Hi everyone, I'm new-ish to competitive battling and I have put together a decent sun team. Ironicly to my name I have actually made mostly hail teams but as it turns out sun is my natural weather. The original idea behind this team was to stall my opponent with offensive pressure and ware them down with hazards. As my team only does this to a small extent and plays offensively, it is still probably one of the best ideas I ever had. Later I am probably going to make a team more like my goal was, but here's my team for now. I need to see if anyone has any improvements for it. Keep in mind that I mostly play balanced hackmons so my mindset might be a little different than the standard player. On with the team!
Ninetales
Leftovers
Drought
-Flamethrower
-Will-O-Wisp
-Sunny Day
-Substitute
EVs 252 HP / Atk 0- / Def 120 / Spe 136+
Ninetales, the MVP of any sun team finds itself on mine. Outside of drought, it serves as an excellent scizor counter with flamethrower, and most enemies don't expect to be outsped and crippled by Will-O-Wisp. Sunny day is amazing for fighting rain teams because the sun cripples all their pokemon and puts pressure on politoad. I actually took on politoad with 2 CM boosts once and forced it and it's counters out. The Drought support is only needed by Cloyster and Espeon so my team isn't all that crippled by other weathers. Fighting to keep extreme sunlight up is defenitely worth it just to mess with other teams. Water and Steel types, beware!
Landorus-Therian NOT Incarnate
Choice Scarf
Intimidate
-Earthquake
-U-Turn
-Stone Edge
-Superpower
EVs 32 HP / Atk 252 /SpA 0- / 224+ Spe
Landorus-T is a very important pokemon. It counters a lot of physical threats in the tier. U-Turn is great for keeping momentum and it can't get stuck like Volt Switch. With the scarf, speed is no longer an issue. Superpower is chosen in the last spot so I don't have to go mixed and it is useful against steel types you think are going to switch and your opponent is expecting earthquake. Rain doesn't bother is too much because against rain it just says "Hasta la vista" and switches to Rotom-W before it gets sprayed. Landorus-T follows closest to the original idea I had since intimidate forces a lot of switches to rack up damage and U-Turn allows me to sustain offensive pressure.
Rotom-Wash NOT Standard Rotom
Leftovers
Levitate
-Volt Switch
-[HP] Ice
-Thunder Wave
-Pain Split
EVs 248 HP / Atk 0- / SpA 28 / SpD 232+
(Specially Defensive)
Here is a Rotom-W specially made for a sun team. This thing helps with rain and has great synergy with Landorus-T. Specially Defensive means that if a ground blocks my Volt-Switch, I'm not locked into it from a choice item, especially to garchamp who is doubley weak to [HP] Ice. The moves I have work really well together and have good synergy. Usually I will tank a hit, T-Wave, and then Pain Split, followed up with the appropriate move of finish you off. Volt Switch and [HP] Ice have perfect coverage, and although weak, I can usually get around that by passing CM boosts to it. Volt Switch keeps momentum so I can use another pokemon for more offensive pressure and force more switches.
Cloyster
Mental Herb
Skill Link
-Shell Smash
-Icicle Spear
-Rock Blast
-[HP] Fire
EVs 4 HP / 252 Atk / 0- SpD / 252+ Spe
Cloyster on a sun team. This must be the second best idea I had after the original idea for the team itself. Cloyster here has its Icicle Spear and Rock Blast completely walled by steels by the likes of Jirachi, Skarmory, Ferrothorn, and Forretress, but with a sun boost [HP] Fire these pokemon go bye-bye. Sun also lets Cloyset set up on bulky waters with only scald and ice beam to attack, both being doubly resisted in the sun. After my opponent has been worn down by a combination of hazards and U-Turn, Cloyster is just what the team needs. Cloyster is mainly a cleaner and an effective one at that (It still punches holes in rain teams if needed). This is my primary win condition and sweeps 90% of the time.
Donphan
Leftovers
Sturdy
-Rapid Spin
-Stealth Rock
-Earthquake
-Ice Shard
EVs 248 HP / 252+ Def / 0- SpA / 8 Spe
Donphan is the optimal spinner on a sun team and is very reliable. Sturdy can even activate if it switchs in or is u-turned in and takes no damage while in, and when Stealth Rock damages it, the leftovers heal that damage at the end of the turn. Donphan is usually my lead to set up SR and it can revenge kill dragons with ice shard. Sturdy helps it get past set-up sweepers with an earthquake and then go in for the kill with ice shard. SR is so vital to the team sometimes I feel I should get a spin blocker, but I can really afford the team spot. The best part about Donphan is that it does more than just spin. STAB Earthquake hits like an earthquake and I can ware down physical threats if I want to save Landorus-T for the bigger fish to fry (Burn Gyarados Burn!).
