it wants to switch around a lot by nature. It leverages its speed, typing, and burns to check many physical attackers and burn the opponents as they try to u turn. It is also the team's answer to krookodile (unless they have stone edge but that isn't common) and does a great job supporting the team.
FlygonThe team needed a ground type (for a powerful EQ and a stop to volt switch) and a hazard in the last slot. While krook could also function here, flygon has access to a pivoting move in u turn, and priority in first impression.
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Tailwind Offense
Hello everyone. I've been grinding this team on ladder and finally used it in Week 2 of BLT. Now I will turn it loose to you, the people. Whimsicott has surprised me as a support option for offense teams, particularly with Eject Button. It serves as a pivot against scary setup mons which either hit you (free pivot) or try to set up (free Encore*). It sets priority Tailwind for our star of the show, Brambleghast, and his supporting crew. Memento is also handy for giving you an opportunity to set up a sweeper. In this case, we often try to close out the game using Iron Thorns.
*Encore may not work against other priority mons. Shengineer holds no liability for getting swept by enemy Cetitan. If you have any concerns, consider asking Incineroar to crit a Flare Blitz.
Hello everyone. I've been grinding this team on ladder and finally used it in Week 2 of BLT. Now I will turn it loose to you, the people. Whimsicott has surprised me as a support option for offense teams, particularly with Eject Button. It serves as a pivot against scary setup mons which either hit you (free pivot) or try to set up (free Encore*). It sets priority Tailwind for our star of the show, Brambleghast, and his supporting crew. Memento is also handy for giving you an opportunity to set up a sweeper. In this case, we often try to close out the game using Iron Thorns.
*Encore may not work against other priority mons. Shengineer holds no liability for getting swept by enemy Cetitan. If you have any concerns, consider asking Incineroar to crit a Flare Blitz.
Expert Belt Cloyster Rain HO
SD Decidueye
Hariyama Webs
Defensive Venu (Plume is Trash) [Not Really]
Cringe HO
This was inspired by LessThanThreeMan’s rain team in the NBT thread. This isn’t an entirely new team, but there is some fun tech here that you’ll enjoy: Expert Belt Cloyster. (An old version of the team had Spell Tag Tera Ghost Blast Cloyster, but that was too cringe since Expert Belt gives the same damage boost but on more moves.) Expert Belt Cloyster obviously seems goofy, but, specifically, it’s meant to target the king of NU himseld, Slowbro. With Stealth Rock—or in this case one layer of Spikes, Slowbro dies to Tera Blast Ghost from Cloyster after a Shell Smash 93.8% of the time. That isn’t an issue, though, with all the chip the team can amass with Life Orb Kingdra + Choice Scarf Basculegion. Espeon acts as a entry hazard deterrent and pivot with Eject Button. Klefki sets up Rain while providing the team with chip in Spikes and emergency speed control with Prankster Thunder Wave. Tornadus is the second Rain setter that also acts a great cleaner in endgames and pivot early on.
SD Decidueye
The unmon here, Decidueye, I believe has quite a few redeeming qualities. First, it hits Slowbro super effectively with both STABS, and it ignores common defensive staples’ way of punishing physical attackers with Long Reach bypassing Effect Spore, Flame Body, and Rocky Helmet. Also, Shadow Sneak is great at picking off weakened threats and, most notably, OHKOes Mienshao from full with Tera Ghost. Its only counter is Alolan Muk (and Wo-Chien I guess) which is quite a pain. Mienshao is nice speed control and pivot for Decidueye that can check Dark-types. Noivern is hazard control and a pivot that can bring Krookodile in on Alolan Muk, forcing it in a bad position and possibly paving the way for a Decidueye sweep. Stone Edge can be run on Krookodile over Gunk Shot to hit Talonflame, which this team may struggle with at times, but hitting Tsareena and Wo-Chien with Gunk Shot is really nice, in my opinion. Slowbro is here because it’s not optimal balance without it. Magnezone helps to chip away at the aforementioned Alolan Muk too and pressures defensive Water-types for Mienshao. (Tera Dragon can help versus Sun on Magnezone but just forfeit at that point.)
Note: I made this quite a bit ago and it may not be up-to-date, but I will make another team around Decidueye!
Note: I made this quite a bit ago and it may not be up-to-date, but I will make another team around Decidueye!
