Fear Complex (A Sun team by MMF) Peaked #27

[MMF]

FEAR COMPLEX

What up RMT people? My name is MMF. Some of you may know me, some may not. Either way it's all good. I usually play NU and RU but anyways, getting off track! So I've been playing OU here and there but never really enjoying it too much, but then one day I decided I would try and make a Sun team for a couple of reasons.

1. Sun basically destroys weatherless teams just because Sun sweepers are really powerful and the only full stop to Sun is Heatran which can be dealt with.

2. Sun is very underrated and I still don't know why.

3. Venusaur is awesome.

Anyways I decided to make a team around the almighty Venusaur. Then I added an Anti-Weather Lead Shiftry that I saw going through C&C and I was like, "Yeah I'm trying that." Shifty gave me a secondary Chlorophyll sweeper and an awesome Heatran lure. Then I added Lum DD Dragonite just because. No seriously. He's that good and he's been worth his weight in gold. At this point I definitely need something to check the Lati's and Scizor, so I added Superachi with a twist of sorts. Now looking at my team, I wanted something to weather physical hits while providing an offensive presence, so I went with Donphan. Donphan also helps me keep Volcarona and Dragonite in check with Stealth Rock and Ice Shard for D-Nite. And of course Ninetales took up the last slot. Now on to the team!

Ninetales (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Drought (DUH)
Evs: 120 HP / 136 SAtk / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Sunny Day
- Fire Blast
- Solarbeam
- Will O Wisp

This is by far my favorite Ninetales set. Trust me, I have tried them all and this one continues to impress me. Now if you're wondering why I have Sunny Day on Ninetales it's because Tyranitar will willingly switch into Ninetales thinking it can switch the weather. Thats where Sunny Day comes into play. Takes away his Sandstorm and allows me to smack him with Solarbeam. As for the other moves, Fire Blast is obvious STAB and does a ton while under the Sun. Solarbeam is nice for hitting bulky waters, especially Rotom-W. WoW is just a nice move to use when I think I can cripple something on the opponent's team such as Scizor which is extremely useful.

The Ev spread allows Ninetales to outspeed things like Mamoswine and Lucario allowing me to kill them off with Fire Blast. It also allows me to outspeed Haxorus and WoW it before it takes me out.

But the main thing Ninetales does is provide Drought which lets the rest of the team abuse sun which every member does. Overall a great mon.

Shiftry (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
Evs: 112 Atk / 220 SAtk / 176 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Nature Power
- Sucker Punch
- Hidden Power (Fire)

Shiftry is such an awesome Pokemon. No seriously! He does a lot for this team mainly luring in and killing Heatran and killing off Latios. Let me explain. In Wifi Nature Power turns into Earthquake which allows Shiftry to demolish Heatran on the switch in or while under sun. Also the combination of Leaf Storm and Nature Power will KO Tyranitar which is a plus. Sucker Punch is STAB and is a great move to have. Why? Because it KOs Latios. Just flat out smashes it. Not to mention it is really strong priority which lets him get a quick hit on say, Scarfed Landorus to allow Venusaur to KO. Leaf Storm is strong STAB and allows to weaken or KO things that might have an easier time with Venusaur at a higher health. Hidden Power Fire is just to hit things like Ferrothorn really hard and also lures in Heatran.

The EVs allow Shiftry to KO Politoed and Hippowdon with Leaf Storm and ohko Heatran and Chandulure with Nature Power. It also allows Shiftry to outspeed Cloyster after a Shell Smash. Also with a Hasty nature, Shiftry can survive Scarf Politoed's Ice Beam and return fire with Leaf Storm. Truly a great asset to Sun teams.

