With the twilight of Gen 5, I figured why not get in one last OU RMT. I've been tinkering with this for a long while, and so far this has been the best Sun team of all my vast stock of old gimmicks and less-than-ideal teams (not that this one is a gimmick or bad by any means)
Without further ado, I present:
Thousand Sunny
Looks Awkward, Breaks Everything*
[size=-2]
* well ALMOST everything...[/size]
The Crew:
This team actually turned out centered more around special attack, which is rather unusual for me since most of my teams center around physical attack or gimmicky stall-ish techniques. Also highly unusual is that I don't have a rapid spin user, which many sun teams are nearly useless without. The beauty of this design here is that I'm not really weak to Stealth Rock, allowing me to free up the spinner slot for something else more offense-oriented.
Ninetales (M) @
Trait: Drought
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Energy Ball
- Dark Pulse
- Will-O-Wisp
Straight off the bat, this team starts looking weird. The set starts to look like the standard special attacker but then the moves more closely resemble the defensive set. I primarily intended for this to counter trapper attempts, but it turned out I can pull off a pseudo bulky set without compromising power. Sand and rain are obviously the most prominent answers to Sun, but Will-o-Wisp helps me cripple most sand threats, who are generally physical attackers who rely on ground to threaten Ninetales (rock in Ttar's case, which barely does 50% when burned, also nerfing its offensive ability for the rest of the match). Dark Pulse seems weird, but it helps me more than most replacements, allowing me to catch my opponent off guard and scoring many timely flinches due to the fact Ninetales outspeeds a significant portion of the metagame. I opted for Energy Ball over Solar beam since Politoed likes to switch in on 'tales and Solarbeam would be reverted to a 2-turn move in those cases. Politoed is still 2-3HKOd by Energy Ball anyway, and it allows me to avoid an incoming scald since Solarbeam rarely OHKOs the 'toed anyway. This is usually my fist choice to lure out opposing Heatran, who potentially causes problems for Venusaur and Scizor (as well as Ninetales here).
Venusaur (M) @
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 72 HP / 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 180 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Growth
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Sleep Powder
Siting at a beastly 528 speed in sun, this dino doesn't mess around. EVs are customized to augment it's bulk just enough to avoid many KOs from flying, ground, and a few other coverage moves caried by various responses. The only real threats to this set are the rare scarf Jolteon (bc HP Ice both outspeeds and can 2HKO), Heatran (who walls almost all Venusaur sets to kingdom come), and of course, changing the weather. Once it has a growth or two, that's another story. Even in rain this thing can continue a sweep when at +2/4. Moves are fairly standard and HP fire is for pseudo stab in sun to destoy unsuspacting grass and steel types (not named Heatran) that would try to wall me. He is usually my last resort since some of my other selctions lure out and deal with 'saur's conters anyway.
Raikou @
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Rash Nature (+SAtk, -SDef)
- Aura Sphere
- Weather Ball
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
My pride and joy as well as destroyer of weather leads. Only Hippowdon can guaranteeably survive the 2HKO, with Chopple/Sash Ttar requiring a 2HKO. Opposing Ninetales are usually dealt with via Heatran, so Raikou rarely does more than finish a weakened one off. This is the CROWN event raikou, so I figured "why not abuse both event-only moves?" I originally had Thundurus-T here, but I kept being outsped by things I needed it to KO. With Raikou's amazing speed, I dont really miss being forced into a Rash nature. I can actually still KO other raikou just because I hit harder and have better coverage (what with Weather ball getting pseudo-STAB at base 100 and out-damaging other Raikou's HP Ice, Tbolt, or Extrasensory). With the 4 moves I have here, I almost always have a option for a STAB or Super-Effective hit, letting the Expert Belt fake specs and still give a respectable boost without LO's recoil. Even when backed into a corner, I can usually use this to come back from being behind 1 or 2 [surviving mons] against their 4 or 5 for a win.
Heatran (M) @
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Sunny Day
- Earth Power
- SolarBeam
- Fire Blast
this monster is the reason I rarely lose a weather war. When switched in on a predicted Politoed switch-in, I can proceed to use sunny day, take 35% OR LESS from scald, and usually KO back with Solar Beam. Air Balloon is common for this set (or at least ones like it), but leftovers functions better since 90% of the time this thing is either taking a Draco Meteor/Outrage, Grass move, or tanking a Scald (against rain teams), which would void the balloon anyway. With the max possible non-scarfed speed, I can deal with 99% of opposing Heatran with Earth Power as well as outspeeding Scizor, Breloom, and many other users of fighing type moves that would try to KO me (Breloom's mach punch obviously outsppeds but does not KO. it either loses after dealing about 35-60%, assuming Fire Blast connects, or Breloom dies before getting off spore, since it is slower than 'tran). This monster alone is almost enough to stop opposing sun by himself (though there are always exceptions).