Hariyama Webs
This is a bit more of a fun team, but it’s still decent. Galvantula is here because skillful HO lead is skillful. Hariyama is nice to break fatter Pokemon, especially Slowbro or Vileplume for Cloyster or Krookodile. And, Bullet Punch lets it be an endgame option. Guts is there, so Slowbro doesn’t scare you out. Krookodile gets Psychic- and Ghost-types for Hariyama to make its life easier. Cloyster is here for auto-wins after beating Slowbro. (Rock Blast is probably better as Drill Run.) Choice Scarf Chandelure acts as speed control and handles walls with Trick. Venusaur, as a self-setter, beats Quagsire, Slowbro, and Sylveon, which the rest of the team can struggle against.
Defensive Venu (Plume is Trash) [Not Really]
Okay, okay, okay. I know Vileplume is better in every other way BUUUUUT. I’d like to state Venusaur has a niche defensively in beating and surprising Alolan Muk with Earthquake. Yes, that’s all, folks. Choice Scarf Chandelure takes advantage of dead Alolan Muk quite well. Noivern provides hazard control while Swampert provides entry hazards and a way to win versus Sun. Choice Specs Magnezone beats fat Water-types and beats Flying-types for Chandelure and Venusaur, respectively. Gallade is here as another specially defensive Pokemon + wallbreaker in one to help versus Incineroar and friends.
Cringe HO
This is a cringe HO team that is meant for purely fun. And, it’s semi-okay on ladder. Again, just for fun—don’t use this thinking you’ll win. Lucario is here to delete Slowbro or chip it down for Cloyster and Agility helps speed control-wise. Mew provides entry hazards and a dangerous lead Pokemon. Cloyster is here because dumb Pokemon is dumb. Brambleghast is a Rapid Spin blocker and Spikes setter in one that can use Curse to break fatter walls (but mostly to meme). Ditto works as speed control too and helps check offensive set-up sweepers on Sticky Web HO teams. Thundurus beats Slowbro, Talonflame, and Vileplume for Cloyster and Lucario.
Weird Sun
So with sun being, uhhh, dominant, in NU, I decided to limit test how much bs I could make with a sun team while still being viable. And this is the result. I did have regular typhlosion over h-typhlosion to deal with other fire types, primarily scovillian, but while it did work out, h-typhlosion was better. Anyways, onto the team.
Of course, what sun team isn't without the sun staples? Standard sets to set up sun and abuse sun, not much else to be said. I don't really need to explain this.
Idk if h-typhlosion is used a lot on sun teams, but here it is. As stated above, you can switch it to normal typhlosion if wanted, but this is more standard. It's a simple set with eruption being the main click to deal massive damage in sun while still being fast. The rest of the moves are coverage.
Now onto the weirdness. Talonflame is a good mon in NU, but more as a defensive mon. However, on this team while it does have some utility, it also is a dangerous sweeper. Gale wings is almost never used on talon (pun not intended) but here it can do a few things. Firstly, and the main reason why it is used, is to revenge kill chlorophyll sweepers such as venusaur and scovillian. Dual wingbeat means that this can be done multiple times if you position talon carefully, which isn't necessarily the hardest thing to do. With just 25% chip, which isn't the hardest thing to do, talonflame can ko venu with dual wingbeat and scovillian can always be ko'd from full (unless you are extremely unlucky). Secondly, talon can use this to have powerful priority moves to try to sweep a team. That's of course something you expect from talon, so not much more to be said. Finally, talon can emergency remove hazards with priority defog if needed. With limited hazard control, this team very much appreciates it as it otherwise can struggle. With sun boosting flare blitz, talon can sd up and do impressive damage and clean a weakened team. Overall, talon fills a lot of defensive and offensive roles on this team and can act as an anti-sun tech, which is really nice.
The second chlorrophyl sweeper, exeggutor may seem like a joke mon that is just here for show, but it can put in a lot of work. Exeggutor even in sun isn't going to be outspeeding any choice scarfers, even slower ones such as gardevoir outpace it. However, what it does have in return are some of the strongest solar beam's on the planet. With base 125 special attack, even resists like jirachi take big damage if they aren't invested (offensive magnezone takes takes 40% min from solar beam). Lefties means that exeggutor can actually have a lot more bulk than it seems. Growth of course massively increases exeggutors damage output, solar beam deals big damage to opponents and psyshock means stuff like AV gallade can't try to take a hit and respond. The last little weird bit is ancient power and tera rock. Ancient power helps deal with talon and other flying types more effectively, and can even be a wincon if you get a boost. Tera rock boosts the power of ancient power but also resists opposing fire moves so exeggutor can continue firing off attacks. Overall, exeggutor is a really cool mon on this team that can destroy unprepared teams, especially slower ones.