Heatran @Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
Evs: 252 HP / 100 SpD / 160 Spe
Calm Nature
- Lava Plume
- Earth Power
- Roar
- Protect

So Heatran was a late addition to the team that NWO suggested I use and it has worked wonders. I do sacrifice a little momentum with Heatran but being able to help against opposing Sun teams and all those Draco Meteors is invaluable. So far Heatran has been being doing its job and also kills Scizor(!) which is just a giant dick to Venusaur and company. Now I originally ran with Stealth Rock over Earth Power but I found that Donphan had more set up oppurtunities than Heatran so I just stuck Earth Power over Stealth Rock. I still kinda bounce between the two but so far its working. Lava Plume is obvious STAB and does a substantial amount in the Sun. Roar is to shuffle out Volcarona's and other problematic sweepers that Heatran can take a hit from. Protect is just for scouting and Lefties recovery. All in all an awesome mon.

Donphan (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
Evs: 252 HP / 80 Atk / 176 Def
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Ice Shard

Donphan is definitely this teams glue. He also serves as my Stealth Rock set-upper and spinner for the team. Donphan also checks Dragonite and Landorus with Ice Shard and Terrakion with Earthquake. Also under Sun, Donphan can survive Water attacks easier which means maybe a Spin can get off or Rocks can be set up.

EVs give him great physical bulk and also allows him to have an offensive presence so he can hit a little harder with Ice Shard and Earthquake. And an Impish nature to help him tank physical attacks even better.

Dragonite (M) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Multiscale
Evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Extremespeed

God, Dragonite is so good. Honestly, if you aren't using Dragonite yet, stop what you are doing and use him. He is that good. Multiscale was a godsend for him and allows to set up on weak attacks and still have almost full health. Now I chose the Lum DD set over Lefties because Dragonite gets statused. A lot. Lum Berry stops that from preventing a sweep. Also it has the nice perk of ridding Dragonite of Outrage's confusion and allows him to go ahead and keep on ragin'. I've decided to replace Fire Punch with Earthquake as I already have multiple fire attacks on this team and Earthquake is extremely handy for taking out Heatrans. E-Speed is extremely useful for picking off Scarfers or doing some respectable damage to a weakened Volcarona or Landorus. He also helps against opposing Sun teams. EVs are standard Max Attack and Speed. Adamant for more Powah.Nothing special.

Venusaur (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Chlorophyll
Evs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Growth
- Energy Ball
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power (Fire)

DA BOSS. Venusaur is one of the best Pokemon I have ever used. Hands down. In my mind he's in the top 5 best mons in OU right now, of course I'm a little biased ;). But onto the set! Under Sun Growth doubles Venusaur's Atk and SAtk which allows him to put the hurt on anything not named Heatran. Energy Ball is obligatory STAB and hurts a lot even without a boost. Also lets him do a ton of damage to Politoed even without a Growth boost. Sludge Bomb is also STAB and Venusaur's most powerful move on this set. It completely decimates Dragons such as the Lati's and Dragonite (with Multiscale broken of course). It also gives him a more reliable move against Celebi and Shaymin. Hidden Power Fire is a great move to use on Venusaur, while it leaves him walled to Hell and back by Heatran it lets him take out Ferrothorn and Skarmory.

The EV's and Modest Nature give Venusaur max SAtk allowing him to just run through teams like no tomorrow. Then I just dumped the rest in Speed since Venusaur is pretty naturally bulky and Modest nature doesn't stop him from being incredibly fast. All in an all an incredible mon!


Rap Up + Threats to my team

Heatran: What sun team doesn't have trouble with Heatran to a certain extent? I can beat him with Shiftry and Dragonite's Outrage which I believes 2hkos but otherwise it kinda does a number. Maybe Earthquake on Dragonite?

Volcarona: Volcarona is a dick. Just a massive dick. Once again I can deal with it by using Dragonite and if I have rocks up. But otherwise I gotta pray I have enough boosts with Venusaur.


That's all the threats I can think of off the top of my head. This team managed to peak at #27 on the PO ladder since Smogon was being super laggy for me but I digress. Thanks for reading and I hope this team inspires people to use Sun offensive more. It really is fun.