Espeon
Leftovers
Magic Bounce
-Morning Sun
-Calm Mind
-Psychic
-Baton Pass
EVs 252 HP / 0- Atk / 252+ Def / 4 Spe
This is where things get interesting. As a Balanced Hackmons player, of coarse I would be paranoid without a bouncer. It might seem that a baton pass set would be completely outclassed by Celibi, but magic bounce makes this thing soo hard to stop once the opponent figures out what is going on. Maximum defense investment makes Espeon's terrible defense greater than it's special defense without investment. Then, Calm Mind boosts your special defense and allows you to tank special attackers and the attack to break through special walls that rely on things like toxic to KO. Morning Sun is a great recovery move, although some might describe it as unreliable, with sun support it turns Espeon into a second win condition. As psychic is walled by Jirachi and dark types, baton pass it there to give another pokemon their chance to pwn. Rotom-W and Ninetales are both offensive recipients and Ninetales can actually fight back politoad and slowly kill it with 2 boosts. Landorus-T likes the SpD boost if it has to tank any special hits and so does Cloyster for a reliable set up.
I calculated the team weaknesses here: here
Here's an importible
Please give me feed-back on how I could make this team better so I can be the very best like no one ever was :)
Ninetales
Leftovers
Drought
-Flamethrower
-Will-O-Wisp
-Sunny Day
-Substitute
EVs 252 HP / Atk 0- / Def 120 / Spe 136+
Ninetales, the MVP of any sun team finds itself on mine. Outside of drought, it serves as an excellent scizor counter with flamethrower, and most enemies don't expect to be outsped and crippled by Will-O-Wisp. Sunny day is amazing for fighting rain teams because the sun cripples all their pokemon and puts pressure on politoad. I actually took on politoad with 2 CM boosts once and forced it and it's counters out. The Drought support is only needed by Cloyster and Espeon so my team isn't all that crippled by other weathers. Fighting to keep extreme sunlight up is defenitely worth it just to mess with other teams. Water and Steel types, beware!
Landorus-Therian NOT Incarnate
Choice Scarf
Intimidate
-Earthquake
-U-Turn
-Stone Edge
-Superpower
EVs 32 HP / Atk 252 /SpA 0- / 224+ Spe
Landorus-T is a very important pokemon. It counters a lot of physical threats in the tier. U-Turn is great for keeping momentum and it can't get stuck like Volt Switch. With the scarf, speed is no longer an issue. Superpower is chosen in the last spot so I don't have to go mixed and it is useful against steel types you think are going to switch and your opponent is expecting earthquake. Rain doesn't bother is too much because against rain it just says "Hasta la vista" and switches to Rotom-W before it gets sprayed. Landorus-T follows closest to the original idea I had since intimidate forces a lot of switches to rack up damage and U-Turn allows me to sustain offensive pressure.
Rotom-Wash NOT Standard Rotom
Leftovers
Levitate
-Volt Switch
-[HP] Ice
-Thunder Wave
-Pain Split
EVs 248 HP / Atk 0- / SpA 28 / SpD 232+
(Specially Defensive)
Here is a Rotom-W specially made for a sun team. This thing helps with rain and has great synergy with Landorus-T. Specially Defensive means that if a ground blocks my Volt-Switch, I'm not locked into it from a choice item, especially to garchamp who is doubley weak to [HP] Ice. The moves I have work really well together and have good synergy. Usually I will tank a hit, T-Wave, and then Pain Split, followed up with the appropriate move of finish you off. Volt Switch and [HP] Ice have perfect coverage, and although weak, I can usually get around that by passing CM boosts to it. Volt Switch keeps momentum so I can use another pokemon for more offensive pressure and force more switches.