At this point, you might be thinking, "wtf is this" and to that I will say the final piece of the puzzle. Furret is our second hazard control option but I found that it works best as a strong opener in order to break open holes in the opposing team. Lum berry allows furret to take stray status such as thundy and galvantula t-wave and incin will-o-wisp's. From here, furret can click tidy up in order to remove any hazards, which is big, and also boost itself. +1 furret can hit suprisingly hard. Body slam of course is good stab and the para chance can give the team some free turns. Knock off hits ghost types and removes items. Finally, fire punch deals with pesky steel types and with the sun boost, can be pretty powerful. Combine this with tera fire, which also ignores burns, and furret can do big damage, such as doing 79% to defensive copperajah. Overall, furret may seem like the meme-iest of meme mons, but it can genunielly do good on this team.
So with sun being, uhhh, dominant, in NU, I decided to limit test how much bs I could make with a sun team while still being viable. And this is the result. I did have regular typhlosion over h-typhlosion to deal with other fire types, primarily scovillian, but while it did work out, h-typhlosion was better. Anyways, onto the team.
Of course, what sun team isn't without the sun staples? Standard sets to set up sun and abuse sun, not much else to be said. I don't really need to explain this. Idk if h-typhlosion is used a lot on sun teams, but here it is. As stated above, you can switch it to normal typhlosion if wanted, but this is more standard. It's a simple set with eruption being the main click to deal massive damage in sun while still being fast. The rest of the moves are coverage. Now onto the weirdness. Talonflame is a good mon in NU, but more as a defensive mon. However, on this team while it does have some utility, it also is a dangerous sweeper. Gale wings is almost never used on talon (pun not intended) but here it can do a few things. Firstly, and the main reason why it is used, is to revenge kill chlorophyll sweepers such as venusaur and scovillian. Dual wingbeat means that this can be done multiple times if you position talon carefully, which isn't necessarily the hardest thing to do. With just 25% chip, which isn't the hardest thing to do, talonflame can ko venu with dual wingbeat and scovillian can always be ko'd from full (unless you are extremely unlucky). Secondly, talon can use this to have powerful priority moves to try to sweep a team. That's of course something you expect from talon, so not much more to be said. Finally, talon can emergency remove hazards with priority defog if needed. With limited hazard control, this team very much appreciates it as it otherwise can struggle. With sun boosting flare blitz, talon can sd up and do impressive damage and clean a weakened team. Overall, talon fills a lot of defensive and offensive roles on this team and can act as an anti-sun tech, which is really nice. The second chlorrophyl sweeper, exeggutor may seem like a joke mon that is just here for show, but it can put in a lot of work. Exeggutor even in sun isn't going to be outspeeding any choice scarfers, even slower ones such as gardevoir outpace it. However, what it does have in return are some of the strongest solar beam's on the planet. With base 125 special attack, even resists like jirachi take big damage if they aren't invested (offensive magnezone takes takes 40% min from solar beam). Lefties means that exeggutor can actually have a lot more bulk than it seems. Growth of course massively increases exeggutors damage output, solar beam deals big damage to opponents and psyshock means stuff like AV gallade can't try to take a hit and respond. The last little weird bit is ancient power and tera rock. Ancient power helps deal with talon and other flying types more effectively, and can even be a wincon if you get a boost. Tera rock boosts the power of ancient power but also resists opposing fire moves so exeggutor can continue firing off attacks. Overall, exeggutor is a really cool mon on this team that can destroy unprepared teams, especially slower ones. At this point, you might be thinking, "wtf is this" and to that I will say the final piece of the puzzle. Furret is our second hazard control option but I found that it works best as a strong opener in order to break open holes in the opposing team. Lum berry allows furret to take stray status such as thundy and galvantula t-wave and incin will-o-wisp's. From here, furret can click tidy up in order to remove any hazards, which is big, and also boost itself. +1 furret can hit suprisingly hard. Body slam of course is good stab and the para chance can give the team some free turns. Knock off hits ghost types and removes items. Finally, fire punch deals with pesky steel types and with the sun boost, can be pretty powerful. Combine this with tera fire, which also ignores burns, and furret can do big damage, such as doing 79% to defensive copperajah. Overall, furret may seem like the meme-iest of meme mons, but it can genunielly do good on this team.