Importable:

Hide

Ninetales (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drought
EVs: 128 HP / 252 SAtk / 20 SDef / 108 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Sunny Day
- SolarBeam
- Fire Blast
- Will-O-Wisp

Shiftry (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 112 Atk / 220 SAtk / 176 Spd
Hasty Nature (+Spd, -Def)
- Leaf Storm
- Sucker Punch
- Nature Power
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Venusaur (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Growth
- Energy Ball
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Sludge Bomb

Donphan (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Atk / 176 Def
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Ice Shard

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Psyshock
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Dragonite (M) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Fire Punch
- ExtremeSpeed

Threatlist later! Probably.

 

[New World Order]

Hi, got the request. Now, one thing that jumped out at me was that you carry 3 Fire weak Pokemon, but have nobody to absorb Fire-type moves. Ninetales is not reliable at all, and the last thing you need happening to Dragonite is to lose Multi Scale to a Fire move of all things. As such, you should consider adding Specially Defensive Heatran in place of Jirachi. Heatran not only serves as an excellent check to Dragons, it also helps you against opposing Sun teams. Since Stealth Rock is already on Donphan, you can go one of two ways. You could either drop Stealth Rock on Donphan and use Odor Sleuth, and go with the standard Lava Plume, Stealth Rock, Roar, Protect/ Toxic on Heatran, or keep Stealth Rock on Donphan and run Lava Plume, Earth Power, Protect, Toxic on Heatran. Personally, I would go with the former, since the ability to eliminate Volcarona's boosts while simultaneously "dealing 50% damage" is invaluable on Heatran.

That being said, losing Jirachi leaves your team prone to Scizor, as well as Rain stall. Granted, Jirachi wasn't a very good answer to either of those, so it isn't too great a loss. To fill this void though, I suggest dropping Venusaur for a Nasty Plot Celebi, and no I'm not joking, nobody would ever expect to see a Celebi on a sun team. The only thing Venusaur brings that Celebi cannot is that Speed, but you've already got Shiftry in the mix, so things shouldn't be that bad. Venusaur may be an offensive juggernaut, but it's quite difficult to set up, and Celebi has equal, if not better damage output. Celebi is also not useless outside of the Sun, and it offers you a Fighting resist not named Dragonite. Between Giga Drain, Hidden Power Fire, and Earth Power, Celebi should do a nice job against all the Pokemon you wanted Jirachi to handle. Earth Power also adds insurance against Heatran. 180 HP / 252 SpA / 76 Spe allows you to outspeed all non-Scarfed Heatran (not like those exist lol). Celebi takes on Volt-turn and Rain stall like no other, and you've got a pseudo STAB HP Fire now to boot.

GL

TLDR version

Heatran>Jirachi
pros: check Dragons/ Volcarona, absorb Fire
cons: not as offensively gifted as Jirachi, Rain becomes even more troublesome

Celebi>Venusaur
pros: check Volt-turn/ Rain stall, not useless outside of the Sun, Fighting resist
cons: not nearly as much Speed

Sets

Heatran @ Leftovers
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 100 SpD / 160 Spe
Calm Nature (+SpD, -Atk)
- Lava Plume
- Stealth Rock / Earth Power
- Roar / Toxic
- Protect / Toxic

Celebi @ Life Orb
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 180 HP / 252 SpA / 76 Spe
Modest Nature (+SpA, -Atk)
- Nasty Plot
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Earth Power

 

[MMF]

Thanks for the rate NWO! Yeah the fire weak is kinda humorous since its a Sun team lol. I'll definitely try out Heatran over Jirachi and it does fix up some issues I was having.

Although I'm hesitant to try out Celebi over Venusaur since he was why I made the team but I'll for sure give Celebi a go!

I'll test these guys out and come back with some results!