Cloyster
Mental Herb
Skill Link
-Shell Smash
-Icicle Spear
-Rock Blast
-[HP] Fire
EVs 4 HP / 252 Atk / 0- SpD / 252+ Spe
Cloyster on a sun team. This must be the second best idea I had after the original idea for the team itself. Cloyster here has its Icicle Spear and Rock Blast completely walled by steels by the likes of Jirachi, Skarmory, Ferrothorn, and Forretress, but with a sun boost [HP] Fire these pokemon go bye-bye. Sun also lets Cloyset set up on bulky waters with only scald and ice beam to attack, both being doubly resisted in the sun. After my opponent has been worn down by a combination of hazards and U-Turn, Cloyster is just what the team needs. Cloyster is mainly a cleaner and an effective one at that (It still punches holes in rain teams if needed). This is my primary win condition and sweeps 90% of the time.
Donphan
Leftovers
Sturdy
-Rapid Spin
-Stealth Rock
-Earthquake
-Ice Shard
EVs 248 HP / 252+ Def / 0- SpA / 8 Spe
Donphan is the optimal spinner on a sun team and is very reliable. Sturdy can even activate if it switchs in or is u-turned in and takes no damage while in, and when Stealth Rock damages it, the leftovers heal that damage at the end of the turn. Donphan is usually my lead to set up SR and it can revenge kill dragons with ice shard. Sturdy helps it get past set-up sweepers with an earthquake and then go in for the kill with ice shard. SR is so vital to the team sometimes I feel I should get a spin blocker, but I can really afford the team spot. The best part about Donphan is that it does more than just spin. STAB Earthquake hits like an earthquake and I can ware down physical threats if I want to save Landorus-T for the bigger fish to fry (Burn Gyarados Burn!).
Espeon
Leftovers
Magic Bounce
-Morning Sun
-Calm Mind
-Psychic
-Baton Pass
EVs 252 HP / 0- Atk / 252+ Def / 4 Spe
This is where things get interesting. As a Balanced Hackmons player, of coarse I would be paranoid without a bouncer. It might seem that a baton pass set would be completely outclassed by Celibi, but magic bounce makes this thing soo hard to stop once the opponent figures out what is going on. Maximum defense investment makes Espeon's terrible defense greater than it's special defense without investment. Then, Calm Mind boosts your special defense and allows you to tank special attackers and the attack to break through special walls that rely on things like toxic to KO. Morning Sun is a great recovery move, although some might describe it as unreliable, with sun support it turns Espeon into a second win condition. As psychic is walled by Jirachi and dark types, baton pass it there to give another pokemon their chance to pwn. Rotom-W and Ninetales are both offensive recipients and Ninetales can actually fight back politoad and slowly kill it with 2 boosts. Landorus-T likes the SpD boost if it has to tank any special hits and so does Cloyster for a reliable set up.
I calculated the team weaknesses here: here
Here's an importible
TenTales (Ninetales) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drought
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Def / 136 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Will-O-Wisp
- Sunny Day
- Substitute
King of the Hill (Landorus-Therian) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 32 HP / 224 Spd
Jolly Nature
IVs: 0 SAtk
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
- Superpower
I Fly (Rotom-Wash) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 28 SAtk / 232 SDef
Calm Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 Def
- Volt Switch
- Thunder Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Pain Split
Clampearl #2 (Cloyster) @ White Herb
Trait: Skill Link
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Naive Nature
- Shell Smash
- Icicle Spear
- Rock Blast
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Roll to Walk (Donphan) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spd
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 SAtk
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Ice Shard
The Queen (Espeon) @ Leftovers
Trait: Magic Bounce
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Morning Sun
- Baton Pass
- Calm Mind
- Psychic
Trait: Drought
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Def / 136 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Will-O-Wisp
- Sunny Day
- Substitute
King of the Hill (Landorus-Therian) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 32 HP / 224 Spd
Jolly Nature
IVs: 0 SAtk
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
- Superpower
I Fly (Rotom-Wash) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 28 SAtk / 232 SDef
Calm Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 Def
- Volt Switch
- Thunder Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Pain Split
Clampearl #2 (Cloyster) @ White Herb
Trait: Skill Link
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Naive Nature
- Shell Smash
- Icicle Spear
- Rock Blast
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Roll to Walk (Donphan) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spd
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 SAtk
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Ice Shard
The Queen (Espeon) @ Leftovers
Trait: Magic Bounce
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Morning Sun
- Baton Pass
- Calm Mind
- Psychic
Please give me feed-back on how I could make this team better so I can be the very best like no one ever was :)