3-2-1 Sun!
Click the sprites to access the team I used for my suspect run!
Click the sprites to access the team I used for my suspect run!
More sun in NU! Drought continues to be a scary yet effective playstyle in the tier. Ninetales was excellent as a sun setter; depending on the matchup, Healing Wish was great against balance teams to heal up a weakened sweeper. Sandslash was my lead, compressing many roles at once - Stealth Rock setter, hazard control, and Knock off all in one slot. I chose to use the Kantonian counterpart because in niche situation, it was also a fine Volt Switch blocker and the Ground-typing was more synergistic as a lead. Venusaur and Victreebel fulfilled similar roles as Growth sweepers, though Venusaur was more consistent, owing to its higher Speed. Shiftry might not be a common sight, but it was my second Knock Off sweeper and Sucker Punch could come in handy against threats like Munkidori, Gallade, and Typhlosion-Hisui when Sun is no longer up. As my sole physical attacker in sun, Shiftry provided much needed damage output against potential Teras from specially bulky Pokemon like Registeel and Dragalge. Charizard helped rounded the team by providing excellent damage with Solar Power-boosted attacks.
https://pokepast.es/9fd4dd7100d4099c
I built this for NUPL W3 because Toxtricity does stupid amounts of damage to would be counters such as Magnezone and Rhyperior. This VoltTurn offense naturally does pretty well into Sun but can struggle with some of the tiers top boosting sweepers such as Mew, Torterra, Drednaw, Lucario, etc. if you're not careful. Gallade is annoying if they're running scope lens > life orb since the recoil is pretty key for whittling them into Mienshao revenge kill range. You're gonna lose to Scope Lens/ Life Orb Gallade like 75% of the time, the turns are just so much more in the opponen'ts favor. Luckily, I've seen a lot more AV Gallade on ladder and normally they don't run enough speed for Toxt so you can potentially still KO that after a volt or some other prior chip.
252+ SpA Choice Specs Punk Rock Tera Normal Toxtricity Boomburst vs. 212 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Magnezone: 162-191 (48.5 - 57.1%) -- 91.8% chance to 2HKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Punk Rock Tera Normal Toxtricity Boomburst vs. 252 HP / 240 SpD Rhyperior: 255-300 (58.7 - 69.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Well, I lost with this cursed abomination in NUPL, so y'all can have it now.
Scarf Klefki Offense
I might come back later with a more detailed analysis, but it's basically an offense team with a dirty trick up its sleeve. If you manage to get a foe locked into a Ground, Fighting, or Normal type move, you can use Fairy Lock with Klefki as it faints. By using Jaw Lock (and Tera Ghost if necessary), you trap your foe into using the move repeatedly and you can set up a free Substitute and as many Shell Smashes as your twisted little heart desires. This idea is from Week 9 of the Next Best Thing project (check it out)!
Other win conditions include blasting your opponent to smithereens with Florges, and Tera Fire makes you a nice sponge for the Sun matchup. Scarfed Krookodile can sweep through weakened teams, and physical Thundurus can bait in and eliminate troublesome Grass types like Brute Bonnet or Vileplume that would hinder a sweep with Drednaw.
Scarf Klefki Offense
I might come back later with a more detailed analysis, but it's basically an offense team with a dirty trick up its sleeve. If you manage to get a foe locked into a Ground, Fighting, or Normal type move, you can use Fairy Lock with Klefki as it faints. By using Jaw Lock (and Tera Ghost if necessary), you trap your foe into using the move repeatedly and you can set up a free Substitute and as many Shell Smashes as your twisted little heart desires. This idea is from Week 9 of the Next Best Thing project (check it out)!
Other win conditions include blasting your opponent to smithereens with Florges, and Tera Fire makes you a nice sponge for the Sun matchup. Scarfed Krookodile can sweep through weakened teams, and physical Thundurus can bait in and eliminate troublesome Grass types like Brute Bonnet or Vileplume that would hinder a sweep with Drednaw.