Scizor (M) @
Trait: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- Aerial Ace
Standard scizor makes a cameo here primarily as a revenge killer that can sweep if need be. I chose Aerial Ace over Pursuit/Bug Bite/Quick Attack since more switch ins are fighting types than psychic, ghost, or dark and it allows me to OHKO other scizor, breloom, and may other unsuspecting threats, like Grass/Poison types that could survive the other moves. I could have just a s easily used Wing attack, but Aerial Ace is the same power and cant be thrown off by a stray accuracy drop (not that they're common or I expect them). This one move has saved me countless times from opposing Venusaur/Liligant/Volcarona trying to take advantage of my weather, thinking Scizor couldn't KO before being put to sleep/KOd
Latios (M) @
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Surf
- Roost
This is a fairly standard Latios set, but Surf seems strange on a sun team. What most people don't realize, is that it makes Hetran not a total wall to the set. Even in sun, Surf can 2-3HKO Heatran (usually weakening it to managable HP levels without losing Latios). also, it helps me deal with ground, steel, and rock types that abound on sand teams. Against banded Scizor locked into Bullet Punch, I can deal 60%+ damage (in sand/no weather. In rain it can OHKO) with Surf before switching to heatran/my own scizor and still take 45-55% myself, including LO recoil; a respectable amount, and enough to encourage scizor to stay in while I switch to my counter (or the next mon I'll need to begin disassembling the foe's team). Psyshock alleviates some of blissey's pressure on the team and this set. Between Surf and Psyshock, Draco Meteor can be saved for when it's the only way to KO the foe, rather than having to be fired off first thing and nerfed by a steel type. Specs Dragon Pulse was tempting (specs meteor is too easy to wall), but a second LO Draco Meter is actually still stronger than any specs Dragon Pulse (aside from crit ofc
).
Known Threats
Major:
None really... If I find a massive hole or have one pointed out to me, I'll add it here
Moderate:
Rain. I never really lose the weather war (and the few times I did I still won), but rain teams occasionally get the better of me through hax, misses, etc. It's part of the game and losses are rare enough I can deal with them. No one team seems to consistently beat this one unless the opponent can predict exactly what I'll do every time (which is very rare and I salute the 2-3 I've met who semi-often can).
Miniscule:
Blissey/Chansey. The pink puffs can hinder most of my team, but I have a way to KO them on 4 of my mons as well as Heatran counter-walling many sets (usually when based around toxic stall). Other special walls are generally weak to grass (sometimes 4x, like with the semi-rare Gastrodon) or cand be beat down with Fire, thus easily dispatched.
Without further ado, I present:
Thousand Sunny
Looks Awkward, Breaks Everything*
[size=-2]
* well ALMOST everything...[/size]
The Crew:
This team actually turned out centered more around special attack, which is rather unusual for me since most of my teams center around physical attack or gimmicky stall-ish techniques. Also highly unusual is that I don't have a rapid spin user, which many sun teams are nearly useless without. The beauty of this design here is that I'm not really weak to Stealth Rock, allowing me to free up the spinner slot for something else more offense-oriented.
Ninetales (M) @
Trait: Drought
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Energy Ball
- Dark Pulse
- Will-O-Wisp
Straight off the bat, this team starts looking weird. The set starts to look like the standard special attacker but then the moves more closely resemble the defensive set. I primarily intended for this to counter trapper attempts, but it turned out I can pull off a pseudo bulky set without compromising power. Sand and rain are obviously the most prominent answers to Sun, but Will-o-Wisp helps me cripple most sand threats, who are generally physical attackers who rely on ground to threaten Ninetales (rock in Ttar's case, which barely does 50% when burned, also nerfing its offensive ability for the rest of the match). Dark Pulse seems weird, but it helps me more than most replacements, allowing me to catch my opponent off guard and scoring many timely flinches due to the fact Ninetales outspeeds a significant portion of the metagame. I opted for Energy Ball over Solar beam since Politoed likes to switch in on 'tales and Solarbeam would be reverted to a 2-turn move in those cases. Politoed is still 2-3HKOd by Energy Ball anyway, and it allows me to avoid an incoming scald since Solarbeam rarely OHKOs the 'toed anyway. This is usually my fist choice to lure out opposing Heatran, who potentially causes problems for Venusaur and Scizor (as well as Ninetales here).
Venusaur (M) @
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 72 HP / 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 180 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Growth
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Sleep Powder
Siting at a beastly 528 speed in sun, this dino doesn't mess around. EVs are customized to augment it's bulk just enough to avoid many KOs from flying, ground, and a few other coverage moves caried by various responses. The only real threats to this set are the rare scarf Jolteon (bc HP Ice both outspeeds and can 2HKO), Heatran (who walls almost all Venusaur sets to kingdom come), and of course, changing the weather. Once it has a growth or two, that's another story. Even in rain this thing can continue a sweep when at +2/4. Moves are fairly standard and HP fire is for pseudo stab in sun to destoy unsuspacting grass and steel types (not named Heatran) that would try to wall me. He is usually my last resort since some of my other selctions lure out and deal with 'saur's conters anyway.