 

[tomtom5858]

Have you tried Low Kick over Nature Power on Shiftry? Chandelure is completely nonexistant in the current metagame, Low Kick still does a boatload to Heatran, but what it really does is OHKO Tyranitar, who's a huge threat to your team, especially if you take NWO's suggestion and run Heatran over SuperRachi.

 

[MMF]

I have but the ability to KO Heatran on the switch is just too good especially since Leaf Storm + Nature Kos Heatran. But all that said I will try it again since like you said Low Kick still does a boatload to Heatran. Other opinions on whether I should run Low Kick would be appreciated.Thanks!

 

[-Tsunami-]

Hey there.

First off, switch Ninetales's EV spread to 120 HP / 136 SAtk / 252 Spe with a Timid nature. This spread is very useful since it lets Ninetales outrun a variety of threats. Pokemon such as Lucario and Mamoswine will now be easily outsped and decimated by Fire Blast; Gliscor and Rotom-W are also outrun. It is especially useful since it allows Ninetales to cripple threats such as Haxorous with Will-O-Wisp before they can knock out Ninetales, effectively incapacitating them for the rest of the match. The raw power of sun teams means that Ninetales doesn't have to hit incredibly hard anyway.

Also, run Earthquake on Dragonite over Fire Punch. Almost every member of your team already has a Fire-type move, so Dragonite doesn't really need one. Earthquake is extremely useful since it lets Dragonite score a surprise kill on Heatran, which would otherwise completely wall it. Heatran's demise means that it will be much easier for Venusaur and Jirachi to clean up.

Running the aforementioned suggestion of Low Kick over Nature Power on Shiftry is also extremely useful. Not only does it let Shiftry decimate Tyranitar, but it also lets it destroy Blissey, which will switch in more often than not after the opposition sees Leaf Storm. Blissey's removal will make life much easier for Venusaur as well.

Solid team. Hope I helped, and good luck!

 

[MMF]

Thanks Shakeitup! I definitely like the looks of that Ninetales spread so Im gonna use that for sure. Also I'll test out Earthquake on Dragonite and Low Kick on Shiftry. Thanks for the rate!

 

[Knappster]

I found this team quickly gets torn up by Volcarona with Hidden Power Rock. While not all have it I've been unlucky and got owned pretty badly a few times. I would also suggest switching Heatran for Jirachi.

 

[|DarkSector|]

i would suggest a cm latios on this team because its really good in sun over dragonite but yeah that multi scale is useful so idk.

really nice team, i give you a luvidsc. :D

 

[Arcticblast]

One quick suggestion - if you keep the Nasty Plot Celebi suggested above, you can give Dragonite Lefovers. Celebi's Natural Cure makes it a decent status absorber, and it can heal off residual Burn+Poison damage with Giga Drain, so Dragonite can avoid status.

 

[MMF]

As I've had about a week to test these rates out I got a chance to update the team with some changes! Also I'm still trying out NP Celebi over Venusaur and both are doing really well so for now I'm just gonna keep switching between the two.

@Knappster: Yeah Volc is a really tough mon but since I've added Heatran it's been way easier to manage.

@Dark Sector: I'm not a huge fan of that idea since Dragonite does a lot for this team. Multiscale is incredibly useful. Thanks for the Luvdisc though!!

@Articblast: I'll be sure to try that out. Lum berry is nice to cure those Outrage confusions but I can see where Lefties could come in handy. Thanks!

 

[Honus]

Hey there MMF, wonderful team.

Anyways, most of the raters have covered everything, so I only have a small suggestion to offer. I'm suggesting is that you give Toxic to Heatran over Protect. Toxic and Roar work great for dealing with Volcarona that lack Hidden Power Ground [and those that have it just lose to Dragonite] and Toxic can also be useful for putting a timer on the bulky waters that often switch in on Heatran, such as Politoed and Gastrodon.

Change Summary:

Heatran:

Protect->Toxic

 

[MMF]

Thanks for the rate Karpman! That sounds like a really good idea. If it makes Volcarona die quicker I am all for it. I'll give it a test and see how it does!