Raikou @
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Rash Nature (+SAtk, -SDef)
- Aura Sphere
- Weather Ball
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
My pride and joy as well as destroyer of weather leads. Only Hippowdon can guaranteeably survive the 2HKO, with Chopple/Sash Ttar requiring a 2HKO. Opposing Ninetales are usually dealt with via Heatran, so Raikou rarely does more than finish a weakened one off. This is the CROWN event raikou, so I figured "why not abuse both event-only moves?" I originally had Thundurus-T here, but I kept being outsped by things I needed it to KO. With Raikou's amazing speed, I dont really miss being forced into a Rash nature. I can actually still KO other raikou just because I hit harder and have better coverage (what with Weather ball getting pseudo-STAB at base 100 and out-damaging other Raikou's HP Ice, Tbolt, or Extrasensory). With the 4 moves I have here, I almost always have a option for a STAB or Super-Effective hit, letting the Expert Belt fake specs and still give a respectable boost without LO's recoil. Even when backed into a corner, I can usually use this to come back from being behind 1 or 2 [surviving mons] against their 4 or 5 for a win.
Heatran (M) @
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Sunny Day
- Earth Power
- SolarBeam
- Fire Blast
this monster is the reason I rarely lose a weather war. When switched in on a predicted Politoed switch-in, I can proceed to use sunny day, take 35% OR LESS from scald, and usually KO back with Solar Beam. Air Balloon is common for this set (or at least ones like it), but leftovers functions better since 90% of the time this thing is either taking a Draco Meteor/Outrage, Grass move, or tanking a Scald (against rain teams), which would void the balloon anyway. With the max possible non-scarfed speed, I can deal with 99% of opposing Heatran with Earth Power as well as outspeeding Scizor, Breloom, and many other users of fighing type moves that would try to KO me (Breloom's mach punch obviously outsppeds but does not KO. it either loses after dealing about 35-60%, assuming Fire Blast connects, or Breloom dies before getting off spore, since it is slower than 'tran). This monster alone is almost enough to stop opposing sun by himself (though there are always exceptions).
Scizor (M) @
Trait: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- Aerial Ace
Standard scizor makes a cameo here primarily as a revenge killer that can sweep if need be. I chose Aerial Ace over Pursuit/Bug Bite/Quick Attack since more switch ins are fighting types than psychic, ghost, or dark and it allows me to OHKO other scizor, breloom, and may other unsuspecting threats, like Grass/Poison types that could survive the other moves. I could have just a s easily used Wing attack, but Aerial Ace is the same power and cant be thrown off by a stray accuracy drop (not that they're common or I expect them). This one move has saved me countless times from opposing Venusaur/Liligant/Volcarona trying to take advantage of my weather, thinking Scizor couldn't KO before being put to sleep/KOd
Latios (M) @
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Surf
- Roost
This is a fairly standard Latios set, but Surf seems strange on a sun team. What most people don't realize, is that it makes Hetran not a total wall to the set. Even in sun, Surf can 2-3HKO Heatran (usually weakening it to managable HP levels without losing Latios). also, it helps me deal with ground, steel, and rock types that abound on sand teams. Against banded Scizor locked into Bullet Punch, I can deal 60%+ damage (in sand/no weather. In rain it can OHKO) with Surf before switching to heatran/my own scizor and still take 45-55% myself, including LO recoil; a respectable amount, and enough to encourage scizor to stay in while I switch to my counter (or the next mon I'll need to begin disassembling the foe's team). Psyshock alleviates some of blissey's pressure on the team and this set. Between Surf and Psyshock, Draco Meteor can be saved for when it's the only way to KO the foe, rather than having to be fired off first thing and nerfed by a steel type. Specs Dragon Pulse was tempting (specs meteor is too easy to wall), but a second LO Draco Meter is actually still stronger than any specs Dragon Pulse (aside from crit ofc
).Known Threats
Major:
None really... If I find a massive hole or have one pointed out to me, I'll add it here
Moderate:
Rain. I never really lose the weather war (and the few times I did I still won), but rain teams occasionally get the better of me through hax, misses, etc. It's part of the game and losses are rare enough I can deal with them. No one team seems to consistently beat this one unless the opponent can predict exactly what I'll do every time (which is very rare and I salute the 2-3 I've met who semi-often can).
Miniscule:
Blissey/Chansey. The pink puffs can hinder most of my team, but I have a way to KO them on 4 of my mons as well as Heatran counter-walling many sets (usually when based around toxic stall). Other special walls are generally weak to grass (sometimes 4x, like with the semi-rare Gastrodon) or cand be beat down with Fire, thus easily dispatched.
